U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?
October 14 - 15, 2015
Atrium Hall
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC
- HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Keynote Address [Also: Video]
- Dr. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor Keynote Address [Also: Video]
- Ambassador (Ret.) Chas Freeman Keynote Address [Also: Video]
- From C-Span: H.E. Lukman Faily Remarks & Session on "The Palestinian Future"
- Listen to Audio Recordings [Also in iTunes]
- Conference Proceedings (Audio, Video, & Transcripts)
- Conference Sponsors
2015 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 listing of sessions and speakers. MP3 audio can also be downloaded through iTunes.
| Oct. 14 | Oct. 15 | |
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Mr. David Bosch Dr. John Duke Anthony LESSONS FROM AMERICA'S CONTINUING MISADVENTURES IN THE MIDDLE EAST Ambassador (Ret.) Chas Freeman, Jr. ARAB-U.S. ENERGY COOPERATION Mr. John Pratt Ms. Molly Williamson Mr. Richard W. Westerdale, II Ms. Sarah Ladislaw Dr. Herman Franssen NCUSAR FINDLEY FELLOWS Tyler Myles Tegist Worku KEYNOTE ADDRESS HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal ARAB-U.S. DEFENSE COOPERATION Professor David Des Roches Mr. Christopher Blanchard Mr. Ronald L. Perrilloux, Jr. Mr. Jeffrey B. Kohler GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL: ROLE IN REGIONAL DYNAMICS Ms. Elizabeth Wossen Dr. John Duke Anthony Ambassador (Ret.) Dr. Richard J. Schmierer Mr. Khaled Almaeena Dr. Abdullah AlShayji GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: SYRIA, LEBANON, & IRAQ Dr. Michael Hudson Dr. Paul Salem Dr. Judith Yaphe Mr. Bassel Charles Korkor Mr. Elias Samo Mr. Charles C. Chidiac |
IRAQ-U.S. RELATIONS: A VIEW FROM BAGHDAD H.E. Ambassador Lukman Faily THE PALESTINIAN FUTURE Ms. Randa Fahmy H.E. Ambassador Maen Areikat Dr. James Zogby Dr. Imad Harb Mr. Matthew Reynolds Dr. Thomas Mattair KEYNOTE ADDRESS Dr. Khalaf Al Habtoor YEMEN-U.S. RELATIONS IN FOCUS H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak ARAB-U.S. BUSINESS, EDUCATION, & HEALTHCARE COOPERATION Mr. H. Delano Roosevelt Dr. John A. Ulatowski Mr. Khush Choksy Ms. Nahlah A. Al-Jubeir Dr. Randall W. Burt Mr. Mohammed Abou El-Enein GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: EGYPT & N. AFRICA Dr. Abderrahim Foukara Ms. Ellen Laipson Dr. William Lawrence Dr. Dirk Vandewalle Dr. Paul Sullivan |
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
9:00 - 9:15 a.m. -- WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Speakers:
Mr. David Bosch – 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.
9:00 - 9:50 a.m. -- LESSONS FROM AMERICA'S CONTINUING MISADVENTURES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT
Speaker:
Ambassador (Ret.) Chas Freeman, Jr. – Senior Fellow, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University; 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, Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige; America’s Misadventures in the Middle East; The Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition); and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.
10:00 - 11:30 a.m. -- U.S.-ARAB ENERGY COOPERATION
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Chair:
Mr. John Pratt – Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
Speakers:
Ms. 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 in the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce; and former U.S. Interim Ambassador to Bahrain.
Mr. Richard W. Westerdale, II – Director, Energy Resources Bureau's Policy Analysis and Public Diplomacy Office, U.S. Department of State; U.S. Representative, International Energy Agency and International Energy Forum; former energy specialist, U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Ms. Sarah Ladislaw – Director and Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Dr. Herman Franssen – Executive Director, Energy Intelligence Group; President, International Energy Associates, Inc.; Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Adjunct Scholar; Middle East Institute; and Visiting Fellow, Centre for Global Energy Studies (London, UK).
