The National Council, in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (SACM) and Saudi Arabian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), escorted a delegation of Model Arab League students on a cultural immersion study visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, December 27, 2013-January 8, 2014.
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Placing the Recent Tension in Saudi Arabian-U.S. Relations in Context
November 13, 2013
Offices of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Washington, DC
Participating specialists:
Ambassador (Ret.) James Smith, Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (September 2009 – September 2013); and Senior Counselor, The Cohen Group
Ambassador (Ret.) Ford Fraker, Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (April 2007 – April 2009); and Senior Advisor, Trinity Group Limited
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
Saudi Arabia-U.S. Relations Reconsidered
John Duke Anthony – Saudi Arabia-U.S. Relations Reconsidered
Saudi Arabia-U.S. Relations Reconsidered
John Duke Anthony – Saudi Arabia-U.S. Relations Reconsidered
Arab-U.S. Relations: Views from the Media – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: VIEWS FROM THE MEDIA
Chair:
Dr. Andrew Parasiliti – Editor and CEO, Al-Monitor; former Executive Director, International Institute for Strategic Studies-US and Corresponding Director, IISS-Middle East; former Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel.
Speakers:
Commodore (Ret.) Abdulateef Al-Mulhim – Columnist, Arab News and Al Yaum; Retired Commodore, Royal Saudi Navy.
Mr. Steven Clemons – Editor-at-Large, The Atlantic; Founder, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation; Publisher, The Washington Note.
Geo-Political Dynamics: Egypt & Arab North Africa – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: EGYPT AND ARAB NORTH AFRICA
Chair:
Ms. Elizabeth Wossen – Principal and Lead Consultant, Energy Links Group LLC; former Coordinator, Congressional and Government Relations, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation; Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
Speakers:
Dr. Paul Sullivan – Professor of Economics, Eisenhower School, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor, Security Studies, Georgetown University; Columnist, Turkiye Gazetesi, Istanbul, Turkey.
Mr. Karim Haggag – Visiting Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; former Director, Egyptian Press and Information Office in Washington, DC.
Ms. Alexis Arieff – Analyst on Africa and the Maghreb, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Speakers:
H.E. Ambassador Mohamed M. Tawfik – Ambassador of Egypt to the United States.
Dr. Nejib Ayachi – Founder and President, Maghreb Center.
U.S.-Arab Business, Finance, and Human Resource Development – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
U.S.-ARAB BUSINESS, FINANCE, AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Chair:
Ambassador Ford Fraker – former Senior Adviser and Chairman for the Middle East and North Africa Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P.; former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Speakers:
Ambassador Patrick Theros – Executive Director, U.S.-Qatar Business Council; former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar.
Mr. Ken Close – Founder and CEO, Quincy International; former Senior Policy Advisor to HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal.
Ms. Nahlah Al-Jubeir – Director, Center for Career Development, Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission; former Deputy Director for Financial and Administrative Affairs, Saudi Health Mission in Washington, DC.
Mr. Nathan Regan – Country Manager for the United States, Bahrain Economic Development Board, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Commentator:
Ambassador Dr. Rene Leon – Economic Growth Consultant, Creative Associates International; former Ambassador of El Salvador to the U.S.
Keynote Address: Ambassador James Smith – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY AMBASSADOR JAMES SMITH
Introduction of Speaker:
HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Sa’ud – Member, International Advisory Committee, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Honorary President, Website Services and Internet Technology of the Gulf Cooperation Council; former Chairman, Arab Open University Forum.
Speaker:
Ambassador James Smith – Senior Counselor, The Cohen Group; former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Remarks on Model Arab League – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
REMARKS ON MODEL ARAB LEAGUE BY HRH PRINCE ABDULMAJEED BIN ABDULILAH BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SA’UD
Remarks on Model Arab League:
HRH Prince Abdulmajeed bin Abdulilah bin Abdulaziz Al Sa’ud – Student, Northeastern University.
Geo-Political Dynamics: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, & Iran – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: SYRIA, LEBANON, IRAQ, AND IRAN
Chair:
Dr. John Iskander – Chair, Near East and North Africa Area Studies, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State.
Speakers:
Dr. Trita Parsi – Founder and President, National Iranian American Council; author A Single Roll of the Dice – Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran and Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States.
Dr. Judith Yaphe – Distinguished Research Fellow for the Middle East, Institute for National Strategic Studies; Adjunct Professor in the Elliott School, George Washington University; former senior analyst in the office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA.
Dr. Bassam Haddad – Director, Middle East Studies Program and Assistant Professor, Department of Public and International Affairs, George Mason University; Co-Founder/Editor, Jadaliyya Ezine; Visiting Professor, Georgetown University; author, Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience.
