Iraq Study Group

USIP was the facilitating organization for the Iraq Study Group (ISG), co-chaired by James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton. As such, USIP is the repository for the ISG’s official report, titled The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach, which was downloaded more than 1.5 million times from USIP's Web site in the first two weeks after the launch of the report on December 6, 2006.

USIP facilitated the bipartisan ISG at the urging of Congress. The ISG’s mandate was to conduct a forward-looking, independent assessment of the current and prospective situation on the ground in Iraq, its impact on the surrounding region, and consequences for U.S. interests. Three organizations supported USIP in its work facilitating the ISG: the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Center for the Study of the Presidency (CSP), and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

As facilitator, USIP provided scholarly and logistical support to the ISG. It maintained an in-house Iraq expert committee and external Expert Working Groups that provided the ISG with the briefing papers and policy analyses that helped them reach their conclusions. It also coordinated the ISG’s interviews with top U.S. and foreign officials and led the group’s trip to Iraq in the Summer of 2006.

This site contains information about the ISG’s work from its inception in March 2006. It provides timelines, member bios, information about the Expert Working Groups, transcripts of news events, and other information.

USIP in Iraq

USIP has been operating on the ground in Iraq since 2004, working with Iraqis to reduce interethnic and interreligious violence, speed up stabilization and democratization, and reduce the need for a U.S. presence in Iraq. More information about our in-country Iraq programs and other Iraq-related work can be found here.