30th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

Whither U.S.-Arab Relations? Unnerving Uncertainties Amidst Complex Realities and New Possibilities

November 17 - 18, 2021

Broadcast Live on YouTube

• Conference Proceedings
• Watch Conference Videos on YouTube
• Listen to Conference Podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
• About the Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

Watch the Conference:

Conference Proceedings:

Jump to a specific session by selecting the session title in the list immediately below, or scroll further down to see the complete listing of sessions and speakers.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Full Day 1 Livestream

Welcome and Introductions
Video
Podcast

Speaker:

Dr. John Duke Anthony – National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Founding President and Chief Executive Officer; 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.

Keynote Remarks from U.S. Central Command
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

H.E. Motaz Zahran – Ambassador of Egypt to the United States.

Speaker:

General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr. – United States Central Command Commander; former U.S. Department of Defense Joint Staff Director.

Keynote Remarks from the Embassy of Oman in Washington, D.C.
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Context Provider:

Professor Linda Pappas Funsch – Author of Oman Reborn: Balancing Tradition and Modernization; Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center Research Fellow; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Malone Fellow and International Advisory Board Member.

Speaker:

H.E. Moosa Hamdan Al Tai – Sultanate of Oman Ambassador to the United States.

U.S.-Arab Relations: What Now?
Video
Podcast

Chair:

Mr. Richard Kaplan – former President of CNN-U.S. and MSNBC; award-winning television news producer; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations International Advisory Board Member.

Speakers:

Ms. Geneive Abdo – Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington Visiting Fellow; World Bank Consultant; Author, inter alia, of The New Sectarianism: The Arab Uprisings and the Rebirth of the Shi'a-Sunni Divide.

Mr. Khaled Almaeena – Albilad Organization for Press and Publication Chairman; Columnist; former Saudi Gazette Editor-in-Chief (2012-2014); former Arab News Editor-in-Chief (1982-1993) and (1998-2011); NAAM Founder and Co-Chairperson.

Dr. Abderrahim Foukara – Al Jazeera Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief; Host of Min Washington.

Keynote Remarks by HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speaker:

HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud – King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies Chairman; former Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and to the United States; former Saudi Arabian General Intelligence Directorate Director General.

Arab-U.S. Relations: A View From Egypt
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speaker:

H.E. Mohamed M. Abou El Enein – Deputy Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament; Cleopatra Group Chairman and Founder; Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean Honorary President; Egyptian-European Business Council President.

Geopolitical Dynamics of North Africa
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speaker:

Dr. William Lawrence – American University School of International Service Senior Adjunct Professorial Lecturer; Analyst, Educator, International Programs Director, and former diplomat.

Thursday, November 18, 2021
Full Day 2 Livestream

U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relations: Business and Investment Dynamics
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speakers:

Mr. H. Delano Roosevelt – U.S.-Saudi Business Council President and CEO; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations International Advisory Board Member.

Mr. Abdulrahman T. Bakir – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Investment U.S. Office Vice President.

Vision 2030: A Blueprint for a More Vibrant Middle East
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speaker:

Mr. Fahad Nazer – Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. Spokesperson.

Keynote Remarks from the Gulf Cooperation Council
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Keynote Speaker:

H.E. Dr. Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf – Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Secretary-General; former Kuwait Minister of Finance.

Keynote Remarks from the U.S. Department of State
Video
Podcast

Introduction:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Keynote Speaker:

Mr. Joey Hood – U.S. Department of State Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary; former U.S. Department of State Deputy Chief of Mission in Iraq and in Kuwait.

Geo-Political Dynamics of Arabia and the Gulf
Video
Podcast

Chair:

Dr. Abdullah Baabood – Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) School of International Liberal Studies Chair for Islamic Area Studies and Visiting Professor; former National University of Singapore Middle East Institute Visiting Professor; former Qatar University Gulf Studies Centre Director; former University of Cambridge (UK) Gulf Research Centre Director.

Speakers:

Dr. Abdullah Al Shayji – Kuwait University Professor of International Relations and Post Graduate Political Science Program Director; Author, The GCC Crises: The Root Causes, The Mediation Efforts, And the Future of the GCC Alliance.

Ms. Samar Fatany – Jeddah Broadcasting Station English section Chief Broadcaster; Author of Saudi Perceptions & Western Misconceptions, Saudi Women Towards a New Era, and Saudi Challenges & Reforms.

Ambassador (Ret.) Anne Patterson – former U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and North African Affairs (2013-2017); former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (2011-2013), Pakistan (2007-2010), Colombia (2000-2003), and El Salvador (1997-2000).

Dr. Emma Soubrier – George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs Institute for Middle East Studies Professorial Lecturer and Visiting Scholar; Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington Non-Resident Fellow; Author of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates: Diverging Paths to Regional and Global Power (2022).

Presentation of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN LEADERSHIP AWARD to His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar
Video
Podcast

Presenter:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Special Remarks:

U.S. Central Command
U.S. Department of State

Acceptance on behalf of HH the Amir:

Dr. Hamad Al Muftah – Embassy of the State of Qatar in Washington, D.C. Deputy Chief of Mission.

Keynote Discussion with General (Ret.) David Petraeus
Video
Podcast

Moderator:

Ms. Raghida Dergham – Beirut Institute Founder and Executive Chairman; The National Columnist; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations International Advisory Board Member.

Discussant:

General (Ret.) David Petraeus – KKR Partner and KKR Global Institute Chairman; former United States Central Intelligence Agency Director; former United States Central Command Commander; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations International Advisory Board Member.