25th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Sa'ud

His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Sa'ud served as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States from 2005 to 2007. From 1977 to 2001, he served as the Director General of the General Intelligence Directorate, the Kingdom's main foreign intelligence service. Prince Turki is one of the founders of the King Faisal Foundation and is the Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. Prince Turki serves as a member of the Boards of Trustees of the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies.

The Honorable Chuck Hagel

The Honorable Chuck Hagel served as U.S. Secretary of Defense from February 2013 to February 2015. He also served two terms in the U.S. Senate (1997-2009) representing the state of Nebraska. Secretary Hagel currently serves on the Board of Trustees of RAND Corporation; the Advisory Boards of Deutsche Bank America and Corsair Capital; as Senior Advisor to Gallup and to the McCarthy Group; as Distinguished Executive in Residence at Georgetown University; as Distinguished Statesman at the Atlantic Council; as Centennial Professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha; and on the Board of Directors of the American Security Project.

HH Prince Abdullah Al Sa'ud

His Highness Prince Abdullah Al Sa'ud presented his credentials as Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States to President Barack Obama on January 28, 2016. He began his career as an engineer with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, where he held technical and managerial positions and supervised key studies for the two industrial cities and for the industrial security and safety sector. In the 1980s, Prince Abdullah assumed the duties of Acting Secretary General of the Royal Commission, a post he held until 1987, when he was appointed Secretary General. In January of 1991, he was promoted to the position of Chairman, a role in which he also served as Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Commission and Chairman of its Board of Directors.

General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus

General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus served for 37 years in the United States Army, with his career culminating in six consecutive commands as a general officer, five of which were in combat. After his retirement from the military, General Petraeus served as Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama. General Petraeus is now a Partner with the global investment firm KKR and the Chairman of the KKR Global Institute. He has been awarded numerous U.S. military, State Department, NATO, and United Nations medals, and holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

H.E. Dr. Adel Altoraifi

H.E. Dr. Adel Altoraifi was appointed Saudi Arabia's Minister of Culture & Information in January 2015. He is among the youngest ministers to ever have been appointed in the Saudi Arabian government. In addition to his ministerial role, H.E. Dr. Altoraifi was also appointed a member of The Council of Political and Security Affairs and The Council of Economic and Development Affairs. He previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat and the news magazine Al-Majalla. In 2014, he became General Manager of the Dubai-based international news networks Al Arabiya TV and Al Hadath.

Mr. David Ignatius

Mr. David Ignatius writes a twice-a-week foreign affairs column for The Washington Post and contributes to the newspaper's PostPartisan blog. He joined The Washington Post in 1986 as Editor of its Sunday Outlook section. In 1990 he became Foreign Editor, and in 1993, Assistant Managing Editor for Business News. He began writing his column in 1998 and continued it while serving as Executive Editor of the International Herald Tribune in Paris for three years. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ignatius served as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. He has written eight novels, one of which, Body of Lies, was made into a major feature film.

Dr. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor

Dr. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor is Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group – one of the most successful conglomerates in the Gulf. He is a businessman and philanthropist, a promoter of peace, and an unofficial ambassador for his country abroad. He writes on local and international politics, and has released a number of books. Dr. Al Habtoor began his career as an employee of a local UAE construction firm and in 1970 established his own company, Al Habtoor Engineering. His company later became the Al Habtoor Group, and over the last 40 years it has grown to include interests throughout the Middle East and around the world.

Ms. Raghida Dergham

Ms. Raghida Dergham is a Columnist, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, and the New York Bureau Chief for the London-based Al Hayat newspaper. She is dean of the international media at the United Nations, and the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Beirut Institute, an independent, non-partisan, indigenous think tank for the Arab region with a global reach. Ms. Dergham is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an Honorary Fellow at the Foreign Policy Association. She served on the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum and is a member of the Development Advisory Committee of the IAP – the Global Network of Science Academies.

Congressman (Ret.) Howard P. "Buck" McKeon

Congressman (Ret.) Howard P. "Buck" McKeon served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 until 2015. He was elected Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 2009 and successfully led the Congress to pass the National Defense Authorization Act each year while leading the committee. Congressman McKeon also served a term as Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and was Ranking Member of that committee when appointed as Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee. He retired from Congress in 2015 and now works in the private sector on issues related to education and the military with his team at McKeon Group LLC.

Mr. Mohamed M. Abou El Enein

Mr. Mohamed M. Abou El Enein is an Egyptian businessman, investor, and politician. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Cleopatra Group, one of the largest investment companies in Egypt with ventures in agriculture, mining, real estate, tourism, media, technology, and aviation. Mr. Abou El Enein served as a Member of Egypt's Parliament for over 15 years, where he was chairman of several committees. He served for two years as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, an international organization consisting of 37 member countries north and south of the Mediterranean Sea, and is an International Business and Economic Consultant for the UN World Organization for Trade in Services.

Mr. Steve Clemons

Mr. Steve Clemons is Washington Editor at Large for The Atlantic and Editor of Atlantic Live. He writes frequently about politics and foreign affairs. Mr. Clemons is also a Senior Fellow and the Founder of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington, D.C., where he previously served as Executive Vice President. 

Vice Admiral (Ret.) John Miller

Vice Admiral (Ret.) John Miller retired from the U.S. Navy in 2015 after serving as the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command; Commander, Combined Maritime Forces; and Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet. In that role he oversaw maritime security and stability throughout 2.5 million square miles of area including the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean, and 20 countries. Vice Admiral Miller has received numerous U.S. military awards including the Distinguished Service Medal. He currently serves as a consultant, policy advisor, and speaker based in Washington, D.C.

H.E. Dr. Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak

H.E. Dr. Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the U.S. in July 2015. He is also the Director of the Presidential Office and Chief of Staff. Ambassador Bin Mubarak serves as the Secretary General of Yemen's National Dialogue Conference (NDC), where he leads a team of hundreds of employees and volunteers, facilitates mediation efforts, and provides technical support to the NDC's delegates. He also serves as a Member and Rapporteur of the Regions Committee, which determines the regional borders of the new federal state.

Ambassador (Ret.) James B. Smith

Ambassador (Ret.) James B. Smith is the CEO of Crosswinds Strategic Consulting, a firm co-founded with his wife, Dr. Janet Breslin-Smith, which focuses on business, education, healthcare, and women’s initiatives in the Middle East. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2009 to 2013. Ambassador Smith, a retired Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force, was an F-15 fighter pilot and flew combat missions from Dhahran AB, Saudi Arabia, during Operation Desert Storm. In his last assignment at the Joint Warfighting Center, Joint Forces Command, he led Millennium Challenge, the largest defense experiment in U.S. history.

Dr. Khalid Al-Jaber

Dr. Khalid Al-Jaber is Director of the AlSharq Studies & Research Center in Qatar. Previously, he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, Qatar's leading English language daily newspaper, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al Sharq ("The East"), the sister Arabic daily of The Peninsula. He is also Principal at Global Media Consultants in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Al-Jaber serves as an Assistant Professor of Political Communication in the Gulf Studies Program at Qatar University and as a visiting Assistant Professor at Northwestern University in Qatar. In 2016, he joined the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations as a Distinguished International Affairs Fellow.

Ms. Yara Bayoumy

Ms. Yara Bayoumy has been a foreign correspondent with Reuters for over a decade. She has reported from more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Since April, Ms. Bayoumy has been based in Washington, D.C., as Deputy Foreign Affairs and National Security Editor. Most recently, she was a Senior Gulf Correspondent based in Dubai, where she reported on GCC security and politics. Ms. Bayoumy was the only full-time foreign correspondent in Sana'a when the Houthis attacked President Hadi's presidential palace in January 2015. Her reporting often focuses on conflict, political, and security themes.

