Middle East Dialogue 2016:
New Hopes and Aspirations
Friday February 26, the historic Whittemore House
1526, New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM:
8:00 am Registration with Continental Breakfast
9:00 am Opening Keynote – Auditorium
Moderator: Ambassador Mark Hambley, Next Century Foundation
The Middle East in Turmoil: A Kurdish Perspective
Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representative to the United States
10:10 – 11:25 am: BREAKOUT SESSIONS I (4 rooms)
1. International Relations: Library
Session chair: Cheryl Walker, Policy Studies Organization
Iran’s Perception of Saudi Arabia’s Regional Policies and its Intervention in Syria
Atefeh Baghi, Doshisha University – Kyoto, Japan
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to be Devoured by their Frankensteins, IS and Taliban
Susmit Kumar, Kumar Consultancy
Sino-Israel None Trade Activities in the Context of Sino-Middle East Relationship
Yiyi Chen, Shanghai Jiao Tong University – Shanghai, China
2. Oil in the Middle East: 1870s RoomSession chair: John G. Ingersoll, ECOCORP
ISIS and Saudi Arabia’s Predicted Oil Crisis
Maha Aziz, Huffington Post / Wikistrat / New York University – New York, New York
The Myth of Running Out of Oil in the Middle East
Robert Kuchinski, American Association of Petroleum Geologists (Middle East Region) / Weatherford Oil
The Struggle for Political and Economic Development in a Petro-State: Making Strategic Budgetary Choices in Conflict-Ridden Iraq
James D. Savage, University of Virginia – Charlottesville, Virginia
3. Israeli-Arab Conflict 1: Harriman Room
Session chair: Andrew Jung, American University
Apartheid Israel: Effective Propaganda or Counter-Productive Discourse
Barry Shapiro, Allegheny College – Meadville, Pennsylvania
Blaming Self and Not the Other – A New Middle East Discourse
Josef Olmert, University of South Carolina – Columbia, South Carolina
Instilling Hope for Peace in Israel-Palestine: Effective and Ineffective Interventions
Oded Adomi Leshem, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University – Fairfax, Virginia
4. Democracy: Blair Room
Session chair: William Morris, Next Century Foundation
Libya’s Failed Transition from an Authoritarian Regime to Pluralism: Why?
Abir El Shaban, Washington State University – Pullman, Washington
Cyberactivism in the Arab Spring: Potentials, Limitations, and Future Prospects
Sahar Mohamed Khamis, University of Maryland – College Park, Maryland
11:35 – 12:50 pm: BREAKOUT SESSIONS II (4 rooms)
5. Israeli-Arab Conflict 2: Library
Session chair: Mohammed M. Aman, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The Phased Implementation of the Arab Peace Initiative
Ambassadors William Morris and Mark Hambley, Next Century Foundation
6. Iran 1: 1870s Room
Session chair: Ivan S. Sheehan, University of Baltimore
Iran is Not Ruled by a Government: Policy Implications
Shahram Ahmadi Nasab Emran, Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics, St. Louis University – St. Louis, Missouri
The Geopolitics of Iran: A New Narrative
Arash Reisinezhad, Florida International University – Miami, Florida
7. Extremism: Harriman Room
Session chair: Paul Hayes, Director of Debate, George Washington University
Session opened by The Lafayette Debates (Sponsored by the Embassy of France to the United States). Featuring debate speakers, Bailey Fischer-Columbo & Joseph Nelson, George Washington University Debate & Literary Society
Foreign Fighter Radicalization: It’s Not Just about God, Politics, or the Economy, Stupid
Dorle Hellmuth, The Catholic University of America – Washington, D.C.
Islamists’ Introvert Legacies
Najah Mahmi Sidi, Mohamed Ben Abdellah University – Fez, Morocco and Nice-Sophia Antipolis University – Nice, France
1:00 – 2:20 pm: BREAKOUT SESSIONS III (4 rooms)
8. Gender 1: Library
Session chair: Cheryl Walker, Policy Studies Organization
Sociology of Veil in Saudi Arabia: Dress Code, Individual Choices on Women Empowerment
Muddassir Quamar, Jawaharlal Nehru University – New Delhi, India
Jihad al-nikah and Slavery of Women in Iraq
Seyedehbehnaz Hosseini, University of Vienna – Vienna Austria
Arab Women in Palestine during the Bridge Mandate
Thomas Martin, Pennsylvania State University – State College, Pennsylvania
9. Iran 2: 1870s Room
Session chair: Franklin Hockenbrocht, Policy Studies Organization
Policy Design, Implementation and Learning in Iran: Focus on capacity-building and FDI for growth and innovation in modern industrial policy
Náder Alyani, LLAKES Centre, UCL IOE, University College of London – London, England
Maryam Afzalabadi, Sharif University of Technology and Al Zahra University – Tehran, Iran
10. ISIS: Harriman Room
Session chair: Maha Aziz, Huffington Post, Wikistrat, New York University
The Caliphate’s Foreign Legion – What will happen to it?
Mark Silinsky, United States Army War College – Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Some Misconceptions about the Caliphate in Islam
Wayel Azmeh, University of Dayton – Dayton, Ohio
The Inevitability and Absoluteness of the Islamic State: One Belief – Different Concretizations
Abdelhak Jebbar, Sultan Moulay Slimane University – Beni Mellal, Morocco
11. Culture 1: Blair Room
Session chair: David Sollenberger, Catholic University
Exploring Civic Leadership amoung Young Tunisians: Inviting Despair, Creating Hope
Sarah Kincaid, George Mason University – Fairfax, Virginia
New Strategies for Community Development and Democratic Participation among Arab-Americans
Sabith Khan, Founder of MENASA / Visiting Research at Georgetown University
2:30 – 3:45 pm: BREAKOUT SESSIONS IV (4 rooms)
12. Yemen: Library
Session chair: Ambassador William Morris, Next Century Foundation
Yemen: Some Misconceptions About an Unnecessary War
Ambassadors Mark Hambley, Next Century Foundation
13. Crisis in the Middle East: 1870s Room
Session chair: Mohammed M. Aman, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Palestinian Refugees from Syria: From Fractured Histories to Alternative Futures
Sarah A. Tobin, Brown University – Providence, Rhode Island
Reflections on Hopes and Aspirations in the Middle East
Lawrence Davidson, West Chester University – West Chester, Pennsylvania
Failure of International Justice in Syria
Radwan Ziadeh, Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies (SCPSS), