26th Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

Arab-U.S. Relations: How Best to Navigate an Uncertain Present and Future?

October 18 - 19, 2017

Atrium Hall
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC

CONFERENCE AGENDA

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

8:45 - 9:00 a.m. – Welcome & Introductions

Speakers:

Dr. John Duke Anthony – Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and author, inter alia, of Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum; Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia; and The United Arab Emirates: Dynamics of State Formation.

Mr. John Pratt – Chairman, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; former Chairman, Middle East Council of American Chambers of Commerce.

9:00 - 10:45 a.m. – The Palestinian Future

Featured Specialist:

H.E. Dr. Husam Zomlot – Chief Representative, General Delegation of the PLO to the U.S.

Chair:

Dr. Yousef Munayyer – Executive Director, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights; Editorial Committee Member, Journal of Palestine Studies; and Middle East Analyst, Arab Center Washington DC.

Speakers:

Mr. Sean Carroll – President and CEO, American Near East Refugee Aid; former Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Agency for International Development.

Ms. Noura Erakat – Assistant Professor, George Mason University; Co-Founding Editor, Jadaliyya.

Mr. Taleb Salhab – Independent Consultant; former Vice President of Global Programs, IREX; former Interim CEO and Vice President of Programs and Affiliate Services, Education for Employment.

10:45 – 11:00 a.m. – Egyptian-U.S. Relations: A View from Cairo

Introduction:

Ms. Cynthia Anthony – Washington Representative, The American University in Cairo.

Featured Specialist:

The Right Honourable Mona Makram-Ebeid – Distinguished Lecturer of Political Science, The American University in Cairo; former Member of the Egyptian Shura Council (Senate); former Head of the Committee of Social Rights, National Council on Human Rights; former Member, People’s Assembly (Egyptian Parliament).

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Energy Dynamics of U.S.-Arab Relations

Chair & Speaker:

Dr. Paul Sullivan – Senior International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Professor of Economics, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor, Security Studies, Georgetown University; Adjunct Senior Fellow for Future Global Resource Threats, Federation of American Scientists.

Speakers:

Ms. Molly Williamson – Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute; former Senior Foreign Policy Adviser to the Secretary of Energy (2005-2008); former Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce; former U.S. Interim Ambassador to Bahrain.

Mr. Stephen Gallogly – Distinguished Fellow, Energy Policy Research Foundation; former Head of the Europe, Middle East, and Africa Division, International Energy Agency.

Mr. Nicolas Loris – Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy, The Heritage Foundation.

Commentator:

Mr. Nathaniel Kern – President, Foreign Reports.

1:00 – 3:00 p.m. – Luncheon (Sponsored by Parsons) & Keynote Address

Welcoming Remarks:

Mr. William Bodie – Group Executive Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Parsons.

Reflections:

National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Programmatic Alumni

Introduction:

H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba – Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States

Keynote Speaker:

General Joseph L. Votel – Commander, United States Central Command; former Commander, United States Special Operations Command.

3:30 - 4:00 p.m. – Challenging Stereotypes: How Understanding Saudi Arabia’s Women Can Help Bridge Cultural Divides

Introduction:

Ms. Paige Peterson – Executive Vice President, Huntsman Cancer Foundation; Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Featured Specialist:

HRH Princess Lamia Bint Majid Al-Saud – Secretary General and Member of the Board of Trustees, Alwaleed Philanthropies.

4:00 – 5:30 p.m. – Arab-U.S. Defense Cooperation

Chair:

Mr. David Des Roches – Associate Professor, Near East and South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; Malone Fellow in Arab and Islamic Studies (Syria) and Senior International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Speakers:

Mr. Nawaf Al Thari – Counter-Terrorism Adviser, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Permanent Mission to the United Nations; United Nations Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism Matters, Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Mr. Troy Thomas – Associate Director, Boston Consulting Group; former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, National Security Council.

