Military Adviser Emma Sky: Female Think In Iraq

RedTracker| When British Emma Sky believed that she could change the world, she earned a degree in oriental studies with the idea of working for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Ten years later with little progress on the Middle East peace process, Sky returned to England, where she was working for the British Council, an arm of of the Foreign office when war broke out in Iraq. via NYTimes

Conversant in Arabic and Hebrew, Emma Sky is now attached at the metaphorical hip to American commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno.

Insiders say the very presence of a civilian political adviser at the right hand of the senior American military commander is a clear demonstration of American military New Think, in which local perceptions of the political and cultural conflict guide strategy.

“I’m experienced in working in different cultures. The most alien culture I’ve ever worked in is the U.S. military,” Emma Sky said with characteristic candor. “I was used to working in the humanitarian space, the diplomatic space. I came to Iraq and that space, the military, is all over it.” via NYTimes