COUNCIL CHRONICLE RECAP (.pdf – page 7)

PICTURES

This essay from Dr. Anthony examines the diplomatic and geopolitical challenges and opportunities for the three most recent Saudi Arabian Ambassadors to the United States: Prince Bandar, Prince Turki, and Adel Al-Jubeir. Dr. Anthony wrote an earlier biography of Adel Al-Jubeir for the Biographical Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East & North Africa in 2007. Centgage Learning, the publisher of that two-volume work, has granted permission to reprint the earlier version and to bring the essay up to date. The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East & North Africa can be purchased here: http://bit.ly/seY6oo.

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.

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.

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:

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.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

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.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

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.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

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)

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

Speaker:

Dr. Tamara Wittes - Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs and Deputy Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions, U.S. Department of State.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

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

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

SLIDES FROM DR. DAVIS (.pdf)

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)

REMARKS BY H.E. AMB. SHOUKRY (.pdf)

REMARKS BY H.E. DR. AL-ANSARI (.pdf)

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.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

This essay from Dr. Anthony analyzes the multifaceted implications of NATO’s interventions in Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq. It was written for the website of the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR). The ECSSR is one of the GCC countries’ oldest and most productive think tanks and research institutes on public policy issues. A shorter version of this essay was published on the ECSSR website and can be accessed here: http://bit.ly/oQzeAV.

 
Watch the segment on YouTube

2011 Gockel International Symposium
“Charting a New Course for Egypt”
September 22, 2011
Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, MO

National Council President & CEO Dr. John Duke Anthony joined Dr. Mark Long, Director of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor at Baylor University, as the featured speakers at Missouri Southern State University’s 2011 Gockel International Symposium in September. The symposium focused on “Charting a New Course for Egypt.” Audio and video from the September 22 morning discussion with Dr. Anthony (“The Changing Nature of America’s Interests in Egypt: Implications for U.S. Policies”) and from the September 22 evening discussion with both Dr. Long (“If We Turn Our Backs”) and Dr. Anthony (“Egypt in Regional and World Affairs: Dynamics of Convergence and Divergence”) is available from the Council through iTunes and other podcast services as well here.

Dr. John Duke Anthony – The Changing Nature of America’s Interests in Egypt: Implications for U.S. Policies (.mp3)

Dr. Mark Long – If We Turn Our Backs / Dr. John Duke Anthony – Egypt in Regional and World Affairs: Dynamics of Convergence and Divergence (.mp3)

MSSU GOCKEL SYMPOSIUM HOME

Speaker: New Egypt will likely draw from Arab, Western governments – Joplin Globe, September 22, 2011

 
Watch the segment on YouTube

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

AUDIO (.mp3)

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

AUDIO (.mp3)

PICTURES

Visit of University Professors from America, Yacout Info, July 4, 2011

PICTURES

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.

This essay from Dr. Anthony analyzes the Gulf Cooperation Council’s response to Bahrain’s request for defense assistance in March 2011. It was written for the website of the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR). The ECSSR is one of the GCC countries’ oldest and most productive think tanks and research institutes on public policy issues. A shorter version of this essay was published on the ECSSR website and can be accessed here: http://t.co/MLsibJx.

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

VIDEO

http://ncusar.org/modelarableague

Dr. John Duke Anthony – Analyzing Transformational Change in the Arab World (.mp3)

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

AUDIO (.mp3)

Mideast turmoil not to destabilize region, US experts say – Arab News, March 3, 2011

February 28, 2011 marks the anniversary of a momentous event: the reversal of Iraq’s aggression against Kuwait from August 2, 1990 to February 28, 1991. For Kuwaitis, the citizenry of their fellow GCC members, and people from many other countries, including the United States and other Allied Coalition members, the multifaceted damage inflicted by Iraq in the course of its invasion and occupation of Kuwait unleashed changes from which the world has yet to fully recover.

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

COUNCIL CHRONICLE RECAP (.pdf – page 3)

PICTURES

Saladin: Empire and Holy War

By Peter Gubser. Dr. Gubser was a cofounder of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and longtime Treasurer of the National Council’s board of directors.

Gorgias Press, 2010, available in paperback, 467 pp.

Saladin, the great Muslim leader of the twelfth century, generated far-reaching change in the Middle East. During his life, he profoundly altered the region’s landscape in religious, political, geographic and ethnic terms. In the West, he is famous for sharply curtailing the Crusader presence in the region, but also for the chivalrous and honorable way he dealt with adversaries and neighbors. In Muslim lands, he is well known – even lionized – for his success vis-à-vis the Crusaders.

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

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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

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 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).

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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.

TRANSCRIPT

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.

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

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.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.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

MS. RAYOLA DOUGHER SLIDES (.pdf)

DR. HERMAN FRANSSEN SLIDES (.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.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.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.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

SLIDES FROM DR. MODY AL KHALAF (.pdf)

SLIDES FROM MS. MAGALI RHEAULT (.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.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

SLIDES FROM DR. ANTHONY CORDESMAN (.pdf)

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

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT

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.

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.

VIDEO

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.

VIDEO

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

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award – 2010 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

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.

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.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT

Remembrance from John Duke Anthony, President & CEO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations

Further from John Duke Anthony at Washington, DC’s Cosmos Club, September 20, 2010

Advocate of Palestinian Development and Empowerment Dies, U.S. Department of State, Sept. 16, 2010

Further from John Duke Anthony – at Washington, DC’s Cosmos Club, September 20, 2010 (.pdf file)

In collaboration with the U.S.-Qatar Business Council and the Arab Bankers Association of North America.

Panelists:

Aamir Rehman, Managing Director at Fajr Capital Limited and author of Dubai & Co.: Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States and Gulf Capital & Islamic Finance: The Rise of the New Global Players

Umar Moghul, Partner at Murtha Cullina LLP and co-chair of the firm’s Islamic Finance and Investments Group

Ibrahim Warde, Adjunct Professor of International Business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and author of Islamic Finance in the Global Economy

Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Chief Shariah Officer at Shariah Capital

Frank Vogel, Professor Harvard Law School and author of The Islamic School of Law: Evolution, Devolution and Progress and Islamic Law and Legal System: Studies of Saudi Arabia

Moderator:

Jean-François Seznec, Visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

VIDEO

The Arab World and the Future of Global Energy Supply: Realities, Risks, and Prospects from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

Participating specialists include:

Mr. Guy Caruso, Senior Advisor, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

The Hon. Molly Williamson, Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute; Immediate Past Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Energy

Ms. Randa Fahmy Hudome, President, Fahmy Hudome International; Former Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy

Ms. Sarah Ladislaw, Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Moderator:

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

AUDIO (.mp3)

Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation Hosts Visit of US Students from NCUSAR Youth Leadership Development Program [Photo]

Follow the student delegation on Andrew Cotton’s blog

A window on the Arab world, Northeastern University News, July 1, 2010

Girl Effect movement sweeping the globe, By Muna Abu Sulayman, Arab News, June 15, 2010

Americans divided over US policies on Israel, say US students, Arab News, June 20, 2010

Ministry of Higher Education Hosts Delegation from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, Ministry of Higher Education, June 16, 2010 [Arabic]

NCUSAR Visits Jubail Industrial City, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu News, June 21, 2010

Overseas trip changes perceptions of UM-Dearborn student, The Arab American News, October 10, 2010

COUNCIL CHRONICLE RECAP (.pdf – page 3)

PICTURES

John Duke Anthony interview with Al-Arabiya – April 24, 2010 [ARABIC] from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

Afshin Molavi discusses his experiences at Arab News in the National Council’s Joe Alex Morris Jr. Journalism Internship Program.

Iran Nuclear Programme 20-March-2010 from Joslyn Massad on Vimeo.

2010 Model Arab League in the News

Featured Speaker:

HRH Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein

Moderator:

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

VIDEO

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT‘S RECAP

VIDEO

AUDIO – Part 1 (mp3)

AUDIO – Part 2 (mp3)

Yemen Headlined: Contemporary Myths and Empirical Realities from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

Panelists:

Ambassador Barbara Bodine, Director, Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative, Princeton University, and former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen

Dr. Christopher Boucek, Associate in the Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Mr. Gregory Johnsen, Ph.D. Candidate, Princeton University; Co-Founder, Waq al-Waq: Islam and Insurgency in Yemen Blog; and former Fulbright and American Institute for Yemen Studies Fellow in Yemen

Ambassador James A. Larocco, Near East and South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, U.S. Department of Defense, and former U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait

Dr. Mustafa Alani, Senior Advisor and Research Program Director, Gulf Research Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Moderator:

Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; former Fulbright Fellow in the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen; and one of two Americans to have served as an official observer for all four of Yemen’s presidential and parliamentary elections

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

AUDIO – Part 1 (.mp3)

AUDIO – Part 2 (.mp3)

PROJECT ON MIDDLE EAST DEMOCRACY RECAP

REMARKS REFERENCED BY AMB. JAMES LAROCCO

CNI: Jerusalem Calling

Arab-U.S. Relations: The Way Forward – 2009 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

Speaker: The Hon. Charles W. (“Chas”) Freeman, Jr. − Chairman of the Board, Projects International, Inc., a Washington, DC-based business 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 European 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 Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition) and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

The Obama Administration: Views from the Region – 2009 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

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:

Mr. Ibrahim Helal − Deputy Managing Editor, Al Jazeera Satellite Television, English; former Deputy Managing Director, News and Programs; former Middle East and North Africa Project Director, BBC World Service Trust, responsible for the training and development of Arab media organizations; Editor-in-Chief, Al-Jazeera Arabic Channel (2001-2004); former Head of News, Abu Dhabi TV (2000-2001).

Mr. Hisham Melhem − Washington Bureau Chief, Al-Arabiya, the Dubai-UAE based satellite channel; former host of Al-Arabiya’s “Across the Ocean”, a weekly current affairs program on U.S.-Arab relations; Correspondent, Annahar, the leading Lebanese daily.

Ms. Nadia Bilbassy-Charters – Chief Correspondent, Middle East Broadcasting Center, Washington, D.C., covering the White House and the State Department; formerly Al-Arabiya Television Diplomatic Correspondent; former Bureau Chief for Middle East Broadcasting Center based in Nairobi, Kenya covering conflicts across the African continent; formerly with both Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) and Agence France Press (AFP).

AUDIO (.mp3)

Oct. 16 Luncheon Keynote Address – 2009 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

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

Speakers:

H.E. Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo − Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States; appointed to Bahrain’s Majlis ash-Shura [National Advisory] Council by His Majesty the King Shaikh Hamad Bin Salman Al-Khalifa where, prior to her appointment as Ambassador she served on the Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs; and former Secretary General of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society.

Dr. Abdulrahman H. Al-Saeed − Advisor to The Royal Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Director, Office of Special Projects for HRH King ‘Abdallah Bin ‘Abdalaziz Al Sa’ud, Custodian of the Two Holy Places and King of Saudi Arabia.

H.E. Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. Abdulrahman H. Al-Saeed AUDIO (.mp3)

H.E. Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Chair: Ms. Harriet Fulbright − President of the J. William and Harriet Fulbright Center, a non-profit organization which serves to continue Ms. Fulbright’s life’s work in global education and to advance the work of her husband, former longtime U.S. Senate   Foreign Relations Committee Chairman and National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations National Advisory Board Chairman Senator J. William Fulbright.

