KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HRH PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL
Chair and Introduction:
Dr. John Duke Anthony
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.
DEFENSE COOPERATION DYNAMICS: ENHANCING REGIONAL SECURITY
Chair:
The Honorable Molly Williamson – Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Adjunct Scholar, Middle East Institute; former Senior Foreign Policy Adviser 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).
Opening Remarks:
VADM Robert Harward – Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command; former Commander, Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 in Afghanistan; former Deputy Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command; and former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff representative to the National Counterterrorism Center.
Speakers:
Dr. Anthony Cordesman – Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies; consultant to the U.S. State Department, Defense Department, and intelligence community; former Director of Intelligence Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Mr. David Des Roches – Professor, 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.
THE UNPRECEDENTED EMERGENCE OF THE AVIATION SECTOR IN THE GCC
Speaker:
Mr. Akbar Al Baker – CEO, Qatar Airways and Doha International Airport.
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.
Council Chronicle Vol. 6, No. 2 (Spring 2012) (.pdf file)
September 6, 2012
City Club, Washington, DC
Participants include:
Mr. Carl Kress, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Europe Region, U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Ms. Randa Fahmy Hudome, President, Fahmy Hudome International
Ms. Laura Lombard, Director, Business Development, Sidar Global Advisors
Mr. Steven Mayo, Business Development Officer, Project and Structured Finance, Export-Import Bank of the United States
Ms. Deborah McCarthy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Mr. Curtis Silvers, Executive Vice President, National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; Member, U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and its subcommittees on Sanctions and Trade and Investment
Remarks by Ms. Deborah McCarthy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State
Press Release from the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce
Council Chronicle Vol. 6, No. 1 (Winter 2012) (.pdf file)
From June 21-July 3, 2012, the National Council, in partnership with the Lebanon Renaissance Foundation, organized and escorted ten students on a study visit to Lebanon. The delegation was made up primarily of alumni from the Council’s Model Arab League Student Leadership Development Program. Through the study visit the students gained direct personal experience in Lebanese culture, society, and economics, and came away with a more deeply informed knowledge of Lebanon’s strategic aims and requirements as they pertain to Lebanese-U.S. relations and Lebanon’s role in regional and world affairs.
“Lebanon” by Linda Pappas Funsch, The Frederick News-Post, December 2, 2012.
Arts & Sciences students chosen for international honors, John Carroll University News, May 8, 2012
June 26, 2012
City Club, Washington, DC
Participating specialists:
Ambassador Barbara Bodine, Lecturer and Director, Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative, Princeton University; and former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen
Mr. Gregory Johnsen, Ph.D. Candidate, Princeton University; author, Waq al-waq blog and The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia; and former Fulbright and American Institute for Yemeni Studies Fellow in Yemen
Dr. Charles Schmitz, Associate Professor of Geography, Towson University; President, American Institute for Yemeni Studies; and former Fulbright and American Institute for Yemen Studies Fellow in Yemen
Mr. Robert Sharp, Associate Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, U.S. Department of Defense/National Defense University
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; former Fulbright Fellow in the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen; and official observer for four of Yemen’s presidential and parliamentary elections
Remarks on GCC Economic Issues by Dr. Odeh Aburdene at the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ Capital Seminar on “The Gulf Cooperation Council at Thirty Plus One: Implications for GCC and U.S. Interests and Policies.”
From the National Council’s Arabia, the Gulf, and the GCC Blog
May 24, 2012
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, DC
Participating specialists:
Dr. Odeh Aburdene, President, OAI Advisors; and Senior Advisor, Capital Trust S.A.
Ms. Randa Fahmy Hudome, President, Fahmy Hudome International; and Member of the Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
Mr. Andrew Rabens, Special Advisor for Youth Engagement, Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Bureau of Near East Affairs, U.S. Department of State Department.
Mr. Robert Sharp, Associate Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, U.S. Department of Defense/National Defense University.
Ms. Molly Williamson, former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S.
Departments of Commerce and Defense, former Acting Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State, former Senior Foreign Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy, and Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
Mr. Joshua Yaphe, Arabian Peninsula analyst, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State.
Moderator:
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; and Member, U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and its subcommittees on Sanctions and Trade and Investment.
The National Council, in coordination with the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), organized and led a May 11-20, 2012 study visit to the United Arab Emirates for twelve Midshipmen and two faculty members from the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland.
The National Council, in coordination with the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), organized and led a March 9-17, 2012 study visit to the United Arab Emirates for nine Cadets and two faculty members from the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York.
Council Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 4 (Fall – Winter 2011) (.pdf file)
Council Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 3 (Summer – Fall 2011) (.pdf file)
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 28, 2011-January 7, 2012.
Cadet will travel to Saudi Arabia for winter fellowship, The Citadel Newsroom , December 12, 2011
The National Council, in coordination with the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), organized and led a November 18-28, 2011 study visit to the United Arab Emirates for ten Cadets and two faculty members from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
WHITHER THE ARAB-U.S. RELATIONSHIP IN THE PERIOD AHEAD? POLICY IMPLICATIONS FROM THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
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.
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Dr. Hussein Hassouna – Chief Representative of the League of Arab States to the United States.
Commentators:
Mr. Bill Corcoran – President, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA).
Mr. John Moran – Career Member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, United States Department of State; Distinguished Diplomat-in-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS (V): Iran
Chair:
Dr. John L. Iskander – Chair, Near East and North Africa Area Studies, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State.
Speakers:
Mr. Afshin Molavi – Senior Fellow, New America Foundation; Senior Middle East Advisor, Oxford Analytica; and author, The Soul of Iran.
Dr. Janne Nolan – Director, Nuclear Security Programs, American Security Project; former Professor of International Affairs and Deputy Director of the Ridgway Center, University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Flynt Leverett – Director, Iran Initiative, and Senior Research Fellow, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation; and author, Dealing with Tehran: Assessing U.S. Diplomatic Options toward Iran and Inheriting Syria: Bashar’s Trial by Fire.
Dr. Kenneth B. Katzman – Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS (IV): Palestine
Chair:
Mr. Yousef Munayyer – Executive Director, Palestine Center and the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development.
Speakers:
Ms. Michelle Steinberg – Counterintelligence Editor, Executive Intelligence Review (EIR).
Dr. Ghada Karmi – Co-Director, Centre of Palestine Studies, University of Exeter.
Dr. Norton Mezvinsky – Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Connecticut State University; President, International Council for Middle East Studies.