Crisis Syria: Going Where?

June 7, 2013 briefing in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on “Crisis Syria: Going Where?”

On June 7, 2013, the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and the U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee hosted a briefing on “Crisis Syria: Going Where?” featuring Ms. Mona Yacoubian, Senior Advisor, Middle East and Project Director, Pathways to Progress, Stimson Center; Mr. Ian Pannell, Correspondent, BBC News; Professor David Des Roches, Senior Military Fellow, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; Ms. Sharon Waxman, Vice President, Public Policy and Advocacy, International Rescue Committee; and Professor Paul Sullivan, Professor of Economics, National Defense University and Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University. Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, served as moderator.

The program was broadcast on C-SPAN and is available to watch in the C-SPAN Video Library. A podcast of the program is available through the link below as well as in iTunes with recordings of other National Council programs: http://bit.ly/itunes-ncusar.

Watch “Crisis Syria: Going Where?” in the C-SPAN Video Library

Crisis Syria: Going Where? podcast (.mp3) “Crisis Syria: Going Where?” podcast (.mp3)

Gulf in the News – June 10, 2013

Qatar’s emir poised to cede power to son

Source: Al Bawaba (Read full story)

Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, 33, is set to be Qatar’s next emir, Al Bawaba Arabic reported. Hamad is the son of current emir Khalifa Al Thani. Previous news reports have stated that the father and current incumbent Al Thani, 61, has been suffering from health problems for some time. Meanwhile, Hamad’s cousin, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem, is expected to step down as prime minister. Jasem, however, will stay on with the Qatar Investment Authority, which manages wealth that recycles gas revenues. He will also continue his role with UK’s retail darling, Harrods. According to the Daily Telegraph, the United States and Iran were briefed on the succession earlier this year.

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Gulf in the News – June 7, 2013

GCC says Lebanon unsafe for travel; KSA seeks end to fighting

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

Gulf Arab states have advised citizens not to travel to Lebanon, a popular summer tourist destination that is becoming increasingly engulfed in neighboring Syria’s civil war, the Saudi Press Agency reported. “Most GCC states have urged their nationals to avoid traveling to Lebanon due to the instability of the security situation there,” Gulf Cooperation Council’s chief Andullatif Al-Zayani was quoted as saying late on Wednesday. Lebanon is “unsafe” for citizens of the GCC, made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Zayani said.

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NCUSAR’s 2013 Washington, DC Summer Internship Program Commences

NCUSAR’s 2013 Summer Internship Program Fellows attend an evening seminar session with NCUSAR Founding President and CEO Dr. John Duke Anthony (center) at the George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs.

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 2013 Washington, DC Summer Internship Program began this week with 25 student fellows admitted from a record number of applicants. The program offers the undergraduate and graduate students a ten-week professional, academic, and career opportunity internship in the nation’s capital.

As part of the program, students: 1) are placed with one of over a dozen Near East and Arab world related organizations in Washington, D.C., where they are expected to work 35-40 hours/week under the direct supervision of their host organizations; 2) take part in twice weekly seminar sessions designed to provide them with greater depth of knowledge about the Arab world, to underscore the cultural, economic, and political diversity of Arab states, and to explore the intricacies of Arab-U.S. relations; and 3) are offered a behind-the-scenes look at many of the central institutions of federal government, national security policymaking, international diplomacy, and international business.

The program features an energizing and demanding mix of professional involvement, intellectual challenge, career exploration, and cultural encounter designed to provide interns with a rich and varied experience during their time in Washington.

Gulf in the News – June 5, 2013

FNC okays changes in human trafficking law

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Victims of human trafficking in the UAE would have better protection and their tormentors would face stiffer penalties as the Federal National Council (FNC) approved amendments to a federal law against the crime on Tuesday. Under the amended provisions in Federal Law No. 51 of 2006 on combating human trafficking, victims would be briefed about their full rights and they would be given medical attention if they request so or if they appear to be in need of medical or psychological treatment.

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Gulf in the News Special – Improving Understanding of the Arab World

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

About two years ago, I wrote an article in Arab News titled “Why Arabs fail to influence Americans?” A couple of days later, I received many e-mails asking me if I knew John Duke Anthony. To this day I never knew why I was asked this question. But when I looked him up on the Internet and the Saudi-US relations Information Service (SUSRIS) website and started to follow his work and his writings. Ironically, many people in the Arab world don’t know the amount of positive contributions he has made to improve the American knowledge and understanding of the Arab world.

NCUSAR was established in the 1980s and many people in the Arab world still don’t know about it or even haven’t heard of it. From the day it was established it helped enhance the American awareness about US-Arab issues in every field and not only politics.

Gulf in the News – June 3, 2013

GCC: Hezbollah terror group

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

The Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday unanimously declared Lebanon-based Hezbollah a terrorist organization and said it would take measures against the group’s interest in the Gulf countries. “All GCC countries are convinced that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Ghanim bin Fadl Al-Buainain told reporters following a meeting of GCC foreign ministers in Jeddah. He said the GCC countries had always tried to establish better ties with Iran and asked Tehran to stop its provocative actions including meddling in the internal affairs of Bahrain and espionage against Saudi Arabia.

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Gulf in the News – May 31, 2013

Gulf countries may place Hezbollah on terror list

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

Gulf Arab states will consider placing Lebanon’s Shiite party Hezbollah, which is openly involved in the Syrian conflict, on its terror list, Al-Rai daily quoted highly placed diplomats yesterday as saying. Bahrain will ask foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss “placing Hezbollah on the terror list” at a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, the newspaper said. Bahrain currently holds the GCC’s rotating presidency. The paper did not say whether this referred to the party as a whole or just its militia, whose men are fighting alongside government troops in a fierce battle to retake the Syrian town of Qusayr from rebels.

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