Colonel Abbas K. Dahouk – Senior Military Advisor, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State; former Defense and Army Attaché, Embassy of the U.S. in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Mara Karlin – Associate Director and Professor of Strategic Studies, The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategy and Force Development, U.S. Department of Defense.

Mr. Christopher Blanchard – Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

6:00 – 8:00 p.m. – Conference Reception in the Rotunda of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

Thursday, October 19, 2017

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. – A View From Yemen

Introduction:

Featured Specialist:

H.E. Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak – Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the United States.

9:15 – 10:45 a.m. – Business, Investment, and Human Resource Dynamics of Arab-U.S. Relations

Chair:

Mr. Mike Ryan – Business Strategy Advisor, U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council.

Speakers:

Ms. Haura Saud Al-Wahaibi – Commercial Attaché, Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in the United States; former Director of Investment, Ithraa.

Ms. Nahlah Al-Jubeir – Director, Center for Career Development, Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission; Senior International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Mr. Khush Choksy – Senior Vice President for the Middle East and Turkey, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and Acting President, U.S.-India Business Council.

Mr. Ken Close – Founder and CEO, The Quincy Group.

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – The GCC Countries’ Role in Regional Dynamics

Chair:

Speakers:

Dr. Mohammed Alsulami – President, Arabian Gulf Center for Iranian Studies.

Dr. Abdullah Baabood – Director, Gulf Studies Centre, Qatar University; former Director, Gulf Research Centre, University of Cambridge (UK).

Dr. Khalid Al-Jaber – Director, AlSharq Studies & Research Center (Qatar); former Editor-in-Chief, The Peninsula; former Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Al Sharq; Assistant Professor of Political Communication, Gulf Studies Centre, Qatar University; Visiting Assistant Professor, Northwestern University in Qatar.

Mr. Fahad Nazer – International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Consultant, Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC.

Commentators:

Ambassador (Ret.) Susan Ziadeh – former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arabian Peninsula Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State; former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar (2011-2014).

Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Eryani – Principal Economic Officer, Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in the United States.

1:00 – 2:30 p.m. – Luncheon (Sponsored by Xenel) & Keynote Addresses

Reflections:

National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Programmatic Alumni

Introduction:

Keynote Speaker:

HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al-Saud – 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; former Director General, General Intelligence Directorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

3:00 – 3:20 p.m. – A View from the U.S. Agency for International Development

Introduction:

Ms. Elizabeth Wossen – Principal and Lead Consultant, Energy Links Group LLC; Treasurer, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; former Coordinator, Congressional and Government Relations, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Featured Specialist:

Mr. Bruce Abrams – Acting Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for the Middle East, U.S. Agency for International Development.

3:20 – 4:50 p.m. – Arab-U.S. Relations: Where Are We Going?

Chair:

Ms. Raghida Dergham – Founder and Executive Chairman, Beirut Institute; New York Bureau Chief, Al Hayat; International Advisory Committee Member, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Speakers:

Ms. Wafa Bughaighis – Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of Libya to the United States.

Mr. Lukman Faily – Former Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the United States.

The Right Honourable Mona Makram-Ebeid – Distinguished Lecturer of Political Science, American University in Cairo; former Member of the Egyptian Shura Council (Senate); former Head of the Committee of Social Rights, National Council on Human Rights; former Member, People’s Assembly (Egyptian Parliament).

Dr. Walid Phares – Co-Secretary General, Transatlantic Parliamentary Group on Counter Terrorism; Foreign Policy Adviser to Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential Campaign.

Commentator:

Dr. Randa Slim – Director, Program on Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues, Middle East Institute; Non-Resident Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; former Vice President, International Institute for Sustained Dialogue.

4:50 – 5:00 p.m. – Closing Remarks

CONFERENCE MODERATOR, CONTEXT PROVIDER, FACILITATOR, AND SPEAKER

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 and Subcommittee on Sanctions; and Knighted by Moroccan King Muhammad VI, bestowing upon him Morocco's Highest Award for Excellence

26th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference