21st Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

Arab-U.S. Relations Amidst
Transition within Constancy:
Implications for American and
Arab Interests and Policies

October 25 - 26, 2012

Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.

• Conference Audio, Video, and Transcripts
• Conference Sponsors
• Oct. 25 Sessions on
• Oct. 26 Sessions on
• Pictures from the Conference
  
• 'HOW' Questions for Policymakers

2012 CONFERENCE SPONSORS

2012 AUDIO, VIDEO, & TRANSCRIPTS

Jump to a specific session by clicking on the session title in the list immediately below or scroll further down to see the complete program. MP3 audio can also be downloaded through iTunes.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

8:45 – 9:00 am: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
TRANSCRIPT

Mr. John Mulholland - Chairman, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Dr. John Duke Anthony - Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and author, inter alia, of Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum; Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia; and The United Arab Emirates: Dynamics of State Formation.

Mr. Don Battle - Acting Manager of the International Trade Center, U.S. General Services Administration.

9:00 – 10:00 am: CHANGE WITHOUT PROGRESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Speaker:

Ambassador (Ret.) Chas Freeman - Chairman of the Board, Projects International, Inc., a Washington, D.C.−based development firm specializing in international joint ventures, acquisitions, and other business operations for its American and foreign clients; former President, Middle East Policy Council; former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1993-94), earning the Department of Defense’s highest public service awards for his roles in designing a NATO-centered post-Cold War security system and in reestablishing defense and military relations with China; former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm); Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the U.S. mediation of Namibian independence from South Africa and Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola; and author, America’s Misadventures in the Middle East as well as The Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition) and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.

10:00 – 10:20 am: THE UNPRECEDENTED EMERGENCE OF THE AVIATION SECTOR IN THE GCC
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Speaker:

Mr. Akbar Al Baker – CEO, Qatar Airways and Doha International Airport.

10:20 am – 12:00 pm: DEFENSE COOPERATION DYNAMICS: ENHANCING REGIONAL SECURITY
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

The Honorable Molly Williamson - Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations;Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute; former Senior Foreign Policy Adviser to the Secretary of Energy (2005-2008); former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for the Middle East, South Asia, Oceania and Africa (1999-2004); former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (1993-1995).

Opening Remarks:

VADM Robert Harward – Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command; former Commander, Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 in Afghanistan; former Deputy Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command; and former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff representative to the National Counterterrorism Center.

Speakers:

Dr. Anthony Cordesman - Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies; consultant to the U.S. State Department, Defense Department, and intelligence community; former Director of Intelligence Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Mr. David Des Roches - Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Malone Fellow in Arab and Islamic Studies.

Mr. Robert Sharp - Assistant Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University.

12:30 – 1:45 pm: KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair and Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speaker:

HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal - Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; former Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and to the United States of America; former Director General, General Intelligence Directorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1:45 – 3:00 pm: ENERGY: POLICYMAKING DYNAMICS OF SOURCES, SUPPLY, AND SECURITY
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Ms. Randa Fahmy Hudome - President, Fahmy Hudome International; former Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy; Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Speakers:

Mr. James LeJeune – President, Chevron Middle East North Africa Inc.

Mr. John Hofmeister – Founder and Chief Executive, Citizens for Affordable Energy; former President, Shell Oil Company.

Mr. Frank Verrastro – Senior Vice President and Director, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Commentator:

H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi - Ambassador of Qatar to the United States.

3:00 – 4:15 pm: POLICYMAKING CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING REGIONAL GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: IRAQ AND SYRIA
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Dr. John L. Iskander - Chair, Near East and North Africa Area Studies, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State.

Speakers:

Dr. David Lesch - Professor of Middle East History, Trinity University; author, The Fall of the House of Assad, The Arab – Israeli Conflict: A History, and The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Asad and Modern Syria.

Ms. Mona Yacoubian – Senior Advisor, Middle East and Project Director, Pathways to Progress, Stimson Center; former Special Advisor and Senior Program Officer on the Middle East, U.S. Institute of Peace; former North Africa analyst, U.S. Department of State.

Dr. Judith Yaphe – Distinguished Research Fellow for the Middle East, Institute for National Strategic Studies; former senior analyst in the office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA.

Dr. Abdullah Alshammari – Advisor, Middle East - Riyadh Represantative, ORSAM.

Commentators:

Professor Paul Sullivan - Professor of Economics, Eisenhower School, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor, Security Studies, Georgetown University; Columnist, Turkiye Gazetesi, Istanbul, Turkey.

Ambassador (Ret.) Theodore Kattouf – President and CEO, AMIDEAST; former U.S Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Syria.

4:15 – 5:30 pm: POLICYMAKING CONCERNS RELATED TO REGIONAL GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: ARAB NORTH AFRICA
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Mr. Christopher Blanchard - Middle East Policy Analyst, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Speakers:

H.E. Ambassador Ali Aujali – Ambassador of Libya to the United States.

Professor Paul Sullivan

Ms. Alexis Arieff – Analyst on Africa and the Maghreb, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Mr. Karim Haggag – Visiting Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; former Director, Egyptian Press and Information Office in Washington, DC.

Dr. David Ottaway – Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center; former Washington Post foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Africa, and Southern Europe; author, The King’s Messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sultan and America’s Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Commentator:

Dr. Néjib Ayachi - Founder and President, Maghreb Center.

6:30 – 8:30 pm: RECEPTION AT THE EMBASSY OF JORDAN

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Alia Hatoug-Bouran, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States, hosted a reception for conference registrants, speakers, VIPs, and the Arab diplomatic community at the Embassy of Jordan.

