Matt Amitrano is an authority on Middle East and energy issues who has worked for the U.S. Department of State and other institutions for over 20 years. He served on a panel regarding Iraq and the Iraq Kurdistan Region at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He has been a guest lecturer on energy and the Middle East at several universities, most recently Georgetown University, University of Dayton, American University, and Marymount University. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Affairs from The George Washington University. In his free time, Matt is an avid player of boardgames who regularly competes in the World Boardgaming Championships, winning an Acquire tournament in 2008 and earning runner up in a Tigris-Euphrates tournament in 2025.

Ali Saffar heads the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America Division at the International Energy Agency. In this role, he works with governments across these regions in support of energy, climate and economic priorities, and serves as a senior advisor to the IEA’s executive management. Earlier in his IEA career he was an energy analyst at the Office of the Chief Economist, where he co-authored seven editions of the IEA’s flagship long-term forecast, the World Energy Outlook. Ali was formerly the Director of Energy Transition and Climate Action at the Rockefeller Foundation, where his work focused on financing projects to promote energy access and a just and equitable energy transition. He is a Senior Research Advisor at the University of Oxford’s Technology and Management Centre for Development, and has published widely on pathways to economic diversification in oil and gas producing countries, and has advised governments across the Middle East and North Africa on their energy policies. He teaches the “Energy transition and Climate Change” class at Sciences Po, in France. He spent his early career at the Economist Intelligence Unit, after graduating from the School of Oriental and African studies in London.

Shwan Zulal is a consultant with 20+ years of experience advising on political and commercial risk in Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and Syria. As Managing Director of Carduchi Consulting, he supports oil companies, financial institutions, and governments with strategy, energy investments, and market access, leveraging deep expertise in the region’s hydrocarbon sector and strong local networks.

Safwan Al-Amin joins our faculty as a distinguished visiting professor of law, bringing exceptional expertise in commercial law, constitutional law, and public policy. A graduate of three world-renowned institutions, he holds an LL.M. from Yale Law School, a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and an LL.B. from SOAS, University of London. As a practicing attorney admitted to the bars of New York, the District of Columbia, Dubai, and Iraq, Mr. Al-Amin offers students unique insights from his extensive work at premier global law firms, including Holland & Knight and Squire Patton Boggs. His diverse practice encompasses international arbitration, federal litigation, and cross-border regulatory matters, with particular emphasis on Middle Eastern jurisdictions. Beyond his legal practice, Mr. Al-Amin has shaped policy at the highest levels of government, serving as Chief of Staff to Iraq's Prime Minister-designate in 2020 and advisor to key Iraqi leaders. His scholarly work examines critical issues in Iraqi constitutional law, matters at the intersection of public policy and law, and U.S.-Iraq commercial relations. A sought-after speaker, he has presented at prestigious forums including the Chatham House Iraq Initiative and the Washington Institute. Mr. Al-Amin conducts his international practice in both Arabic and English. His courses will offer students invaluable perspectives on international legal practice, policy formation, and cross-cultural business negotiations.

Neil R. Brown is Managing Director, KKR Infrastructure and KKR Global Institute. Working at the intersection of finance and geopolitics, Mr. Brown navigates global complexity to lead KKR market entry across regions and invest in critical infrastructure, especially energy, digital, and climate. Mr. Brown serves on the boards of Contour Global, Albioma, ON*Net Fibra Chile, ON*Net Fibra Colombia, Nexo LatAm, and Monterra Energy. He previously was on the board of ADNOC Oil Pipelines and MetroNet and has been involved with Sempra Infrastructure, ADNOC Gas Pipelines, Marverde Infraestructura (Pemex Midstream), and United Group (SBB/Telemach), amongst others. Mr. Brown is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States, specializing in energy and foreign policy. Prior to joining KKR, he served for more than eight years on the senior staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, working with the late Senator Richard G. Lugar. He has also served as senior advisor at Goldwyn Global Strategies, on the U.S. Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative advisory committee for the U.S. Secretary of Interior, and as a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.