Kawa Hassan is author and co-editor of numerous publications and a frequent media commentator on Iraq, Syria, Kurdish politics and Middle East affairs. His recent accomplishments include: 1) serving as a member of NATO Mission Iraq Strategic Assessment Capability (NMISAC), an Independent Advisory Group that provides strategic, systematic, independent, evidence-based advice and insights to senior NATO Commanders to support existing assessments of the situation in Iraq and the region; 2) assuming lead-authorship of the research report "Iraq, Climate-Related Security Risk Assessment," which was used in the July 2018 UN Security Council debate on the nexus between climate change and security, brought forward under the Swedish Presidency of the Council; 3) serving as a member of the Atlantic Council’s Task Force Report on the Future of Iraq “Achieving Long Term Stability to Ensure the Defeat of ISIS;” 4) co-leading the Working Group Rights & Protection of Minorities in the Middle East, Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme (FMSH), Paris; and 5) giving regular speeches, lectures, hearings and briefings at think tanks, universities, government agencies and the European Parliament.

Prior to joining EastWest Institute, Kawa Hassan was a visiting scholar/non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center, Beirut & knowledge officer at Hivos, The Hague. Previously, he worked for UNDP and international organizations in Sri Lanka, Iraq and the Netherlands leading post-Tsunami, post-conflict, research, peace building and capacity building programs. Furthermore, Hassan worked as a media analyst for the Dutch television and radio channels covering the Iraq War in 2003, and as an interpreter/translator for refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands. 

Kawa Hassan holds a Master of Science in International Relations, Political Science from the University of Amsterdam (1996-2003), and studied English and German at the Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq (1988-1991).