Session on Arab-U.S. Defense Cooperation with Mr. Jeffrey B. Kohler, Mr. Ronald L. Perrilloux, Jr., Mr. Christopher Blanchard, and Professor David Des Roches from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 14, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Session on Yemen-U.S. Relations in Focus with H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 15, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Session on Iraq-U.S. Relations: A View from Baghdad with H.E. Ambassador Lukman Faily, from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 15, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Session on The Palestinian Future with H.E. Ambassador Maen Areikat, Mr. Matthew Reynolds, Dr. Jim Zogby, Dr. Imad Harb, Dr. Tom Mattair, and Ms. Randa Fahmy from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 15, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Session on Geo-Political Dynamics: Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq with Dr. Paul Salem, Mr. Bassel Charles Korkor, Mr. Elias Samo, Mr. Charles C. Chidiac, Dr. Judith Yaphe, and Dr. Michael Hudson from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 14, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Session on Arab-U.S. Energy Cooperation with Ms. Molly Williamson, Mr. Richard W. Westerdale, II, Ms. Sarah Ladislaw, Dr. Herman Franssen, and Mr. John Pratt from the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 14, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Keynote Address on “Lessons from America’s Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East” by Ambassador (Ret.) Chas Freeman, Jr., delivered at the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 14, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Keynote Address by HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal delivered at the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers’ Conference, “U.S.-Arab Relations at a Crossroads: What Paths Forward?,” on October 14, 2015, in Washington, DC.
Mr. Bosch, Dr. Anthony,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
When the waves of Arab unrest began in 2010, the future of the Middle East seemed even more uncertain than it is today. In the midst of political turmoil, Saudi Arabia was forced to strengthen and clarify its own foreign policy. From that time on, the Kingdom structured its foreign policy leadership, and its vision for its own future, around these three words: unity, stability, and responsibility.
The unity that Saudi Arabia advocates, and the vision it promotes, is the unity of the Arab gulf: in the past few years, the Kingdom has made a great effort to prioritize the oneness of the Gulf, and its shared interests, over small and transient differences. In the struggle to restore the legitimate government to power, in Yemen, the Kingdom has succeeded in forging a coalition of the GCC countries and likeminded Arab and non-Arab countries to achieve that aim and prevent the usurpers of power, the Houthis and the forces of the deposed president, Ali Abdallah Saleh, from forcing themselves on the Yemeni people.
And as sectarian violence deepens rifts and breaks apart homes across the Arab world, Saudi Arabia’s call for unity has become more urgent than ever. Iraq and Syria are among the countries following the same heartbreaking narrative: citizens with the same shared history, the same ancient religion, and the same homeland being torn apart by radicalist groups exploiting sectarian divisions for their own gain. Groups like ISIS, and I call them Fahish, which in Arabic means obscene, the Shi’ite militias in Syria and Iraq, Hezbollah, and the Houthis hold out the texture of religious fanaticism in order to gain loyalty — by giving the young a militant identity, a sense of belonging and a vision for which to fight. But the unity of radicalism is an illusion: it cannot exist without an enemy. It reaches not towards harmony but towards domination and control. Fahish is the symptom of the disease of anarchy in Syria and Iraq. The disease lies in Damascus, where Bashar al Assad continues to murder his people with poison gas and barrel bombs.