2010 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

Links to video and transcripts from the 2010 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference are available below. Jump to a specific panel by clicking on the session title in the list immediately below or scroll further down to see the complete program.

Oct. 21

Oct. 22

Dr. John Duke Anthony
RADM Harold J. Bernsen, (USN, Ret.)

Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr.

Dr. Landrum Bolling

Mr. Charles Dunne
Dr. Michel Gabaudan
Mr. Michael Corbin
Ms. Manal Omar
Mr. Brian Katulis

Dr. John Iskander
Dr. Flynt Leverett
Mr. Thomas Delare
Dr. Trita Parsi
Dr. Kenneth B. Katzman
Dr. Thomas R. Mattair

Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker

H.E. Adel A. Al-Jubeir

Dr. Kathleen Hicks

Secretary William S. Cohen
Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman
Mr. Joseph McMillan
Mr. Christopher Blanchard
Major General Mohammed Elkeshky
General Joseph P. Hoar, (USMC, Ret.)

Ms. Anne Joyce
Dr. Mody Al Khalaf
Ms. Magali Rheault
Ms. Maggie Mitchell Salem
Mr. John Moran

Lieutenant General John R. Allen

Mr. William Corcoran
Ms. Kathleen Christison
Dr. Sara Roy
Mr. Andrew Whitley
Ms. Barbara Lubin
H.E. Sameh Shoukry
H.E. Maen Areikat

Ms. Randa Fahmy Hudome
Dr. Herman Franssen
Mr. Jay Pryor
Ms. Rayola Dougher

Ambassador James B. Smith

HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Sa’ud
Mr. Robert Lacey
Ms. Elizabeth Wossen
Mr. H. Melvin Ming
HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Sa’ud

Ms. Barbara G. B. Ferguson
Ambassador Ford M. Fraker
Dr. Hani K. Findakly
Mr. Brad Bourland
Dr. Lama Suleiman

Mr. Francisco J. Sánchez

H.E. Dr. Hussein Hassouna

Thursday, October 21, 2010

8:50 A.M. – 9:00 a.m.: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Dr. John Duke Anthony – President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Rear Admiral Harold J. Bernsen, (USN, Ret.) – Chairman, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; President, Board of Trustees of Physicians for Peace; Director, American-Bahraini Friendship Society; former Commander, U.S.-Middle East Force; and Director Emeritus, National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

9:00 – 9:50 a.m.: ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: Misadventures Past and Present
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. – Chairman of the Board, Projects International, Inc., a Washington, DC-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 of the newly published America’s Misadventures in the Middle East as well as The Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition) and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.

9:50 – 10:00 a.m.: DISTINGUISHED LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND MULTIFAITH COOPERATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
AUDIO (.mp3)
VIDEO

Presented to: Dr. Landrum Bolling

Dr. Landrum Bolling is Director at Large and Senior Advisor to Mercy Corps working out of its Washington, D.C. office. His long career has spanned the academic world − where he was President of Earlham College for fifteen years; the foundation world – where he served as President of the Lilly Endowment, one of the largest grant-making foundations in the world, and Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Foundations; the world of ecumenical relations – where he was Director of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem; and the world of “non-official” diplomacy – where he has long served as a communications channel between the White House, the State Department, and Palestinian leaders.

10:00 – 11:15 a.m.: GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (I):
The Endgame in Iraq
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

CHAIR:

Mr. Charles Dunne - Resident Scholar with the Middle East Institute; former Foreign Policy Adviser to the J-5, Director of Strategic Plans and Policy of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon; former Director for Iraq at the National Security Council.

SPEAKERS:

Dr. Michel Gabaudan − President, Refugees International

Mr. Michael Corbin − Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs

Ms. Manal Omar – Director of Iraq Programs, Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations, United States Institute of Peace

Mr. Brian Katulis – Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

11:15 – 12:30 p.m.: GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (II):
The Iran Conundrum
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

CHAIR:

Dr. John Iskander − Chair of Near East and North Africa Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute; Professorial Lecturer at the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University; former Professor of Islamic Studies at Georgia State University.

SPEAKERS:

Dr. Flynt Leverett − Director, Iran Initiative, Senior Research Fellow, American Strategy Program and Director, Geopolitics of Energy Initiative, New America Foundation.

Mr. Thomas Delare –Director, Terrorism Finance and Sanctions Policy, Economic Bureau, United States Department of State; former Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy; former Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.

