Council Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer – Fall 2011) (.pdf file)
America Knocks for Young Qataris – Qatar Today, November 2011
National Council Vice President Amy Greenlee appeared in the November 2011 issue of Qatar Today discussing the Council’s educational programs and initiatives. In the article, “America Knocks for Young Qataris,” Greenlee highlighted the Council’s Washington, DC Summer Internship Program and the Model Arab League Student Leadership Development Program in addition to the Council’s outreach through art and film.
WHITHER THE ARAB-U.S. RELATIONSHIP IN THE PERIOD AHEAD? POLICY IMPLICATIONS FROM THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
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.
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Dr. Hussein Hassouna - Chief Representative of the League of Arab States to the United States.
Commentators:
Mr. Bill Corcoran - President, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA).
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.
GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS (V): Iran
Chair:
Dr. John L. Iskander - Chair, Near East and North Africa Area Studies, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State.
Speakers:
Mr. Afshin Molavi - Senior Fellow, New America Foundation; Senior Middle East Advisor, Oxford Analytica; and author, The Soul of Iran.
Dr. Janne Nolan - Director, Nuclear Security Programs, American Security Project; former Professor of International Affairs and Deputy Director of the Ridgway Center, University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Flynt Leverett - Director, Iran Initiative, and Senior Research Fellow, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation; and author, Dealing with Tehran: Assessing U.S. Diplomatic Options toward Iran and Inheriting Syria: Bashar’s Trial by Fire.
Dr. Kenneth B. Katzman - Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS (IV): Palestine
Chair:
Mr. Yousef Munayyer - Executive Director, Palestine Center and the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development.
Speakers:
Ms. Michelle Steinberg - Counterintelligence Editor, Executive Intelligence Review (EIR).
Dr. Ghada Karmi - Co-Director, Centre of Palestine Studies, University of Exeter.
Dr. Norton Mezvinsky - Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Connecticut State University; President, International Council for Middle East Studies.
LIBYA: THE WAY FORWARD
Introduction of Speaker:
Ms. Harriet Fulbright - President, J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center; Founder, Harriet Fulbright College.
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Ali Aujali - National Transitional Council of Libya Ambassador to the United States.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HRH PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL
HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal Al Sa’ud - 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.
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) DYNAMICS (III)
Chair:
Dr. John Duke Anthony - Founding President and CEO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and author, inter alia, of Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum and Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia.
Speakers:
Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla - Professor of Political Science, Emirates University (Abu Dhabi); lead author, 2008 Arab Knowledge Report. (UAE)
Dr. Abdulla Al-Shayji - Chairman, Department of Political Science, Kuwait University, and author, Kuwait’s Ceaseless Quest for Survival in a Hostile Environment. (Kuwait)
Mr. Jeremy Jones - Author of Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East and the forthcoming Oman, Culture and Diplomacy; Senior Associate Member, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Distinguished International Fellow. (Oman)
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. (Bahrain)
Commentator:
Mr. Robert Lacey - Historian, and author of, inter alia, The Kingdom: Arabia & the House of Sa’ud (1982) and Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia (2009). (Saudi Arabia)
BUSINESS, INVESTMENT, AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS AND PROSPECTS
Chair:
Mr. Michael Markland - Vice President for Private Wealth Management, Morgan Stanley (Dubai).
Speakers:
Ambassador 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 Saudi Arabia.
Ambassador Joseph LeBaron - Senior Adviser, Patton Boggs LLP; former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar and Mauritania.
Mr. Danny E. Sebright - President, U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council.
Mr. Lionel C. Johnson - Vice President, Middle East and North Africa Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
A VIEW FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Speaker:
Dr. Tamara Wittes - Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs and Deputy Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions, U.S. Department of State.
GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS (II): Arab North Africa (The Maghreb) / Syria / Yemen
Chair:
Ms. Jennifer Salan - Senior Producer, The Stream, Al Jazeera English.
Speakers:
Dr. Néjib Ayachi - Founder and President, Maghreb Center. (Tunisia)
Dr. Michele Dunne - Director, Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East; former Member, White House National Security Council Staff and the Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff, as well as Bureau of Intelligence and Research; and service as a Diplomat in Cairo and Jerusalem. (Egypt)
Mr. Christopher Blanchard - Middle East Policy Analyst, Congressional Research Service. (Syria / Yemen)
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. (Libya)
Dr. Esam Omeish
GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS (I): Iraq
Chair:
Dr. Kenneth B. Katzman - Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Speakers:
Dr. Eric Davis - Professor of Political Science and former Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Rutgers University; author of Memories of State: Politics, History and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq and the forthcoming Taking Democracy Seriously in Iraq.
Dr. Juan Cole - Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan; author of Engaging the Muslim World and Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East; former President, Middle East Studies Association of North America.
Dr. Paul Sullivan - Professor of Economics, Industrial College of Armed Forces, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor of Security Studies and Science, Technology and International Affairs, Georgetown University.
Ms. Shameem Rassam - Media Expert and Analyst, Alhurra Television-Iraq.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Introduction of Speaker:
Dr. John Duke Anthony - Founding President and CEO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and author, inter alia, of Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum and Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia.
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Sameh Shoukry - Ambassador of Egypt to the United States.
Remarks by:
H.E. Dr. Adnan Ahmed Al-Ansari - Ambassador and Observer, Permanent Mission of the Gulf Cooperation Council to the United Nations; former Director, Research Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sultanate of Oman.