Speakers:

The Hon. Theodore H. Kattouf − President and Chief Executive Officer, AMIDEAST – America-Mideast Education and Training Services; former United States Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (1998-2001) and Ambassador to Syria (2001-2003); career Foreign Service Officer serving as Deputy Chief of Mission in Damascus, Syria and Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Juan R.I. Cole − Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan; author of, among other works, Engaging the Muslim World, Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East, and Sacred Space and Holy War: The Politics, Culture and History of Shi`ite Islam; blog author, “Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion;” President, Global Americana Institute.

Dr. Mody Al-Khalaf − Director of Cultural and Social Affairs, Saudi Cultural and Educational Mission, Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC;former Professor of Linguistics, Princess Nora University, Prince Sultan University and The Arab Open University, Riyadh; Editor-in-Chief, Al-Mubtaath, a monthly magazine launched in 1978 by the Saudi Cultural Mission covering a range of topics of interest to Saudi students in the United States.

Commentator:

Dr. Abdulrahman H. Al-Saeed − Advisor to The Royal Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Director, Office of Special Projects for HRH King ‘Abdallah Bin ‘Abdalaziz Al Sa’ud, Custodian of the Two Holy Places and King of Saudi Arabia.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

DR. MODY AL-KHALAF PRESENTATION SLIDES (.pdf)

Chair: Mr. Christopher Blanchard − United States Congress, Congressional Research Service (CRS), Middle East Policy Analyst, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division;   author and co-author of, among other works, numerous CRS studies for the Congress, including reports on the Gulf Security Dialogue and related U.S. arms sales, U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and regional perspectives on the Iraq conflict.

Speakers:

General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, Ret.) − former Commander, U.S. Central Command, with responsibility for planning and operations for 27 countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Horn of Africa. Upon retirement from his long military career, General Hoar formed J.P. Hoar & Associates, a consulting firm engaged in business development in the Middle East and Africa.

Dr. Colin Kahl − Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East; Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; former Senior Fellow, The Center for New American Security; former Council on Foreign Relations Fellow at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Mr. Richard J. Millies − Vice President, International Strategy and Business Development, BAE Systems; former Deputy Director, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, U.S. Department of Defense; and former Director of Policy, Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs.

Commentator:

H.E. Mohammed Bin Abdullah Bin Mutib Al Rumaihi − Foreign Minister’s Assistant for Follow Up Affairs, State of Qatar; Qatar’s Ambassador to France and non-resident Ambassador to Belgium, the Swiss Federation, Luxembourg, and the European Union (2002-2003); Head of the Government Committee for Delineating Maritime Borders and   the Working Team of the U.N. Security Council (2006-2007); headed the organizing committees of international conferences such as F77, China 2005, New and Restored Democracies 2006, Gulf Summit 2007, Financing Development Summit 2008, Arab Summit 2009, and the Arab and Latin America Summit 2009; former Major General, Qatari Armed Forces.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Speaker: Mr. Amr Ahmed Ramadan – Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt; former Trade Negotiator at the Permanent Mission of Geneva (1999-2004); former Director of three divisions at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the International Economic Relations Division, the United Nations Division, and the Arab Levant Division.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

Chair: 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.

Speaker: Congressman Keith Ellison – Member, United States House of Representatives, representing the Fifth District of Minnesota; Member, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFLP); sits on the House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittees on “Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit” and “Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology”; and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittees on “International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight,” and “Middle East and South Asia.”

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

Geo-Political Dynamics (IV): Syria and Lebanon – 2009 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

Chair: Ms. Martha Kessler − Former intelligence officer, Central Intelligence Agency working on the Middle East and South Asia; multiple positions throughout the Directorate of Intelligence, serving three tours on the National Intelligence Council; consultant to multiple United States government agencies on the Near East and South Asia; and author of, among other works, Syria: Fragile Mosaic of Power.

Speakers:

H.E. Dr. Imad Moustapha − Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United States; former Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology, University of Damascus; former consultant to international and regional organizations on science and technology policy in the Middle East.

Dr. Laurie E. King − Former Managing Editor, Journal of Palestine Studies; Adjunct Professor, Arab Studies Program, Georgetown University; and former Professor, Lebanese-American University.

Dr. Graeme Bannerman − International Elections Observer for Lebanon (once) and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (three times); Founder, Bannerman Associates, a political consultancy firm specializing in Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and other Middle Eastern countries; and former Staff Director, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Committee’s Professional Staff Member for Middle East and South Asia Affairs.

AUDIO (.mp3)

Geo-Political Dynamics (III): Iraq’s Return to Sovereignty – 2009 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.

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

Speakers:

H.E. Samir Sumaida’ie − Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the United States; Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations (2004-2006); former Minister of Interior;  former member of Governing Council in Iraq – Chairman, Governing Council   Media Committee; and Member, Governing Council Security, Finance, and Foreign Relations Committees.

Dr. Rochelle Davis − Assistant Professor of Arab Culture and Society (Anthropology), Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.  Author of, among other works, “Cultural Sensitivity in Military Occupation: The U.S. Military in Iraq,” in Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency, forthcoming from University of Chicago Press.

Dr. Joseph C. Moynihan − Vice President, Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems with specific responsibility to lead the Electronic Systems Sector’s business development efforts in the Northeast Region of the United States; former Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems Chief Executive for the Arab World and Africa from regional offices located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE); former, Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

AUDIO (.mp3)

Chair: Dr. Stephen Zunes − Professor of Politics and International Studies and Chair, Middle Eastern Studies Program, University of San Francisco; Senior Policy Analyst for the “Foreign Policy in Focus” project of the Institute for Policy Studies; Associate Editor, Peace Review; Chair, Academic Advisory Committee for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict; Alumnus, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Malone Fellows in Arab and Islamic Studies Program; and Host of the National Council’s West Coast Model Arab League.

