Carolinas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations Newsletter (Fall 2007) (.pdf file)
All posts by NCUSAR
Keynote Address: Ambassador Lawrence E. Butler – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Ambassador Lawrence E. Butler, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, United States Department of State
Revisiting Arab-U.S. Strategic Relations: The Way Forward – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
REVISITING ARAB-U.S. STRATEGIC RELATIONS: THE WAY FORWARD
H.E. Dr. Hussein Hassouna, Ambassador of the League of Arab States to the United States
Developmental Dynamics – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
Chair:
Dr. Joseph C. Moynihan, Regional Vice President for the Middle East and Africa, Northrop Grumman
Speakers:
Ambassador Shaun Donnelly, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President
Mr. Jeremy Jones, Senior Strategic Fellow, Oxford Center for Islamic Studies; Senior Fellow, Harvard Belfer Center for International Affairs; Senior International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; and author, Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East
Dr. Odeh Aburdene, President, OAI Advisors; Adviser, Capital Partners Holding; Member of the Board, AMIDEAST, Search for Common Ground, the Rand Center for Middle East Public Policy, the Bethlehem Foundation, Seeds of Peace, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
Dr. Abderrahim Foukara, Washington Bureau Chief, Al-Jazeerah Internationaland former longtime BBC Correspondent
Defense Cooperation – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
DEFENSE COOPERATION
Chair:
Major General William Nash (USA, Ret.), Adjunct Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Military Fellows Program, Council on Foreign Relations; former Director of Operations, U.S. Advisory Mission to the Modernization Program of the Saudi Arabian National Guard
Speakers:
Lieutenant General Martin E. Dempsey, Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command; former Director of Operations, U.S. Advisory Mission to the Modernization Program of the Saudi Arabian National Guard
Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies; and author, inter alia, of The Iraq War; Saudi Arabia Enters the 21st Century; The Lessons of Afghanistan; Terrorism, Asymmetric Warfare, and Weapons of Mass Destruction; Cyberthreats, Information Warfare, and Critical Infrastructure Protection; Strategic Threats and National Missile Defenses;and The Lessons and Non-Lessons of the Air and Missile Campaign in Kosovo
Dr. J.E. Peterson, Writer and Specialist on the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Affairs, and author, inter alia, of Defending Arabia; Defense and Regional Security in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf Region, 1973-2004: An Annotated Bibliography; Oman’s Insurgencies: The Sultanate’s Struggle for Supremacy;Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia. 2nd ed.; Saudi Arabia and the Illusion of Security; and The Arab Gulf States: Steps Towards Political Participation
Energy – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
ENERGY
Chair:
Dr. Frank Verrastro, Director and Senior Fellow, Energy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Speakers:
The Hon. Clay Sell, Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer, United States Department of Energy
Dr. Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, President, and CEO, Aramco Services Company
Mr. Michael J. Dolan, President, ExxonMobil Chemical Company and Vice-President, ExxonMobil Corporation
Mr. John D. Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company
Mr. Gary R. Heminger, Executive Vice President, Marathon Oil Corporation, and President, Marathon Petroleum Company, LLC
Mr. Sigmund L. Cornelius, Senior Vice President, ConocoPhillips
Geo-Political Dynamics (III): Iran and Iraq – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (III): IRAN AND IRAQ
Chair:
The Hon. Ronald Neumann, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Algeria, and Bahrain; Political Advisor, Coalition Provisional Authority/United States Embassy in Baghdad, United States Department of State; and President, The American Academy of Diplomacy
Speakers:
Dr. Judith Yaphe, Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University; and author, inter alia, ofGovernment and Politics of the Middle East; Reassessing the Implications of a Nuclear-Armed Iran; Turbulent Transition in Iraq: Can It Succeed?; Political Reconstruction in Iraq: A Reality Check; U.S. Policy in Post-Saddam Iraq: Lessons from the British Experience; Iraq at the Crossroads: State and Society in the Shadow of Regime Change; and The Middle East in 2015: The Impact of Regional Trends on U.S. Strategic Planning
Dr. Trita Parsi, President, National American Iranian Affairs Council; author, The Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the U.S.; and Adjunct Professor, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Edmund Ghareeb, Mustafa Barzani Scholar of Global Kurdish Studies, American University; author, The Kurdish Nationalist Movement, The Kurdish Question in Iraq, and War in the Gulf (co-author); and editor, Split Vision: The Portrayal of Arabs in the American Media
Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Senior Middle East Affairs Specialist, Congressional Research Service; and author, The Warriors of Islam: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
Keynote Address: Senator Chuck Hagel – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
LUNCHEON KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Speaker:
The Hon. Chuck Hagel (Republican-Nebraska), Member, United States Senate Committees on: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Intelligence; and Rules
The Turning of a New Chapter in U.S.-Libyan Relations – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
THE TURNING OF A NEW CHAPTER IN U.S.-LIBYAN RELATIONS
H.E. Ali Suleiman Aujali, Chargé d’Affaires at The People’s Bureau of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Washington, D.C.
Geo-Political Dynamics (II): Israel and Palestine – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (II): ISRAEL AND PALESTINE
Chair:
Dr. Peter Gubser, Immediate Past President, American Near East Refugee Aid, Inc.
Speakers:
H.E. Afif Safieh, Ambassador of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mission to the United States
Mr. Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow, New American Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Mark Perry, Co-Chair, Conflicts Forum; and author, Four Stars: The Inside Story of the Forty-Year Battle Between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and America’s Civilian Leaders; Eclipse: The Last Days of the CIA; A Fire In Zion: Inside the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process; Conceived In Liberty, Lift Up Thy Voice: The Grimke Family’s Journey from Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders; and Twain and Grant
Geo-Political Dynamics (I): Lebanon and Syria – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS (I): LEBANON AND SYRIA
Chair:
Dr. Michael C. Hudson, Saif Ghobash Professor of Arab Studies, and Director, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; and author, inter alia, of The Precarious Republic: Political Modernization in Lebanon, The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators, Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy, The Palestinians: New Directions, andMiddle East Dilemma: The Politics and Economics of Arab Integration
Speakers:
H.E. Dr. Imad Moustapha, Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United States
Dr. Daoud Khairallah, Esq., Adjunct Professor of International Law at Georgetown University Law Center, and the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C.
Ms. Martha Kessler, Senior Advisor to the National Intelligence Directorate, United States Government; and author, Syria: Fragile Mosaic of Power
Revisiting Arab-U.S. Strategic Relations: An Overview and Personal Perspective – 2007 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
REVISITING ARAB-U.S. STRATEGIC RELATIONS: AN OVERVIEW AND PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
General Wesley K. Clark (USA, Ret.) – Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; author, A Time to Lead, Waging Modern War, and Winning Modern Wars
NPR Interview: Arms for Diplomacy in the Middle East
John Duke Anthony – NPR Interview: Arms for Diplomacy in the Middle East (via SUSRIS).
This interview appeared on National Public Radio’s To the Point, and was conducted by host and producer Warren Olney, originally airing July 31, 2007. The program also featured interviews with Mr. Stephen Schwartz, of the Center for Islamic Pluralism; Mr. Warren Boese, Researcher at the Arms Control Association; and Mr. Yossi Melman, Reporter for Ha’aretz, Israel’s largest daily newspaper. This is an edited transcript of Dr. Anthony’s response to the questions put to him by Mr. Olney.
Council Chronicle – Vol. 1, No. 1 (August 2007)
Council Chronicle – Vol. 1, No. 1 (August 2007) (.pdf file)
Includes:
Academic Seminar for Summer Interns
Partnership with Yemen College of Middle Eastern Studies
Model Arab League
2007 Malone Fellow Visit to Oman
President’s Outreach
New Publications
National Council Staff & Interns
National Council Supporters
The U.S.-GCC Relationship
John Duke Anthony – The U.S.-GCC Relationship (.pdf)
Through a Looking Glass Darkly: Perspectives of the U.S.-Gulf Relationship with the Benefit of Hindsight from the Year Before
What Went Wrong, What Went Right, and the Way Forward – 2006 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
WHAT WENT WRONG, WHAT WENT RIGHT, AND THE WAY FORWARD — MISTAKES MADE, LESSONS LEARNED
Moderator: The Hon. Walter L. Cutler, twice former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, having represented President Ronald Reagan, 1984-86 and 1987-1988; Ambassador to Tunisia and Zaire and Ambassador-Designate to Khomeini’s Iran before diplomatic relations were severed; President Emeritus, Meridian International, Washington, D.C.; former Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations.
Panelists:
- “Economic and Related Reforms in the Kingdom’s Strategic Development Plans” – H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al-Qunaibet, Vice Chairman, Economic and Energy Affairs Committee, Majlis ash-Shura [National Consultative Council], Riyadh.
- “Perspectives of a Former Ambassador and United States Senator: Saudi Arabia-U.S. Relations, Reforms, Elections, and the Challenges Ahead.” — The Hon. Wyche Fowler, Chairman of the Board, Middle East Institute; former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, having represented President Bill Clinton, 1996-2000, and former Deputy Minority Leader, United States Senate and Congressman, 1977-1993.
- “Enhancing the Mutuality of Benefit: The Bilateral Commercial Dimension” —H.E. Usamah Al-Kurdi, Member, Majlis Ash-Shura [National Consultative Council], Riyadh; immediate past Secretary General, Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry 1997-2001; former Vice President, Saudi Consulting House, a fore-runner of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).
VIDEOThe Energy Outlook: Independence or Interdependence – 2006 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
Moderator: The Hon. James Schlesinger, Chairman of the Board of the MITRE Corporation and Senior Advisor at Lehman Brothers; Consultant to the Departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security; Member, the Defense Policy Board, the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board, and Vice-Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Director, Central Intelligence Agency; and former Secretary of Defense as well as the nation’s first Secretary of Energy.
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Khalid Al-Falih, Senior Vice President, Industrial Relations, and Board Member, Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the world’s largest producer of crude oil and which manages a quarter of the world’s total oil reserves; Chairman of the Board, South Rub’ Al-Khali Company, an upstream gas joint venture among Shell, Total, and Saudi Aramco; Chairman, Dammam City Municipal Council; former President of Petron Corporation, a refining and marketing venture between Saudi Aramco and the Philippine National Oil Company; former Vice-President for Gas Ventures, Development, and Coordination.
Panelists:
Among the senior energy executives represented in the following session are those whose companies are, among other things, major purchasers of Saudi Arabian crude oil, joint venture partners in refining projects in Saudi Arabia and the United States, substantial investors in both countries while pursuing expanded commercial relations and sharing technology to ensure continued reliable long-term energy supplies.
- Mr. Stephen D. Pryor, President, ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company and a Vice President of the Corporation
- Mr. Peter J. Robertson, Vice Chairman of the Board, Chevron Corporation; former Comptroller for Chevron Oil Europe, Comptroller of Chevron USA, and Vice President of Finance, Chevron USA; former President, Warren Petroleum Company, Chevron’s former natural gas liquids subsidiary; former President, Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc., with responsibility for directing Chevron’s oil exploration and production activities worldwide; Director, U.S.-Russian Business Council; the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council; the American Petroleum Institute; and Vice-Chairman, U.S. Energy Association.
- Mr. John D. Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company; Head, U.S. Country Leadership Team, which includes the leaders of all Shell businesses operating in the United States; Board Member, the American Petroleum Institute, United States Energy Association, National Association of Manufacturers, National Urban League, and the Foreign Policy Association.
- Mr. James J. Mulva, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, ConocoPhillips, and Chairman, the American Petroleum Institute; former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips Petroleum Company; Member, the Business Council and the Board of Visitors of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
- Mr. Gary R. Heminger, President, Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, and Executive Vice President, Marathon Oil Corporation; Chairman, American Petroleum Institute Downstream Committee; Chairman of the Board, Tiffin University; former Chairman, Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, and Member, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
A Vision for the Future of U.S.-Saudi Relations – 2006 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
Keynote Speaker: “A Vision for the Future of U.S. Saudi Relations” — HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States of America; Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh; Co-Chair, C100 Group, Council of 100 Leaders (West-Islamic World Dialogue) which has been affiliated with the World Economic Forum since 2003; Founding Member, Board of Directors, King Faisal Foundation; former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom and Ireland; and former Director General, General Intelligence Directorate, the kingdom’s main foreign intelligence service, 1977-2001.
U.S.-Saudi Arabia Regional Strategic Issues: Challenges and Opportunities – 2006 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference
REGIONAL STRATEGIC ISSUES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Moderator: H.E. Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi, Director General, Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation, Riyadh, and former president, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Keynote Speaker: “Strategic Scenarios for the Energy Future” — Dr. Daniel Yergin, Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates; author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and more recently, Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy; former Chair, U.S. Department of Energy’s Task Force on Strategic Energy Research and Development; Board Member, U.S. Energy Association; Member, the National Petroleum Council; the sole foreign member of the Russian Academy of Oil and Gas; Trustee, The Brookings Institution; Board Member, the New American Foundation; Advisory Board Member, the International Institute for Economics.
Panelists:
- “Impact of Events in Iraq and Iran: Implications for Saudi Arabian Interests and Policies” — Mr. Nawaf Obaid, Managing Director of the Saudi National Security Assessment Project, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; co-author, National Security in Saudi Arabia: Threats, Responses, and Challenges.
- “Assessing the Kingdom’s Efforts in Counter-Terrorism and Political Reform” — Dr. Rachel Bronson, Director of Programs, Institute for Global Affairs, Chicago; former Director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council’s Senior Associate for Near East Programs; author of Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia; and testifier before The Congressional Anti-Terrorist Finance Task Force; Congress’ Joint Economic Committee; and the 9-11 Commission.
- “Oil Prices and the Financial and Investment Outlook for Saudi Arabia” —Dr. Nahed M. Taher, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Gulf One Investment Bank, Bahrain, — the first Saudi Arabian woman to head a bank in the Gulf region; and former Chief Economist, Saudi National Commercial Bank, where she was the first Saudi Arabian woman to hold such a position.