American Writers Museum: "Pipe Dreams" by Erin Banco

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
6:00pm — 7:00pm
American Writers Museum
180 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60601
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When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Iraqi Kurds hoped Western oil companies would bring them a better life. It hasn't worked out that way.

Please join us for a discussion at the American Writers Museum in Chicago with investigative reporter Erin Banco, who's new book,  Pipe Dreams: The Plundering of Iraq’s Oil Wealth, reveals how the dream of an oil-financed, American-style democracy in Iraqi Kurdistan now looks like a completely unrealistic fantasy.

“A fascinating and revealing dive into the murky world of oil contracts that shape power and politics in Iraq." —Loveday Morris, The Washington Post Jerusalem bureau chief

"Investigative reporter Erin Banco reveals the complicated conspiracies keeping the richness of Iraqi oil from trickling down to the general populace....Banco's reportage vividly shows the human toll that deceit and subterfuge have taken on a land so rich in natural resources." —Kirkus Reviews

"With her trademark meticulous reporting, Erin Banco brings us the woefully untold story of theft in Iraq: the robbing of the Iraqi people’s natural resource rights. She takes us behind the scenes of broken promises and charts an ongoing network of corruption and deceit that has continued to plunder not only Iraq's oil wealth, but the lives of its would-be beneficiaries. The result is a journalistic tour de force that can't be ignored." —Lauren Bohn, Co-founder of Foreign Policy Interrupted and Middle East correspondent for The GroundTruth Project

"Erin Banco expertly tells the complicated story of corruption that lies at the heart of the endless problems gripping Kurdistan and greater Iraq. Her investigative work on the country's troubled oil industry is deeply researched and engagingly told — and it shows how mismanagement and greed have turned a resource that should be a blessing into a curse. The book offers a unique and timely window onto the country's tumultuous past, as well as a lens for understanding the instability and violence that continue to plague it today." —Mike Giglio, Buzzfeed

This event is free to attend with no reservation required. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. 

 

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