Speakers:

H.E. Dr. Hussein Hassouna − Ambassador of the League of Arab States to the United States of America; Member, United Nations International Law Commission; former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt; former Ambassador of Egypt to Morocco and Yugoslavia; Member, Egyptian delegation involved in reaching the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.

H.E. Maen Rashid Areikat − Ambassador and Head of Mission, Mission of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the United States; former Director-General, PLO   Negotiations Affairs Department and PLO Negotiations Support Unit.

Dr. Thomas Neu − Executive Director, Friends of UNRWA – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine; former Middle East Representative for ANERA in the Jerusalem office; formerly with the United States Peace Corps and Save the Children.

Mr. Robert Malley − Middle East and North Africa Program Director, International Crisis Group; former Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs; former Executive Assistant to Samuel R. Berger, National Security Advisor; former Director for Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, National Security Council.

AUDIO (.mp3)

Moderator: Mr. Peter J. Robertson − Co-Chairman, of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council; retired Board of Directors Vice Chairman, Chevron Corporation; Chairman, World Affairs Council of Northern California; Board of Directors Vice Chairman, International House, University of California at Berkeley.

Speakers:

H.E. Adel A. Al-Jubeir − Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States; Foreign Policy Adviser to HRH ‘Abdallah Bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al Sa’ud, Custodian of the Two Holy Places and King of Saudi Arabia.

The Hon. James B. Smith (Brigadier General, USAF, Ret.) − Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; former International Business Development Executive, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems; Distinguished Graduate, The Naval   War College, The Air Command and Staff College, and The National War College.

Former United States Ambassadors to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
The Hon. Walter L. Cutler (1984-1987 and 1988-1989)
The Hon. Charles W. (“Chas”) Freeman, Jr. (1989-1992)
The Hon. Wyche Fowler (1996-2001)
The Hon. James C. Oberwetter (2004-2007)
The Hon. Robert Jordan (2002-2003)

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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

Special Guest: H.E. Mohammed Bin Abdullah Bin Mutib Al Rumaihi − Foreign Minister’s Assistant for Follow Up Affairs, State of Qatar; Qatar’s Ambassador to France and non-resident Ambassador to Belgium, the Swiss Federation, Luxemburg and the European Union (2002-2003); Head of the Government Committee for Delineating Maritime Borders and   the Working Team of the UN Security Council (2006-2007); headed the organizing committees of international conferences such as F77, China 2005, New and Restored Democracies 2006, Gulf Summit 2007, Financing Development Summit 2008, Arab Summit 2009 and Arab and Latin America Summit 2009; former Major General, Qatari Armed Forces.

Luncheon Speaker: Admiral William J. Fallon (USN, Ret.) − Distinguished Fellow, Center for Naval Analysis; Robert Wilhelm Fellow, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; (MIT) Center for International Studies; Commander, U.S. Central Command (2007- 2008); former Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (February 2005-March 2007); Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (October 2003-February 2005); and 31st Vice Chief of Naval Operations (October 2000-August 2003).

VIDEO

H.E. Mohammed Al Rumaihi AUDIO (.mp3)

ADM William J. Fallon (USN, Ret.) AUDIO (.mp3)

Presented to: Ms. Helen Thomas

Ms. Helen Thomas is the dean of the White House press corps. As a White House correspondent, first for United Press International and now for Hearst News Service, Ms. Thomas has covered every U.S. President since John F. Kennedy. Ms. Thomas was the first woman officer of the National Press Club, the first woman officer and later first woman president of the White House Correspondents Association, and the first woman officer and later first woman president of the Gridiron Club. Thomas is the author of Watchdogs of Democracy?: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public; Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President: Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House; Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times; and Dateline: White House. Her latest book, with co-author Craig Crawford, is Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do.

Introduction and Commentary by: Mr. Craig Crawford

Mr. Craig Crawford blogs daily at CQPolitics.com, and his writings appear regularly in newspapers and Web sites throughout the country. A contributing news analyst for MSNBC, he is often featured on a variety of national television and radio programs, such as MSNBC‘s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and WABC‘s “Imus in the Morning.” Before joining Congressional Quarterly in 2003, Mr. Crawford was Editor-in-Chief ofThe Hotline, an online news digest. Mr. Crawford is the author of Attack the Messenger, The Politics of Life, and, most recently, Listen Up, Mr. President, co-authored with Ms. Helen Thomas.

VIDEO

Ambassador Ronald L. Schlicher − Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the United States Department of State; former Principal Deputy Coordinator of Counterterrorism; U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus (2004-2005); former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), where he served as Coordinator for Iraq; Director of the Iraq Task Force (2003), U.S. Department of State; served for six months in Iraq with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), first as Regional Coordinator for the North and then as Director of the Office of Provincial Outreach.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. John Duke Anthony – Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Member, U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy; Adjunct Professor, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Graduate School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; Adjunct Professor, Defense Institute for Security Assistance Management.

Rear Admiral Harold J. Bernsen, (USN, Ret.) − Chairman, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; President, Board of Trustees, 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.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

Washington, DC | May, 11 2009 | www.ncusar.org | Dr. John Duke Anthony, founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and an Adjunct Associate Professor of “Politics of the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf” at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, has accepted an invitation to join the Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy (ACIEP). The appointment is for a two-year term. The ACIEP, which meets four times a year, serves the U.S. Government in an advisory capacity by providing insight, guidance, and assistance to the Department’s economic and foreign policy planning process.

