# ISIS Briefing feat. Emma Sky

British Mideast expert Emma Sky went to Iraq in 2003 on a mission to help the Iraqi people. She was greeted by an assassination attempt, and wound up as General Ray Odierno’s chief political adviser during the surge – building alliances with the Sunni leaders who would defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq. She also administered a key Kurdish area for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Her memoir of her time in Iraq is: “[The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-unraveling-high-hopes-and-missed-opportunities-in-iraq-emma-sky/16712111?ean=9781610397148).” She now teaches at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.