Denise Natali serves as the assistant secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the U.S. Department of State. She previously served as the director of the Center for Strategic Research at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, where she provided strategic analysis to the joint staff, secretary of defense, combatant commands, and other U.S. government stakeholders on issues related to the Middle East and postconflict stabilization. Natali has more than 30 years of experience in postconflict relief, reconstruction, and stabilization. She is the author of numerous analyses and publications, including The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq and The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Natali received a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a BA from Franklin & Marshall College.