Read More

[Link - Part One]

[Link - Part Two]

This is America with Dennis Wholey

2009 Model Arab League in the News

Featured Speakers:

Dr. Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Chief Shariah Officer, Shariah Capital

Mr. Michael McMillen, Attorney, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP

Moderator:

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

SLIDES FROM DR. YUSUF TALAL DELORENZO (.pdf)

SLIDES FROM MR. MICHAEL MCMILLEN (.pdf)

PHOTOS FROM EVENT

Background Information:

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE: “ISLAMIC FINANCE: OVERVIEW AND POLICY CONCERNS” (.pdf)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY: “OVERVIEW OF ISLAMIC FINANCE” (.pdf)

ERNST & YOUNG: “ISLAMIC FUNDS AND INVESTMENTS REPORT” (.pdf))

GULF ONE INVESTMENT BANK: “ISLAMIC FINANCE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES”

Featured Speaker:

H.E. Samir Shakir M. Sumaida’ie

Moderator:

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

VIDEO

EVENT PROGRAM (.pdf)

EVENT TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS RECAP

Featured Speaker:

HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Sa’ud

Moderator:

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

WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS RECAP

In Arabic (.pdf)

UAE National Center for Documentation & Research

H.E. Dr. Hussein Hassouna − Ambassador of the League of Arab States to the United States of America; former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt; former Ambassador of Egypt to Morocco and Yugoslavia; Member, United Nations International Law Commission.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Chair: Dr. Abderrahim Foukara − Washington Bureau Chief, Al-Jazeerah International and former longtime BBC Correspondent

Speakers: Washington-based correspondents the Arab press and analysts covering the Arab world

Mr. Hisham Melhem − Washington-based correspondent for Annahar, the leading Lebanese daily, Al-Qabas, the Kuwaiti daily, and Radio Monte Carlo in France. He is currently the host of “Across the Ocean”, a weekly talk show for Al-Arabiya.

Ms. Dalia Mogahed − Senior Analyst and Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, a nonpartisan research center dedicated to providing data-driven analysis on the views of Muslim populations around the world. With John L. Esposito, Ph.D., she is coauthor of the book Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think.

Mr. Mohamed Elmenshawy – Editor-in-Chief of Taqrir Washington. Before joining Taqrir Washington, Elmenshawy worked as the managing editor for Global Issues, an Arabic-language bimonthly publication. He also served as a Washington correspondent for the daily pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Alawsat where he covered the White House, the State Department, and Congress.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

AUDIO FROM THE PANEL – part 1 (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM THE PANEL – part 2 (.mp3)

Speaker: Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman, Jr. −  President, Middle East Policy Council; former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1993-94), earning the highest public service awards of the Department of Defense for his roles in designing a NATO-centered post-Cold War European security system and in reestablishing defense and military relations with China. He also served as U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm) and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the U.S. mediation of Namibian independence South Africa and Cuban troop withdrawal Angola.

Remarks by: H.E. Ali Suleiman Aujali – Chargé d’Affaires, People’s Bureau of the Great Socialist Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; former Chargé d’Affaires Libyan People’s Bureau in Ottawa, Canada; former Libyan ambassador to Malaysia, Argentina, and Brazil.

“An Update on Libyan-U.S. Relations – The Process of Renewal”

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman, Jr. AUDIO (.mp3)

H.E. Ali Suleiman Aujali AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

Chair: H.E. Marwan Muasher, Senior Vice-President of External Affairs, World Bank; former Foreign Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; former Ambassador of Jordan to the United States; author of The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation

Speakers:

Educating Each Other (I): “Arabia’s Challenges and Opportunities”

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

Educating Each Other (II): “The Human Rights Agenda”

H.E. Houda Ezra Nonoo − Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States.  In 2006, Ambassador Nonoo was appointed by His Majesty the King, Shaikh Hamad Bin Salman Al Khalifa to the Shura Council; serving on the Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs.

Educating Each Other (III): “Preparing a New Generation of Leaders”

Mr. David D. Arnold − President, American University in Cairo; former Vice President, Institute of International Education (IIE); former Ford Foundation Representative in India.

Commentator: Ms. Muna Abu Sulayman − Co-Host Kalam Nawaem (“Softly Speaking”), MBC-TV; Managing Director, HRH Prince Awaleed Bin Talal Kingdom Foundation

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

H.E. Marwan Muasher AUDIO (.mp3)

HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal AUDIO (.mp3)

H.E. Houda Ezra Nonoo AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. David D. Arnold AUDIO (.mp3)

Ms. Muna Abu Sulayman AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

Chair: 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.

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; former senior adviser and consultant to the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, State.

Mr. Christopher Blanchard −Middle East Policy Analyst, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, United States Congress.  Mr. Blanchard has authored or co-authored 13 CRS reports for the Congress, including products on the Gulf Security Dialogue and related U.S. arms sales, U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and regional perspectives on the Iraq conflict.

Mr. Jeffrey C. McCray − Vice President, International Marketing, BAE SYSTEMS. BAE Systems is a major defense contractor, representing the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems, engaged in the development, delivery, and support of advanced defense and aerospace systems.

Ambassador Barbara Bodine − Director of the “Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative” and a Diplomat-in-Residence at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Ms. Bodine’s over 30 years in the US Foreign Service were spent primarily on Arabian Peninsula and great Persian Gulf issues, specifically US bilateral and regional policy, strategic security issues, counterterrorism, and governance and reform.