Dr. Trita Parsi − Founder and President of the National Iranian American Council [NIAC]; author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel, and the United States and silver medal winner of the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations; 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving world Order.

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

COMMENTATOR:

Dr. Thomas R. Mattair − Executive Director, Middle East Policy Council; Associate Editor, Middle East Policy.

1:00 – 2:15 p.m.: LUNCHEON AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

LUNCHEON SPONSORED BY THE U.S.-U.A.E. BUSINESS COUNCIL

INTRODUCTIONS: Dr. John Duke Anthony − President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER: Rear Admiral Harold J. Bernsen, (USN, Ret.) − Chairman, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; President, Board of Trustees of Physicians for Peace; Director, American-Bahraini Friendship Society; former Commander, U.S.-Middle East Force; and Director Emeritus, National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

LUNCHEON SPEAKER: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker – Dean and Executive Professor at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University; former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2007-2009); former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (2004-2007); and previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon.

2:15 – 2:45 p.m.: AMBASSADOR’S REPORT: Saudi Arabian – U.S. Relations: The Saudi Arabian Ambassador’s View from Washington
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT

H.E. Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir – Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States and Advisor at the Royal Court.

2:45 – 3:15 p.m.: REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUES – EVOLVING CONCERNS
VIDEO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Dr. Kathleen Hicks – Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces Department of Defense

3:15 – 4:45 p.m.: DEFENSE COOPERATION
VIDEO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
SLIDES FROM DR. ANTHONY CORDESMAN (.pdf)

CHAIR:

Secretary William S. Cohen − Chairman and Chief Executive of the Cohen Group; former United States Secretary of Defense (1997-2001).

SPEAKERS:

Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman− Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Adjunct Professor in National Security Affairs, Georgetown University.

Mr. Joseph McMillan − Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Department of Defense.

Mr. Christopher Blanchard − Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs, Congressional Research Service.

COMMENTATORS:

Major General Mohammed Elkeshky − Defense Attaché of Egypt to the United States and Canada.

General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, Ret.) – Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Central Command.

4:45 – 6:00 p.m.: GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES: WHAT FUTURE ARAB EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS?
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
SLIDES FROM DR. MODY AL KHALAF (.pdf)
SLIDES FROM MS. MAGALI RHEAULT (.pdf)

CHAIR:

Ms. Anne Joyce – Vice President, Middle East Policy Council; Editor, Middle East Policy.

SPEAKERS:

Dr. Mody Al Khalaf − Director of Social and Cultural Affairs, Saudi Cultural Mission, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia.

Ms. Magali Rheault − Senior Analyst with the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies.

Ms. Maggie Mitchell Salem − Executive Director of Qatar Foundation International; former Regional Director for the MENA region at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems; first Director of Communications and External Relations for the Middle East Institute; former Foreign Service Officer, United States Department of State.

COMMENTATOR:

Mr. John Moran – Career Member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, United States Department of State; Distinguished Diplomat in Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.: RECEPTION FOR CONFERENCE REGISTRANTS, SPEAKERS, VIPS, AND THE ARAB DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY, HOSTED BY HIS EXCELLENCY AMBASSADOR SAMIR SUMAIDA’IE, AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ TO THE UNITED STATES

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2010

8:45 – 9:30 a.m.: KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Lieutenant General John R. Allen − Deputy Commander, United States Central Command.

9:30 – 11:00 a.m.: GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (III):
The Palestinian Future – Impediments to Peace and Possibilities for Progress
VIDEO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

CHAIR:

Mr. William Corcoran − President, ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid).

SPEAKERS:

Ms. Kathleen Christison − former Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency; Author, Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy; The Wound of Dispossession: Telling the Palestinian Story; and, Palestine in Pieces: Graphic Perspectives on the Israeli Occupation.

Dr. Sara Roy − Senior Research Scholar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University.

Mr. Andrew Whitley − Director, UNRWA Representative Office, New York.

Ms. Barbara Lubin - Founder and Executive Director, Middle East Children's Alliance.

COMMENTATORS:

H.E. Sameh Shoukry − Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United States.

H.E. Maen Areikat − Representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the United States.

11:00 – 12:00 p.m.: ENERGY: Sources, Supply, and Security
VIDEO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)
MS. RAYOLA DOUGHER SLIDES (.pdf)
DR. HERMAN FRANSSEN SLIDES (.pdf)

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:

Dr. Herman Franssen − President, International Energy Associates and Senior Associate, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies [CSIS].