Mr. Nat Kern

Mr. Nat Kern is the President of Foreign Reports, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm that distributes original reporting on political developments in the Middle East relevant to oil markets. He has been with the firm since 1972, becoming Vice President in 1975, and President in 1990. Mr. Kern writes extensively on Middle East oil affairs with a particular emphasis on the Gulf. He has special ties to Saudi Arabia, having worked for decades on various issues facing the U.S.-Saudi Arabian relationship. During his undergraduate studies, Mr. Kern attended the University of Riyadh from 1970 until 1971, becoming the first non-Arab student to study in the kingdom.

Ambassador (Ret.) Patrick Theros

Ambassador (Ret.) Patrick Theros is the President of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, the key trade facilitation organization between the United States and Qatar. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Qatar from 1995 to 1998. Ambassador Theros spent 36 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, which included postings in Amman, Abu Dhabi, Damascus, and with U.S. Central Command. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to Qatar, he served as Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, responsible for the coordination of all U.S. Government counterterrorism activities outside the U.S. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Middle East Policy Council.

Ms. Shireen Said

Ms. Shireen Said has been the Commercial Attaché at the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in Washington, D.C. since July 2009. She works to expand the trade relationship between Oman and U.S., and to facilitate the Oman-U.S. Free Trade Agreement to promote inward investment and export sales for the Sultanate. Prior to her appointment in Washington, Ms. Said served at ITHRAA, formerly known as Oman’s Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development. She also spent 12-years at the Central Bank of Oman, where she was a Senior Research Analyst focusing on World Trade Organization and Free Trade Agreement-related issues.

Mr. Edward Burton

Mr. Edward Burton is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council. He works with the American and Saudi public and private sectors to promote the interests of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian bilateral commercial relationship. Prior to joining the Business Council, Mr. Burton served as the Commercial Attaché at the American Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was responsible for all U.S. Foreign Commercial Service operations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He is the author of the recently published book Business and Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia: Opportunities for Partnering and Investing in Emerging Businesses.

Mr. Danny E. Sebright

Mr. Danny E. Sebright is the President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, the leading advocate for building commercial relationships and expanding business opportunities between the two countries. In 2002, Mr. Sebright joined The Cohen Group, an international strategic consulting firm led by former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, serving until recently as Vice President responsible for pursuing many of the firm’s international activities. Mr. Sebright now leads The Cohen Group efforts in the Middle East. Previously, Mr. Sebright served as the U.S. Defense Department’s Director of the Policy Executive Secretariat for the global war on terrorism from 2001-2002.

Ms. Julie Monaco

Ms. Julie Monaco is the Global Head of Citi's Public Sector Group in the Corporate and Investment Banking division of Citi's Institutional Clients Group. She leads the banking coverage team that is responsible for providing a full range of financial services to public sector clients globally. Prior to joining Citi, Ms. Monaco spent six years at J.P.Morgan Chase. In 2015, she was named for the sixth year to American Banker's list of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking and in 2010 was recognized by Treasury & Risk magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance.

Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman

Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). He is the author of a wide range of studies on U.S. security policy, energy policy, and Middle East policy, and has served as a consultant to the U.S. State Department, Defense Department, and intelligence community. Dr. Cordesman has been awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal and is a former Adjunct Professor of National Security Studies at Georgetown University. He is the author of more than 50 books, including a four-volume series on the lessons of modern war.