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

AUDIO FROM PANEL INTRODUCTION (.mp3)

Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. Christopher Blanchard AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. Jeffrey C. McCray AUDIO (.mp3)

Ambassador Barbara Bodine AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

DR. CORDESMAN’S FULL POWERPOINT PRESENTATION (.ppt)

Ms. Muna Abu Sulayman − Co-Host Kalam Nawaem (“Softly Speaking”), Middle East Broadcasting Corporation [MBC-TV]; Managing Director, HRH Prince Awaleed Bin Talal Kingdom Foundation

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Ms. Muna Abu Sulayman AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

Chair: Ms. Karen Harbert − Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Institute for 21st Century Energy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; former Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy.

Speakers: Ms. Nabilah Al-Tunisi − Director of the Saudi Aramco-Dow Chemical joint venture project to build one of the largest hydrocarbon and chemical complexes in the world near the R’as Tanura Refinery in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Ryan M. Lance − President, Exploration and Production – Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, for ConocoPhillips. He serves on the boards of both the American Petroleum Institute and the Independent Petroleum Association of America, is an advisory board member of Montana Tech and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Mr. James Burkhard − Managing Director, Cambridge Energy Research Associates [CERA], Global Oil Group; leads the team of CERA experts focused on exploration and production strategy, upstream technology, and short- and long-term analysis of crude oil and refined products markets; coauthor of CERA’s World Oil Watch, which analyzes short- to medium-term developments in the oil market.

Mr. Jay R. Pryor – Vice-President for Corporate Business Development, Chevron Corporation. Mr. Pryor is responsible for identifying and developing new, large-scale business opportunities throughout the world. He assumed his current position in 2006 but began his career with Chevron in 1979.  Since that time he has held a succession of management positions with increasing responsibilities in Asia, the United States, Europe and the former Soviet Union.

VIDEO

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Ms. Karen Harbert AUDIO (.mp3)

Ms. Nabilah Al-Tunisi AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. Ryan M. Lance AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. James Burkhard AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. Jay R. Pryor AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

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

Speakers: Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft (USAF, Ret.) − President and Founder of The Scowcroft Group; former National Security Advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush; concluded a twenty-nine year military career that began with graduation West Point at the rank of Air Force Lieutenant General serving as Deputy National Security Advisor; former Director, Kissinger Associates.

General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, Ret.) − former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command, with responsibility for planning and operations for twenty-seven (27) countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Horn of Africa. Following his retirement the military, General Hoar formed the consulting firm of J.P. Hoar & Associates, which is engaged in business development in the Middle East and Africa.

Mr. Wayne White − Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute and  Policy Expert, Middle East Policy Council; former Deputy Director of the Near East and South Asia Office, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State.

Dr. Kenneth Katzman − Senior Middle East Affairs Specialist, Congressional Research Service, United States Congress.   Author of numerous and regularly updated briefing reports for Members of the United States Congress on Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the GCC region.

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TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft (USAF, Ret.) AUDIO (.mp3)

General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, Ret.) AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. Wayne White AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. Kenneth Katzman AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

Welcome and Brief Remarks: The Honorable Dina Habib Powell − Global Head of Corporate Engagement, Goldman Sachs; former Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Deputy Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State; former Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel, White House.

Speaker: H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi − Minister for Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates

H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi headed the UAE’s Ministry of Economy during one of the country’s most economically prosperous periods. Additionally, Sheikha Lubna’s appointment in November 2004 to manage what was then the UAE’s newly merged economy and planning portfolio was a historic event for the UAE as she became the first woman ever in the country to assume a cabinet position. Sheikha Lubna was also appointed Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the UAE’s Securities & Commodities Authority, serving 2004 until 2008. Following her tenure as Minister of Economy, Sheikha Lubna was appointed in February 2008 to another highly sensitive post as Minister for Foreign Trade.

Commentator: The Honorable David Bohigian − Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance, International Trade Administration, United States Department of Commerce; Department of Commerce representative on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

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TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

The Honorable Dina Habib Powell AUDIO (.mp3)

H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi AUDIO (.mp3)

The Honorable David Bohigian AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

Chair: Dr. Peter Gubser − Immediate Past President, American Near East Refugee Aid, Inc [ANERA]; Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Speakers: Dr. Nadia Hijab − Senior Fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Palestine Studies. Author, Womanpower: The Arab Debate on Women at Work and co-author Citizens Apart: A Portrait of Palestinians in Israel. She was Editor-in-Chief of the London-based Middle East magazine before moving to New York in 1989 to join the United Nations. Since 1999, she has worked as an independent consultant for international organizations on human rights, human development, gender, and the media.

Mr. Daniel Levy − Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Initiative at the New America Foundation and a Senior Fellow and Director of the Prospects for Peace Initiative at The Century Foundation.

Dr. Naseer Aruri − Chancellor Professor (Emeritus) of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; author of numerous books and articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict; President of the Board, Trans-Arab Research Institute; Member, Executive Committee, Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine.

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TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Dr. Peter Gubser AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. Nadia Hijab AUDIO (.mp3)

Mr. Daniel Levy AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. Naseer Aruri AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

The Honorable Ford Fraker

The Honorable Walter Cutler

The Honorable Wyche Fowler

The Honorable Robert Jordan

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TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

The Honorable Ford Fraker AUDIO (.mp3)

The Honorable Walter Cutler AUDIO (.mp3)

The Honorable Wyche Fowler AUDIO (.mp3)

The Honorable Robert Jordan AUDIO (.mp3)

Chair: The Honorable Edward W. Gnehm, Jr. – Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; former United States Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; former United States Ambassador to Australia; former director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Personnel for the Department of State; 36-year career in the United States Foreign Service.

Speakers: H.E. Dr. Imad Moustapha − Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United States

Dr. Bassam Haddad −Director, Middle East Studies Program and Assistant Professor, Department of Public and International Affairs, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Dr. Daoud Khairallah, Esq. −Adjunct Professor of International Law at Georgetown University Law Center and the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C.

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TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

The Honorable Edward W. Gnehm, Jr. AUDIO (.mp3)

H.E. Dr. Imad Moustapha AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. Bassam Haddad AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. Daoud Khairallah, Esq. AUDIO (.mp3)

AUDIO FROM PANEL Q & A (.mp3)

General Wesley Clark (USA, Ret.) − Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; author, A Time to Lead, Waging Modern War, and Winning Modern Wars; candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States [2004].

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TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

General Wesley Clark (USA, Ret.) AUDIO (.mp3)

Dr. John Duke Anthony − President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Adjunct Professor, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Graduate School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University and Adjunct Professor, Defense Institute for Security Assistance Management; author of Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum; The Middle East: Oil, Politics, and Development; Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia, and The United Arab Emirates: Dynamics of State Formation, in addition to numerous articles and essays on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the six GCC countries.

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.

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Dr. John Duke Anthony AUDIO (.mp3)

In 2007 Dr. Anthony was contracted by Britannica Book of the Year (BBOY), publication of Encyclopaedia Britannica, to write an original essay on “Boom in the Gulf.” The essay focused on the extraordinary construction boom underway in the six GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The essay, which can be accessed through the above link, was accepted and appears in the 2008 edition of the BBOY. The National Council is pleased that Encyclopaedia Britannica has granted permission for the Council to reprint the essay in full.

Britannica Book of the Year

CONFERENCE AUDIO

Keynote Address – Senator Chuck Hagel

Geo-Political Dynamics: Iran and Iraq

• Amb Ronald Neumann – Chair, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Algeria and Bahrain
• Dr. Judith Yaphe, Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University
• Dr. Trita Parsi, President, National American Iranian Affairs Council
• Dr. Edmund Ghareeb, Mustafa Barzani Scholar of Global Kurdish Affairs
• Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Senior Middle East Specialist, Congressional Research Service
• Panel Questions and Answers

Energy

• Dr. Frank Verrastro – Chair, Director, CSIS Energy Program
• Hon. Clay Sell, DepSec and COO, US Dept of Energy
• Dr. Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, President and CEO, Aramco Services Corp
• Michael J. Dolan, President, ExxonMobil Chemical Co, and VP, ExxonMobil Corp
• John D. Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Co.
• Gary R. Heminger, Exec VP, Marathon Oil Co and President Marathon Petroleum Co.
• Sigmund L. Cornelius, Senior VP, ConocoPhillips
• Panel Questions and Answers

Defense Cooperation Panel

• MajGen William Nash (Ret) Chair
• Dr. Anthony Cordesman
• Dr. John Peterson
• LtGen Martin Dempsey
• Panel Questions and Answers

Developmental Dynamics

• Dr. Joseph Moynihan, Chair
• Amb Shaun Donnelly, Asst US Trade Rep
• Jeremy Jones, Senior Strategic Fellow, Oxford Center for Islamic Studies
• Dr. Odeh Aburdene, President OAI Advisors
• Dr. Abdelrahim Foukara, Washington Bureau Chief, Al-Jazeerah International
• Panel Questions and Answers

Keynote – Dr. Hussein Hassouna

Keynote – Amb. Larry Butler

This interview appeared on National Public Radio’s To the Point, and was conducted by host and producer Warren Olney, originally airing July 31, 2007. The program also featured interviews with Mr. Stephen Schwartz, of the Center for Islamic Pluralism; Mr. Warren Boese, Researcher at the Arms Control Association; and Mr. Yossi Melman, Reporter for Ha’aretz, Israel’s largest daily newspaper. This is an edited transcript of Dr. Anthony’s response to the questions put to him by Mr. Olney.

Moderator: The Hon. Walter L. Cutler, twice former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, having represented President Ronald Reagan, 1984-86 and 1987-1988; Ambassador to Tunisia and Zaire and Ambassador-Designate to Khomeini’s Iran before diplomatic relations were severed; President Emeritus, Meridian International, Washington, D.C.; former Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations.

Panelists:

• “Economic and Related Reforms in the Kingdom’s Strategic Development Plans” - H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al-Qunaibet, Vice Chairman, Economic and Energy Affairs Committee, Majlis ash-Shura [National Consultative Council], Riyadh.
• “Perspectives of a Former Ambassador and United States Senator: Saudi Arabia-U.S. Relations, Reforms, Elections, and the Challenges Ahead.” – The Hon. Wyche Fowler, Chairman of the Board, Middle East Institute; former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, having represented President Bill Clinton, 1996-2000, and former Deputy Minority Leader, United States Senate and Congressman, 1977-1993.
• “Enhancing the Mutuality of Benefit: The Bilateral Commercial Dimension” –H.E. Usamah Al-Kurdi, Member, Majlis Ash-Shura [National Consultative Council], Riyadh; immediate past Secretary General, Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry 1997-2001; former Vice President, Saudi Consulting House, a fore-runner of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).

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Keynote Speaker: Mr. Khalid Al-Falih, Senior Vice President, Industrial Relations, and Board Member, Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the world’s largest producer of crude oil and which manages a quarter of the world’s total oil reserves; Chairman of the Board, South Rub’ Al-Khali Company, an upstream gas joint venture among Shell, Total, and Saudi Aramco; Chairman, Dammam City Municipal Council; former President of Petron Corporation, a refining and marketing venture between Saudi Aramco and the Philippine National Oil Company; former Vice-President for Gas Ventures, Development, and Coordination.

Panelists:

Among the senior energy executives represented in the following session are those whose companies are, among other things, major purchasers of Saudi Arabian crude oil, joint venture partners in refining projects in Saudi Arabia and the United States, substantial investors in both countries while pursuing expanded commercial relations and sharing technology to ensure continued reliable long-term energy supplies.