Mr. Jay Pryor − Chevron Corporation, Vice President for Corporate Business Development.

Ms. Rayola Dougher – Senior Economic Advisor, American Petroleum Institute.

12:00 – 12:30 p.m.: AMBASSADOR’S REPORT: Saudi Arabian – U.S. Relations: The American Ambassador’s View from Riyadh
VIDEO
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Ambassador James B. Smith − United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1:00 – 2:30 p.m.: LUNCHEON AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO OF HRH PRINCE ABDULAZIZ BIN TALAL WELCOME
VIDEO OF MUPPET DIPLOMACY
VIDEO OF HRH PRINCE TURKI AL FAISAL AL SA’UD REMARKS
HRH PRINCE TURKI AL FAISAL AL SA’UD AUDIO (.mp3)
MUPPET DIPLOMACY AUDIO (.mp3)
HRH PRINCE PRINCE ABDULAZIZ BIN TALAL REMARKS (.pdf)
HRH PRINCE TURKI AL FAISAL AL SA’UD REMARKS (.pdf)
SLIDES FROM MUPPET DIPLOMACY (.pdf)

LUNCHEON SPONSORED BY THE XENEL GROUP OF COMPANIES

INTRODUCTIONS: Dr. John Duke Anthony - President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

WELCOME ON BEHALF OF HRH PRINCE TALAL BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SA’UD: HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Sa’ud – Chairman, Arab Open University Forum; Chairman, Transpacific Broadcast Group International.

WELCOME ON BEHALF OF XENEL: Mr. Robert Lacey − Historian and author of The Kingdom: Arabia & the House of Sa’ud (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: 1982) and Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia (Viking/Penguin:2009), which brings the story up to date.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER: Ms. Elizabeth Wossen – Principal, Energy Links Group, LLC; Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

LUNCHEON PROGRAM: “Muppet Diplomacy”

Mr. H. Melvin Ming − Chief Operating Officer, Sesame Workshop.

Sesame Workshop shares a common mission with the National Council on U.S.- Arab Relations – to promote awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the Arab countries and the Islamic world. Referring to its work as "Muppet Diplomacy," Sesame Workshop has been creating captivating youth programming that has reached across divides for over forty years. More than thirty countries, including Egypt, Palestine, and Jordan, have developed local co-productions of Sesame Street. With the help of furry and fuzzy Muppets, these programs reach children by focusing on the unique educational needs of each country - interspersing lessons on basic reading and math with lessons in cooperation, mutual respect, and understanding.

LUNCHEON SPEAKER: HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Sa’ud – Chairman, King Faisal Foundation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; former Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the Court of St. James and to the United States of America; former Director General, Intelligence Directorate General, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: EXEMPLARY CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD presented to THE KING FAISAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND ISLAMIC STUDIES for deepening the understanding of Arab-Islamic heritage, encouraging creative artistry, promoting intellectual inquiry, bridging cultural tradition and the study of contemporary issues affecting Saudi Arabia, the Arab, and the Islamic worlds, and enhancing dialogue, understanding, and cooperation among civilizations, nations, and peoples.

2:30 – 4:00 p.m.: BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

CHAIR:

Ms. Barbara G. B. Ferguson - Washington Bureau Chief, Arab News; Co-Chair, International correspondents committee, The National Press Club, Washington, D.C.; author, “Country Reports” on Bahrain, Morocco, and Kazakhstan for the Washington Times; embedded war correspondent during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait in 1990-1991 and in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

SPEAKERS:

Ambassador Ford M. Fraker − Senior Adviser and Chairman for the Middle East and North Africa Group at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P.

Dr. Hani K. Findakly - Investment Banker and Director of Clinton Group , Inc.; former Vice Chairman of the Clinton Group; Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and its task forces on “The Balkans 2010” and “Middle East Trade and Investments.”

Mr. Brad Bourland − Chief Economist at Jadwa Investment Company.

Dr. Lama Suleiman −First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).

4:00 - 4:30 p.m.: PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ‘NATIONAL EXPORT INITIATIVE’ AND ARAB MARKETS: Growing Relationships
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Mr. Francisco J. Sánchez - Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade and Head of the International Trade Administration

4:30 – 5:00 P.M.: POLICY DIRECTIONS FROM THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Hussein Hassouna - Chief Representative of the League of Arab States to the United States.

5:00 p.m.: CONCLUDING REMARKS AND ADJOURNMENT

Dr. John Duke Anthony – President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

19th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference