Professor Rosemary Hollis, a highly respected authority on the Middle East, died suddenly last week. Rosy is remembered with great respect and affection, as a colleague and a friend.
It was with shock and sadness that the directors and staff at Chatham House learned of the sudden death last week of Rosemary Hollis at her home in London.
Rosemary was a major influencing force in the study and understanding of the Middle East throughout her career, including during her time at Chatham House overseeing our work on the region and, latterly, as the institute’s Director of Research.
Rosemary led Chatham House’s Middle East Programme between 1995-2008, publishing her analysis regularly, chairing high-profile meetings, including with Mohammed Khatami, President of Iran, and Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region, travelling regularly to the region, and establishing deep relationships with governments and institutions across many countries.
Rosemary built and led an outstanding team of Middle East specialists, establishing Chatham House as the lead UK institution for policy on the region. One of her main achievements was convening a long-running series of events addressing the regional dimensions of the fate of Palestinian refugees.
These generated a remarkable repository of learning and a valuable network of connections. She also led frequent high-level Track II diplomatic meetings with extraordinary skill and energy, including charged and difficult conversations concerning Iran, Libya and Syria.
In the lead-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq, Rosemary led workshops with US counterparts, government personnel, the military and business experts. In their reports they explored scenarios for ‘the day after’ a military invasion, with warnings – conveyed in briefings to the UK government including prime minister Tony Blair – that the fallout would destabilize Iraq, the region and beyond.