18th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

Fresh Visions, Old Realities,
New Possibilities:
The Impact of Leadership Change
on Arab-U.S. Relations

October 15-16, 2009

Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.

• Conference Transcripts, Audio, & Video
• HOW Questions for Policymakers
• Conference Pictures
• Conference Sponsors
• Select Media Coverage
• Council Chronicle Conference Recap

2009 CONFERENCE SPONSORS

2009 SELECT MEDIA COVERAGE

Riyadh committed to peace, envoy says (United Press International, Inc.)

Saudi Ambassador Speaks on Saudi-U.S. Relations (PRNewswire-USNewswire)

Economic reforms bearing fruits: King (Saudi Gazette)

Growth of Iraqi oil output will take time: oil exec (Reuters)

Council on Arab-US Relations Holds Annual Conference (Arab News)

Education for Arab women on the rise (The International Communications Forum)

National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Examines the Diplomacy of Engagement (Diplomatic Connections)

2009 AUDIO, VIDEO, & TRANSCRIPTS

Links to MP3 audio, streaming video, and transcripts from the 2009 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference are available below. Jump to a specific panel by clicking on the session title in the list immediately below. Audio from the conference is also available through iTunes - just search for 'NCUSAR' or lookup the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations in the 'Non-Profit' podcast category.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

8:50-9:00 a.m.: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
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; former Chair, Near East and North Africa Program, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State; and author of, among other published works, Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, and Petroleum; The Middle East: Politics, Petroleum, and Development; 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, 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.

9:00-9:30 a.m.: "U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS: VIEWS FROM THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)

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.

9:30-10:00 a.m.: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR PIONEERING EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM
VIDEO

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.

10:00-11:30 a.m.: "GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (I): IRAN AND REGIONAL SECURITY"

Chair: Ms. Barbara Slavin − Assistant Managing Editor for World and National Security of The Washington Times; author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S. and the Twisted Path to Confrontation; former senior diplomatic reporter for USA TODAY; former Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; former Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Speakers:

Ms. Hillary Mann Leverett − Chief Executive Officer of STRATEGA, a political risk consultancy; former Director for Iran, Afghanistan, and Persian  Gulf Affairs National Security Council.  From 2001 to 2003: one of a handful of American diplomats authorized to negotiate with Iran over Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, and Iraq.

Dr. Christian Koch − Director of International Studies, Gulf Research Center (Dubai, UAE); former Head, Strategic Studies Section, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (Abu Dhabi, UAE);  widely published in books and articles relating to Middle East political development, European-Gulf relations, and Gulf strategic issues.

Dr. Jeffrey G. Lewis − Director, Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative, New America Foundation; author of Minimum Means of Reprisal: China's Search for Security in the Nuclear Age; Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; founded and maintains the leading blog on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation: ArmsControlWonk.com.

11:30 – 12:30 p.m.: "ARAB-U.S. ENERGY DYNAMICS AND RELATIONS: HOW TO BUILD A ‘WIN-WIN’ SITUATION FOR AMERICAN AND ARAB ENERGY PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS"

Moderator:  The Hon. Molly Williamson − Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute; Immediate Past Senior Foreign Policy Advisor 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:

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 responsibilities in Asia, the United States, Europe, and the former Soviet Union.

Mr. Darren C. Jones − General Manager, Global Business Development, ConocoPhillips Exploration and Production Segment; formerly, President, Global Gas, Strategic Planning   and Business Development – ConocoPhillips; previously, Vice President, Commercial Assets, Conoco Phillips Alaska.

Mr. Guy Caruso − Senior Advisor, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC; former Administrator, Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2002 to September 2008), the statistical agency within the United States Department of Energy (DOE) that provides policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses regarding energy; former Senior Manager, United States Department of Energy and the International Energy Agency in Paris, France.

1:00-1:30 p.m.: ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: THE CHILDREN  . . . A PERFORMANCE

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

The World Children's Choir serves as a voice for children worldwide – giving voice to the interests of all children, celebrating cultural diversity through music, promoting positive international relations, and asking people to work together to create a peaceful, healthy world for children. Through singing, WCC members explore musical content, and use music, art, and special activities to mediate cross-cultural differences and become peacemakers. The children learn how music and art expresses emotion, creates shared experiences, bridges differences, tells stories, produces beauty and enriches others.

Information about WCC's International Voices for Children Institute - Nablus and Amman: http://www.worldchildrenschoir.org/iv4ci.htm

1:30-2:30 p.m.: LUNCHEON AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO
H.E. Mohammed Al Rumaihi AUDIO (.mp3)
ADM William J. Fallon (USN, Ret.) AUDIO (.mp3)

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).

2:30-3:00 p.m.: "AMBASSADOR’S ROUNDTABLE"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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; Member, Corporate Advisory Board, Global Business Coalition for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

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. James C. Oberwetter (2004-2007)
The Hon. Robert Jordan (2002-2003)

3:00 – 4:15 p.m.:  "GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (II): ISRAEL AND PALESTINE"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)

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

Speakers:

H.E. Dr. Hussein Hassouna − Ambassadorof 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.

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.

4:15 – 5:30 p.m.: "GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (III): IRAQ’S RETURN TO SOVEREIGNTY"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)

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.  In 2009, Dr. Davis completed two separate empirical research projects related to the war in Iraq.  In one, she and Omar Shakir interviewed American armed forces personnel about the usefulness of the cultural training they received and its impact on their interactions with Iraqis.  In the other, she interviewed Iraqis regarding the intercultural dimension of their experiences with American military personnel in Iraq.  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.

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.: "GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (IV):
SYRIA AND LEBANON"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)

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; former Staff Director, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Committee’s Professional Staff Member for Middle East and South Asia Affairs; former U.S. Department of State Policy Planning Staff Middle East Analyst; former Lebanon and Arab-Israeli Analyst, Department of State Bureau for Intelligence and Research; and former Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, the George Washington University, and the American University of Beirut.

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.: RECEPTION HOSTED BY H.E. ADEL A. AL JUBEIR, AMBASSADOR OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA TO THE UNITED STATES

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Avenue, NW

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009

9:00-9:30 a.m.: "U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS: A VIEW FROM THE U.S. CONGRESS"
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."

9:30-10:00 a.m.: "ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: A VIEW
FROM EGYPT"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)

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.

10:00-11:15 a.m.: "DEFENSE COOPERATION – ENHANCING REGIONAL SECURITY"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT (.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.

11:15-12:30: "DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
DR. MODY AL-KHALAF PRESENTATION SLIDES(.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.The purpose of the Fulbright Center is threefold: to spread the recognition of the Fulbright legacy, to globalize education and to promote world peace and nonviolent means of resolving conflicts through international collaborations and education programs. The Fulbright Center partners with higher education institutions and interested individuals, students, teachers, scholars, and leaders throughout the world in a range of services from assisting in building enriched study abroad programs to actively engaging higher education institutions in international peace making.

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 Courtof 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.

1:00-2:30: LUNCHEON AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS
VIDEO
H.E. Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo AUDIO (.mp3)
Dr. Abdulrahman H. Al-Saeed AUDIO (.mp3)
H.E. Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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 Courtof 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.

2:30-3:30 p.m.: "THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: VIEWS FROM THE ARAB WORLD"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)

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).

3:30-4:00 p.m.: "ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS:
THE WAY FORWARD"
VIDEO
AUDIO (.mp3)
TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

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.

4:00 p.m.: CONCLUDING REMARKS AND ADJOURNMENT

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