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.
The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 23rd Annual Arab U.S.-Policymakers Conference included a presentation on “The Collapse of Order in the Middle East” by Ambassador (Ret.) Chas Freeman, Jr.
An audio and video recording of the speech as well as a link to the transcript are available below. Videos of the entire 2014 conference are available on YouTube and podcasts of the conference are available through iTunes and FeedBurner.
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.
CHANGE WITHOUT PROGRESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Ambassador (Ret.) 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, America’s Misadventures in the Middle East as well as The Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition) and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.
THE MESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. – 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 of the newly published America’s Misadventures in the Middle East as well as The Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition) and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.
ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: Misadventures Past and Present
Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. – Chairman of the Board, Projects International, Inc., a Washington, DC-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 of the newly published America’s Misadventures in the Middle East as well as The Diplomat’s Dictionary (Revised Edition) and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy.
“ARAB-U.S. RELATIONS: THE WAY FORWARD”
Arab-U.S. Relations: The Way Forward – 2009 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference from NCUSAR on Vimeo.
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.
“AMBASSADOR’S ROUNDTABLE”
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.
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. Wyche Fowler (1996-2001)
The Hon. James C. Oberwetter (2004-2007)
The Hon. Robert Jordan (2002-2003)
LUNCHEON KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Speaker: Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman, Jr. − President, Middle East Policy Council; former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1993-94), earning the highest public service awards of the Department of Defense for his roles in designing a NATO-centered post-Cold War European security system and in reestablishing defense and military relations with China. He also served as U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm) and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the U.S. mediation of Namibian independence South Africa and Cuban troop withdrawal Angola.
Remarks by: H.E. Ali Suleiman Aujali – Chargé d’Affaires, People’s Bureau of the Great Socialist Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; former Chargé d’Affaires Libyan People’s Bureau in Ottawa, Canada; former Libyan ambassador to Malaysia, Argentina, and Brazil.
“An Update on Libyan-U.S. Relations – The Process of Renewal”
Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman, Jr. AUDIO (.mp3)
Wall Street Journal Supplement on Saudi Arabia (.pdf file). Featuring articles from John Duke Anthony, Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud, Richard Morgan, Richard Curtiss, Richard Murphy, Chas Freeman, and John R. Thomson. This appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, July 2, 1991.
VIDEO