• Mr. Stephen D. Pryor, President, ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company and a Vice President of the Corporation
• Mr. Peter J. Robertson, Vice Chairman of the Board, Chevron Corporation; former Comptroller for Chevron Oil Europe, Comptroller of Chevron USA, and Vice President of Finance, Chevron USA; former President, Warren Petroleum Company, Chevron’s former natural gas liquids subsidiary; former President, Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc., with responsibility for directing Chevron’s oil exploration and production activities worldwide; Director, U.S.-Russian Business Council; the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council; the American Petroleum Institute; and Vice-Chairman, U.S. Energy Association.
• Mr. John D. Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company; Head, U.S. Country Leadership Team, which includes the leaders of all Shell businesses operating in the United States; Board Member, the American Petroleum Institute, United States Energy Association, National Association of Manufacturers, National Urban League, and the Foreign Policy Association.
• Mr. James J. Mulva, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, ConocoPhillips, and Chairman, the American Petroleum Institute; former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips Petroleum Company; Member, the Business Council and the Board of Visitors of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
• Mr. Gary R. Heminger, President, Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, and Executive Vice President, Marathon Oil Corporation; Chairman, American Petroleum Institute Downstream Committee; Chairman of the Board, Tiffin University; former Chairman, Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, and Member, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

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Moderator: H.E. Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi, Director General, Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation, Riyadh, and former president, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Keynote Speaker: “Strategic Scenarios for the Energy Future” – Dr. Daniel Yergin, Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates; author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and more recently, Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy; former Chair, U.S. Department of Energy’s Task Force on Strategic Energy Research and Development; Board Member, U.S. Energy Association; Member, the National Petroleum Council; the sole foreign member of the Russian Academy of Oil and Gas; Trustee, The Brookings Institution; Board Member, the New American Foundation; Advisory Board Member, the International Institute for Economics.

Panelists:

• “Impact of Events in Iraq and Iran: Implications for Saudi Arabian Interests and Policies” – Mr. Nawaf Obaid, Managing Director of the Saudi National Security Assessment Project, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; co-author, National Security in Saudi Arabia: Threats, Responses, and Challenges.
• “Assessing the Kingdom’s Efforts in Counter-Terrorism and Political Reform” – Dr. Rachel Bronson, Director of Programs, Institute for Global Affairs, Chicago; former Director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council’s Senior Associate for Near East Programs; author of Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia; and testifier before The Congressional Anti-Terrorist Finance Task Force; Congress’ Joint Economic Committee; and the 9-11 Commission.
• “Oil Prices and the Financial and Investment Outlook for Saudi Arabia” –Dr. Nahed M. Taher, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Gulf One Investment Bank, Bahrain, — the first Saudi Arabian woman to head a bank in the Gulf region; and former Chief Economist, Saudi National Commercial Bank, where she was the first Saudi Arabian woman to hold such a position.

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Dr. John Duke Anthony, President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Member, Council on Foreign Relations; Adjunct Associate Professor on Saudi Arabia and Gulf Politics, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; author, numerous books, articles, and essays on the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the six GCC countries.

TAKING STOCK OF THE SAUDI ARABIAN U.S. RELATIONSHIP

Moderator: Ms. Afnan Al-Shuaiby, Advisor to the President of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, Washington, D.C.; formerly a business consultant to major U.S. companies and commercial associations, including Walt Disney World Company and the Business Council.

Keynote Speaker: “Saudi Arabia and America: Where Are We Headed?” – H.E. Abdalla A. Alireza, Minister of State, Saudi Arabian Council of Ministers; former Co-Chairman, National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

Panelists:

• “Saudi Arabian-U.S. Relations: A Balance Sheet on the Issues of Greatest Importance to Both” – The Hon. Robert Jordan, Partner, Baker and Botts; President, Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations; Member, Board of Directors, the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies; in addition to having served as personal attorney to President George W. Bush, he was U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia 2001-2003.
• “The Dynamics of Educational Reform in the Kingdom: A Balance Sheet” –H.E. Dr. Khalil Al-Khalil, Member, Majlis ash-Shura [National Consultative Council], Riyadh and Professor, Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh.
• “Women’s Rights and Development in the Kingdom: An Analytical Assessment” – Dr. Eleanor Abdella Doumato, Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; former president of the Association for Middle East Women’s Studies; co-editor of, inter alia, Getting God’s Ear: Women, Islam, and Healing in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, plus author of essays on women in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf in numerous edited volumes and monographs as well as scholarly journals and encyclopedias.

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This article originally appeared in Al-Riyadh Newspaper (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) on July 17, 2006 and in the Saudi-US Relations Information Service on August 1, 2006.

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TRANSCRIPT (.pdf file)

A special report drawing on the proceedings of the 13th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference. The conference title and theme was “Restoring Arab-U.S. Mutual Trust and Confidence: What is Feasible? — What is Necessary?” The report is from Dr. John Duke Anthony, National Council on U.S. Relations President and CEO, and Mr. M. Scott Bortot, former editor of Trade Lines, a publication of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

U.S. Senator John S. McCain delivered a major address on Iraq on November 5, 2003, when he spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His remarks were “on the record.” The Senator’s remarks and recommendations were the subject of much comment and analysis in the mainstream American media, including the major Sunday television network talk shows. Immediately following the Senator’s address and the discussion that ensued, Qatar’s Al-Jazeerah, the Arab world’s foremost satellite television network, interviewed CFR member Dr. John Duke Anthony.

Articles from:
Major General Larry G. Smith
Dr. Joseph Moynihan
Mr. Ernest Jackson
Mr. John Hambrie