The singular brilliance of Nemir Kirdar – The National

The singular brilliance of Nemir Kirdar – The National

In a 1993 profile marking Investcorp's ten-year anniversary, the International Herald Tribune wrote of the company's "gold-plated reputation among New York bankers".. I had the good fortune of discussing the country many times with him, including during the period in which he was writing his book, Saving Iraq, which was published in 2009 and called for the building of state institutions and more investment in Iraq's youth.. The interview was our first meeting, conducted at his grand offices in the Investcorp building in London's Mayfair.. Even though I had sent a short biography in advance, Kirdar asked me to tell him about myself before we began recording the interview, focusing on my Iraqi roots and what I had studied.. The coup that took place on July 14, 1958 changed Iraq forever and took the country down a route of decades of turmoil.. In his office in London, he spoke to me at length about his personal loss, but also that of Iraq with the ending of its monarchy.. The few final links to Iraq's monarchy are fading away permanently.. Over half of the time was off the record, discussing Iraq, its past and at that time its troubled present with