Dr. Newton Howard

Dr. Newton Howard, a former U.S. military and national security research scientist, is a Professor of Computational Neuroscience and Neurosurgery at the University of Oxford and the Director of the Synthetic Intelligence Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2014, Dr. Howard joined Dr. Ali M. Al Rakaf to initiate Project CODE, an international development effort designed to address three of the biggest challenges confronting the Middle East today: healthcare, food security, and homeland security. Project CODE has the goal of acquiring 500 companies in the coming years to bring many of the world's leading technologies and technologists to Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Herman Franssen

Dr. Herman Franssen is Executive Director of the Energy Intelligence Group. He is also President of International Energy Associates, Inc., an energy advisory group in Washington, D.C. Dr. Franssen is a Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Adjunct Scholar with the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. He served as Senior Economic Advisor to the Minister of Petroleum and Minerals of the Sultanate of Oman from 1985 to 1996 and originated the formation of the Independent Petroleum Exporting Countries (IPEC), an informal grouping of 14 oil-exporting non-OPEC countries and provinces.

Dr. Abdullah K. Al-Shayji

Dr. Abdullah K. Al-Shayji is a Professor of Political Science and the former Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Kuwait University. He is a specialist in Gulf and U.S. politics. Dr. Al-Shayji is also a lecturer at Kuwait's Mubarak Al Abdullah Joint Command and Staff College, and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Institute. He has published articles in both Arabic and English on issues related to elections and the Kuwaiti parliamentary experience, democratization, Gulf security, and the external and internal factors affecting political reforms in the GCC states.

Ms. Cate Luzio

Ms. Cate Luzio is Executive Vice President and Global Head of Multinational Coverage for Global Commercial Banking at HSBC. Prior to joining HSBC, Ms. Luzio spent over 6 years in London with J.P.Morgan and was most recently a Managing Director and the Head of Multinational Corporate Banking across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During her time at J.P.Morgan, she established a Saudi Arabia Women's Network, the first of its kind within the industry, and was heavily involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives across the Middle East. In 2015, she was named one of the Top 25 Women to Watch by American Banker.

Dr. Paul Sullivan

Dr. Paul Sullivan is a Senior International Affairs Fellow with the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. He has been a Professor of Economics at the National Defense University since 1999. There he has also been an advisor to flag officers from the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and East Asia and was a part of the initial point team to help establish a National Defense University in the UAE. Dr. Sullivan is also an Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University as well as an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Future Global Resource Threats at the Federation of American Scientists.

Mr. Nawaf Althari

Mr. Nawaf Althari is one of the United Nations' focal points for the UN's Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Piracy efforts. In that capacity he leads the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre's (UNCCT) Expert Advisory Board. He oversees UNCCT projects related to capacity building, countering violent extremism, preventing online radicalization, and dealing directly with international terrorists. Mr. Althari headed the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) during Saudi Arabia's chairmanship in 2014-2015 and is currently OIC Coordinator for all counter-terrorism matters at the United Nations. In 2016, he joined the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations as a Distinguished International Affairs Fellow.

Mr. Saed Moujtahed

Mr. Saed Moujtahed is President of the Syrian Institute for Progress (SIP), an organization that focuses on addressing and supporting the needs of Syrian refugees. SIP administers the Burnt Children Relief Foundation, which is dedicated to healing the wounds of war for Syrian children by providing life-changing surgical care in the United States. SIP has partnered with the Shriners Hospital in Galveston, Texas, to treat special cases of Syrian children injured in the ongoing war.

Mr. Greg Simon

Mr. Greg Simon is the Executive Director of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Task Force. Mr. Simon returned to the White House after serving as Vice President Al Gore's Chief Domestic Policy Advisor between 1993 and 1997. Previously, Mr. Simon was the CEO of the financial firm Poliwogg Holdings and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Policy at Pfizer Inc. Prior to that, he was the founding President of FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, a center of the Milken Institute.

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Dr. John Duke Anthony is the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. On June 22, 2000, on his first official state visit to the United States, H.M. King Muhammad VI of Morocco knighted Dr. Anthony, bestowing upon him Morocco's highest award for excellence. Dr. Anthony currently serves on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and its Subcommittee on Sanctions (with special reference to Iran). He is the only American to have been invited to each of the Gulf Cooperation Council's Ministerial and Heads of State Summits since the GCC's inception in 1981.