Dr. Joseph Yackley is a career Foreign Service Officer. He most recently served as an Iraq Analyst in the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. His overseas assignments include coverage of Iranian affairs in Istanbul, consular affairs in Ankara, and human rights in Tunis. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Yackley was based in Europe and the Middle East as a journalist, consultant, and academic. He has held fellowships from the Robert Bosch Foundation, the International Center for Journalists, and the Fulbright Commission. Yackley earned a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago and is a co-author of a book on international political economy, entitled Risk Rules: How Local Politics Threaten the Global Economy (Agate, 2011). He holds an M.A. in Public Policy Studies and an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, both from the University of Chicago, as well as a B.A. in Philosophy from Northwestern University.