12:00 - 12:20 pm -- NCUSAR FINDLEY FELLOWS
VIDEO
AUDIO
Remarks by 2015 Findley Fellows:
Tyler Myles and Tegist Worku.
12:30 - 1:00 p.m. -- KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT
Welcoming Remarks:
Dr. John A. Ulatowski – Interim CEO, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare; Vice President and Executive Medical Director, Johns Hopkins Medicine International; and Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Service Professor of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine, Neurology, and Neurosurgery.
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.
1:15 - 2:45 p.m. -- U.S.-ARAB DEFENSE COOPERATION
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Chair:
Professor David Des Roches – Senior Military Fellow, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; Malone Fellow in Arab and Islamic Studies (Syria), National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
Speakers:
Mr. Christopher Blanchard – Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Mr. Ronald L. Perrilloux, Jr. – Director, Middle East and Africa Region, Lockheed Martin International Business Development; former U.S. Air Attaché and Acting Defense Attaché to Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Jeffrey B. Kohler – Vice President of International Sales & Marketing for Defense, Space, and Security, Boeing; former Director, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense.
3:00 - 4:30 p.m. -- GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL: ROLE IN REGIONAL DYNAMICS
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
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:
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.
Ambassador (Ret.) Dr. Richard J. Schmierer – Distinguished International Affairs Fellow and Member, International Advisory Committee, National Council for U.S.-Arab Relations; Member, Board of Directors, Middle East Policy Council; former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State; former U.S. Ambassador to Oman.
Mr. Khaled Almaeena – former Editor-in-Chief, Arab News (1982-1993) and (1998-2011); former Editor-in-Chief, Saudi Gazette (2012-2014); columnist; Founder and Co-Chairperson, NAAM.
Dr. Abdullah AlShayji – Professor of International Relations and Chairman, American Studies Unit, Kuwait University; author, Kuwait's Ceaseless Quest for Survival in a Hostile Environment.
4:45 - 6:15 p.m. -- GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: SYRIA, LEBANON, & IRAQ
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Chair:
Dr. Michael Hudson – Seif Ghobash Professor Emeritus of Arab Studies and International Relations, and former Director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; former Director, Middle East Institute and Professor of Political Science, National University of Singapore.
Speakers:
Dr. Paul Salem – Vice President for Policy and Research, Middle East Institute; former Founding Director, Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon; former Director, Fares Foundation; author, inter alia, of Broken Orders: The Causes and Consequences of the Arab Uprisings and "Iraq's Tangled Foreign Relations."
Dr. Judith Yaphe – Senior Research Fellow and Middle East Project Director, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; former Senior Analyst on Near East-Persian Gulf issues, Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA.
Mr. Bassel Charles Korkor – Legal Director, National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces; Legal Advisor, UN Geneva II Peace Negotiations on Syria; Senior Advisor, Middle East Committee, American Bar Association.
Mr. Elias Samo – Distinguished International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Adjunct Professor, School of International Service, American University.
Commentator:
Mr. Charles C. Chidiac – President, Republican Reform Party and Chairman, The Arab Renaissance Front (Lebanon); Co-Founder, American Task Force for Lebanon.
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. -- EVENING RECEPTION
At the conclusion of conference sessions on Wednesday, October 14, the National Council hosted a reception for conference registrants, speakers, sponsors, VIPs, and the Arab diplomatic community in The Pavilion Room at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center. The reception featured a performance by Ms. Ddendyl Hoyt, an Americana and Blues singer/songwriter named “2014 Artist of the Year” for the Western New York Area by the Batavia Daily News and a contestant on Season 6 of NBC’s The Voice.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
9:15 - 9:50 a.m. -- IRAQ-U.S. RELATIONS: A VIEW FROM BAGHDAD
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Lukman Faily – Ambassador of Iraq to the United States; former Ambassador of Iraq to Japan.
10:00 - 11:30 a.m. -- THE PALESTINIAN FUTURE
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Chair:
Ms. Randa Fahmy – President, Fahmy Hudome International; Treasurer, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S-Arab Relations; former Associate Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy.