Friday, October 26, 2012

8:45 – 9:15 am: SAUDI ARABIAN – U.S. RELATIONS: A VIEW FROM RIYADH
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Speaker:

Ambassador James Smith - U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

9:15 – 9:30 am: ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: A VIEW FROM THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Speaker:

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Alhussaini Alsharif - Chief Representative of the League of Arab States to the United States; former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Canada and Turkey; former Head of the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Houston.

9:30 – 11:00 am: POLICY CHALLENGES PERTAINING TO REGIONAL GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: THE PALESTINIAN FUTURE
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Ms. Alison Weir – President, Council for the National Interest; Executive Director, If Americans Knew.

Speakers:

Dr. Sara Roy – Senior Research Scholar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University; Board Member, American Near East Refugee Agency (ANERA) and the Center for American Jewish Studies, Baylor University; author, The Gaza Strip: Political Economy of De-development and Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza: Engaging the Islamist Social Sector.

Dr. Tamara Sonn – Wm. R. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Humanities, College of William and Mary; author, Interpreting Islam:  Bandali Jawzi's Islamic Intellectual History, Religions through Law: Judaism and Islam, Islam: A Brief History, and The Religion Toolkit:  A Complete Guide to Religious Studies.

Mr. Jeff Steinberg – Editor, Executive Intelligence Review.

Mr. Mark Perry – Author, Conceived in Liberty, The Last Days of the CIA, and Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage its Enemies.

11:00 am – 12:30 pm: POLICYMAKING OPPORTUNITIES AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM REGIONAL GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: THE ARABIAN PENINSULA (GCC COUNTRIES AND YEMEN)
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speakers:

Dr. Abdel Aziz Abu Hamad Aluwaisheg - Assistant Secretary General for Negotiations and Strategic Dialogue, Gulf Cooperation Council.

Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla - Professor of Political Science, United Arab Emirates University (Abu Dhabi); lead author, 2008 Arab Knowledge Report.

Dr. Abdullah K. Al-Shayji - Chairman, Department of Political Science, Kuwait University; author, Kuwait's Ceaseless Quest for Survival in a Hostile Environment.

1:00 – 1:45 pm: LUNCH SPONSORED BY THE U.S.-U.A.E. BUSINESS COUNCIL.

The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council is a progressive business advocacy organization solely committed to the advancement of the trade and commercial relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

Welcome:

Mr. Danny E. Sebright - President, U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council.

1:45 – 2:00 pm: EGYPTIAN-U.S. RELATIONS: A VIEW FROM CAIRO
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Speaker:

H.E. Ambassador Mohamed M. Tawfik – Ambassador of Egypt to the United States.

2:00 – 2:15 pm: ARAB-U.S. ECONOMIC RELATIONS: A VIEW FROM WASHINGTON
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Speaker:

The Honorable Jose W. Fernandez – Assistant Secretary, Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

2:15 – 3:45 pm: POLICYMAKING OPPORTUNITIES IN BUSINESS, FINANCE, AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Ms. Elizabeth Wossen – Principal and Lead Consultant, Energy Links Group LLC; former Coordinator, Congressional and Government Relations, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation; Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Speakers:

Mr. Khush Choksy – Senior Director, Middle East Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; former Director, Chemonics International.

Dr. Mody AlKhalaf – Director of Social and Cultural Affairs, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia; Editor-in-Chief, Al-Mubtaath (“The Scholar”).

Ambassador (Ret.) Ford Fraker - Senior Adviser and Chairman for the Middle East and North Africa Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P.; former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Hisham Fahmy – CEO, American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt; Founder, Egyptian Association of Executives; former Acting Director, Egyptian Center for Economic Studies.

Commentator:

Mr. Ken Close – Founder and CEO, Quincy International; former Senior Policy Advisor to HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal.

3:45 – 5:15 pm: AMERICAN AND ARAB POLICY SUCCESSES AND SHORTCOMINGS REGARDING THE REGIONAL GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF IRAN
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Dr. Thomas Mattair - Executive Director, Middle East Policy Council; former Research Scholar, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research; author, The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa and Global Security Watch — Iran: A Reference Handbook.

Speakers:

Dr. Kenneth Katzman - Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Dr. Trita Parsi - Founder and President, National Iranian American Council; author A Single Roll of the Dice - Obama's Diplomacy with Iran and Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States.

Mr. Alireza Nader – Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation; author, Israel and Iran: A Dangerous Rivalry, The Next Supreme Leader: Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and lead co-author, Coping with a Nuclearizing Iran.

Ms. Hillary Mann Leverett - Senior Professorial Lecturer of U.S. foreign policy, American University’s School of International Service; Visiting Scholar, Peking University’s School of International Studies; CEO, STRATEGA; co-author, The Race for Iran Blog; co-author, Going to Tehran: Why the United States Needs to Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic (forthcoming).

5:15 – 6:15 pm: ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: VIEWS FROM THE ARAB MEDIA
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Chair:

Ms. Barbara Ferguson – Consultant, United States Marine Corps’ Center for Advanced Operational Culture; former Washington Correspondent, Arab News; former embedded war correspondent in Iraq.

Speakers:

Mr. Jamal Khashoggi – General Manager and Editor-in-Chief, Al Arab News Channel; former Editor-in-Chief, Al-Watan.

Ms. Nadia Bilbassy – Chief U.S. Correspondent, Middle East Broadcasting Center Television.