Dr. David Lesch – Professor of Middle East History, Trinity University; author, The Fall of the House of Assad, The Arab – Israeli Conflict: A History, and The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Asad and Modern Syria.
Dr. Michael C. Hudson – Director, Middle East Institute and Professor of Political Science at National University of Singapore; former Director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Professor of International Relations, and Seif Ghobash Professor of Arab Studies, Georgetown University.
The Palestinian Future – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
THE PALESTINIAN FUTURE
Chair:
Dr. Thomas Mattair – Executive Director, Middle East Policy Council; former Research Scholar, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research; author, The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa and Global Security Watch – Iran: A Reference Handbook.
Speakers:
H.E. Ambassador Maen Areikat – Chief Representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United States; former Deputy Head and Coordinator-General of the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Mr. Bill Corcoran – President and CEO of ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid); former Vice President, Child Fund International.
Mr. Chris McGrath – Senior Liaison Officer and Acting Head of the Washington Representative Office, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); former Communications Strategist for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Ms. Leila Hilal – Director, Middle East Task Force, New America Foundation; former Senior Policy Adviser to the Commissioner-General of UNRWA.
Arab-U.S. Relations: A View from the League of Arab States – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY H.E. DR. MOHAMMED ALHUSSAINI ALSHARIF
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Alhussaini Alsharif – Chief Representative of the League of Arab States to the United States; former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Canada and Turkey; former Head of the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Houston.
Arab-U.S. Relations: A View from Baghdad – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY H.E. LUKMAN FAILY
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Lukman Faily – Ambassador of Iraq to the United States; former Ambassador of Iraq to Japan.
Gulf Cooperation Council: Role in Regional Dynamics – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL: ROLE IN REGIONAL DYNAMICS
Chair:
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.
Speakers:
Mr. Jason Buntin – Director for Europe and Middle East Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Dr. Abdullah AlShayji – Chairman, Department of Political Science, Kuwait University; author, Kuwait’s Ceaseless Quest for Survival in a Hostile Environment.
Dr. Ken Katzman – Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Mr. Michael Buonvino – Vice President for Global Development, Hill International.
Ambassador Richard Schmierer – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Bureau of Near East Affairs, U.S. Department of State; former U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman.
U.S.-Arab Defense Cooperation – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
U.S.-ARAB DEFENSE COOPERATION
Chair:
Mr. Christopher Blanchard – Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Speakers:
Mr. David Des Roches – Associate Professor and Senior Military Fellow, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Malone Fellow in Arab and Islamic Studies.
Mr. Robert Sharp – Assistant Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University.
Commentators:
Dr. Janet Breslin-Smith – former Professor of National Security Strategy and Chair of the Department of National Security Strategy, National War College.
Keynote Address: General Lloyd Austin III – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY GENERAL LLOYD AUSTIN III
Speaker:
General Lloyd Austin III – Commander, United States Central Command; former Vice Chief of Staff, United States Army; former Commander, U.S. Forces-Iraq (from September 2010 through completion of mission in December 2011); former Director, Joint Staff, Pentagon.
Keynote Address: HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HRH PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL
Speaker:
HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal – 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 of America; former Director General, General Intelligence Directorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
U.S.-Arab Energy Cooperation – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
U.S.-ARAB ENERGY COOPERATION
Chair:
Ms. Randa Fahmy Hudome – President, Fahmy Hudome International; General Counsel, American Egyptian Strategic Alliance; former Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy; Member, Board of Directors, National Council on U.S-Arab Relations.
Speakers:
Dr. Herman Franssen – Executive Director, Energy Intelligence Group; former Senior Associate, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Ms. Sarah Ladislaw – Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Mr. Kevin Book – Co-Founder and Head of Research, ClearView Energy Partners, LLC; Senior Associate, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Member, National Petroleum Council.
Ambassador Thomas Graham – Executive Chairman, Board of Directors, Lightbridge Corporation; Member, International Advisory Board, United Arab Emirates; former U.S. diplomat.
Dr. Shihab Kuran – President, SunEdison Advanced Solutions.
Coping With Kaleidoscopic Change in the Middle East – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
COPING WITH KALEIDOSCOPIC CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Speaker:
Ambassador Chas Freeman – Chairman of the Board, Projects International, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based 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 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, Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige; America’s Misadventures in the Middle East; The Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition); and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.
Council Chronicle Vol. 7, No. 2 (Spring 2013)
Council Chronicle Vol. 7, No. 2 (Spring 2013) (.pdf file)
Includes:
National Intelligence University Students Visit the UAE
Malone Fellowship Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program
Congressional & Public Affairs Briefings
National Council Welcomes New Board Chairman