H.E. Nasser Tammimi - Political Counselor to the Ambassador and Observer, Permanent Mission of the Gulf Cooperation Council to the United Nations; formerly, Senior Political Adviser to the Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
H.E. AMBASSADOR SHOUKRY AUDIO (.mp3)
H.E. DR. AL-ANSARI AUDIO (.mp3)
ENERGY DYNAMICS
Chair:
The Honorable Molly Williamson - Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute; Immediate Past 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).
Speakers:
Dr. Herman T. Franssen - Executive Director, Energy Intelligence Group; Senior Associate, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Mr. Jay Pryor - Vice President for Corporate Business Development, Chevron Corporation.
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.
DYNAMICS OF DEFENSE COOPERATION
Chair:
Ambassador James Larocco - Director, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; former U.S. Ambassador to the State of Kuwait.
Speakers:
Dr. Joseph Moynihan - Chairman, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Vice President, Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems.
General Joseph Hoar (USMC, Ret.) - Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Central Command with planning and operations responsibility for 27 countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Horn of Africa; Chairman, J.P. Hoar & Associates, a consulting firm engaged in business development in the Middle East and Africa.
Commentators:
Col. David Des Roches (USA) - 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. Bob Sharp - Assistant Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University.
THE MESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. - 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 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.
September 15, 2011
Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC
What Lies Ahead for America in Arabia and the Gulf?: Analyses and Prognoses from NCUSAR on Vimeo.
Participating specialists:
Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman and Founder, Gulf Research Center
Dr. Christian Koch, Director, Gulf Research Center Foundation
Dr. Mustafa Alani, Senior Advisor and Research Program Director, Gulf Research Center
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
September 14, 2011
International Law Institute, Washington, DC
Participants include:
Dr. Philip Giraldi, Executive Director, Council on the National Interest and former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer who served in Turkey, Italy, Germany, and Spain
Dr. Fouzi El-Asmar, Distinguished Palestinian Writer, Poet, Academic, and Journalist
Mr. Mark Perry, American author specializing in Military Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Analysis
Mr. Jeffrey Steinberg, Senior Editor, Journalist, and Lecturer on Middle East and International Security Affairs
Chair:
Professor Don Wallace, Jr., Chairman, International Law Institute and Chair, International Council for Middle East Studies
Council Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter – Spring 2011, Part II) (.pdf file)
Council Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter – Spring 2011, Part I) (.pdf file)
Qatar is ‘perfect for Model Arab League project’ – Gulf Times, July 3, 2011 (.pdf) [read on Gulf Times website]
National Council Vice President Amy Greenlee spoke with Gulf Times, Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper, about the Council’s efforts to expand its educational programs, including the Model Arab League Student Leadership Development Program and its Washington, DC Student Internship Program.
March 31, 2010
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, DC
Featured Speaker:
John Hofmeister, Founder and Chief Executive, Citizens for Affordable Energy, and Former President, Shell Oil Company
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
Through participation in the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ Model Arab League (MAL) program students learn about the politics and history of the Arab world, and the arts of diplomacy and public speech. MAL helps prepare students to be knowledgeable, well-trained, and effective citizens as well as civic and public affairs leaders.
Model Arab League from NCUSAR on Vimeo.
March 2, 2011
Miller & Chevalier, Washington, DC
What You Need to Know Now: The Arabian Dimension in Today’s Mideast Turmoil from NCUSAR on Vimeo.
Participants include:
Dr. Herman Franssen, President, International Energy Associates, and Senior Associate, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Dr. David E. Long, Consultant on Middle East affairs and international terrorism, and author of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Mr. Robert Lacey, Historian and author of The Kingdom and Inside the Kingdom
Mr. Peter A. Iseman, Historian and International Educator
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
Mideast turmoil not to destabilize region, US experts say – Arab News, March 3, 2011
Council Chronicle Vol. 4, No. 3 (Fall – Winter 2010)
(.pdf file)
The National Council, in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (SACM) and Saudi Arabian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), escorted a delegation of female Model Arab League students on a cultural immersion study visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, December 30, 2010 – January 12, 2011.
Visit enlightens 10 American students about Saudi culture, Arab News, April 3, 2011
GV student travels to Saudi Arabia on fellowship, Grand Valley Lanthorn, January 23, 2011
Central grad tells of Saudi trip, Forsyth News, February 1, 2011
Saudi Arabia is no longer ‘foreign’ to me, The Saudi Gazette, February 20, 2011
Fellowship in Saudi Arabia, Grand Valley State University Success Stories, December 21, 2010
POLICY DIRECTIONS FROM THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
H.E. Ambassador Dr. Hussein Hassouna – Chief Representative of the League of Arab States to the United States.
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ‘NATIONAL EXPORT INITIATIVE’ AND ARAB MARKETS: Growing Relationships
Mr. Francisco J. Sánchez – Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade and Head of the International Trade Administration
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT
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 theWashington 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).
OCTOBER 22 KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Oct. 22 Keynote Address – 2010 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.
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.
MUPPET DIPLOMACY
Muppet Diplomacy – 2010 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.
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.
OCTOBER 22 LUNCHEON WELCOME
Oct. 22 Luncheon Welcome – 2010 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.
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.
AMBASSADOR’S REPORT: Saudi Arabian – U.S. Relations: The American Ambassador’s View from Riyadh
Ambassador James B. Smith − United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
ENERGY: Sources, Supply, and Security
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.
GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (III):
The Palestinian Future – Impediments to Peace and Possibilities for Progress
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.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Lieutenant General John R. Allen − Deputy Commander, United States Central Command.
GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES: WHAT FUTURE ARAB EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS?
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.
DEFENSE COOPERATION
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.
REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUES – EVOLVING CONCERNS
Dr. Kathleen Hicks – Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces Department of Defense
VIDEO