Speakers:
H.E. Ambassador Maen Areikat – Chief Representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United States; former Deputy Head and Coordinator-General, Negotiations Affairs Department, PLO.
Mr. Matthew Reynolds – North America Representative, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East; former Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs; U.S. Department of State.
Dr. James Zogby – Founding President, Arab American Institute; Director, Zogby Research Services; Vice Chair, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom; author, Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us, and Why it Matters.
Dr. Imad Harb – Distinguished International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; former Senior Researcher in Strategic Studies, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (Abu Dhabi, UAE).
Commentator:
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.
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. -- KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT
Speaker:
Dr. Khalaf Al Habtoor – Chairman, Al Habtoor Group; businessman, writer, and philanthropist.
1:35 – 1:45 p.m. -- YEMEN-U.S. RELATIONS IN FOCUS
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak – Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the United States; former Director, Presidential Office, and Chief of Staff, Republic of Yemen; former Secretary General, Yemen's National Dialogue Conference.
1:45 – 3:15 p.m. -- ARAB-U.S. BUSINESS, EDUCATION, & HEALTHCARE COOPERATION
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Data on Saudi Arabian Students Studying in the U.S. & Recruitment Information (.pdf)
Chair:
Mr. H. Delano Roosevelt – Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Director of New Business Development, Reza Investment Group; Co-Founder, Friends of Saudi Arabia; Chairman, Middle East Council of American Chambers of Commerce; Member, Board of Directors, American Chamber of Commerce in Bahrain; and Member, Executive Board, American Business Group of the Eastern Province (Saudi Arabia).
Speakers:
Dr. John A. Ulatowski – Interim CEO, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare; Vice President and Executive Medical Director, Johns Hopkins Medicine International; and Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Service Professor of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine, Neurology, and Neurosurgery.
Mr. Khush Choksy – Vice President for Turkey and Middle East Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; provides oversight for the Middle East Commercial Center, the U.S.-Bahrain Business Council, the U.S.-Egypt Business Council, the U.S.-GCC Business Initiative, the U.S.-Iraq Business Initiative, the U.S.-Israel Business Initiative, and the U.S.-Turkey Business Council.
Ms. Nahlah A. Al-Jubeir – Senior International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Director, Center for Career Development, Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission; former Deputy Director for Financial and Administrative Affairs, Saudi Health Mission in Washington, DC.
Dr. Randall W. Burt – Professor Emeritus of Medicine, University of Utah; Director Emeritus of Prevention and Outreach, Huntsman Cancer Institute; former Member, American Cancer Society National Advisory Committee on Colorectal Cancer, Governing Board of the American Gastroenterological Association, and Scientific Advisory Board of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for the Prevention of Colorectal Cancer.
Mr. Mohammed Abou El-Enein – Chairman, Cleopatra Group; Honorary President, Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.
3:30 – 5:00 p.m. -- GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: EGYPT & N. AFRICA
VIDEO
AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
Chair:
Dr. Abderrahim Foukara – Washington, DC Bureau Chief and Host of Min Washington, Al-Jazeera Arabic; Regional Director for the Americas, Al-Jazeera; former Senior Editor, Al-Africa.com.
Speakers:
Ms. Ellen Laipson – President and CEO, The Stimson Center; former Vice Chair, U.S. National Intelligence Council; former Special Assistant to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Dr. William Lawrence – Director of Middle East and North Africa Programs, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy; Visiting Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; President, American Tunisian Association; former Director, North Africa Project, International Crisis Group.
Dr. Dirk Vandewalle – Associate Professor of Government and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College; author, inter alia, A History of Modern Libya and The New Arab Gulf: Power, Wealth and Responsibility in the Global Economy (forthcoming); former Fulbright Regional Research Associate, Gulf Research Center (2005-06), and in Morocco and Yemen (1996-97).
Dr. Paul Sullivan – Senior International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Professor of Economics, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor, Security Studies, Georgetown University; Adjunct Senior Fellow for Future Global Resource Threats, Federation of American Scientists.
5:00 - 5:15 pm -- CLOSING REMARKS
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.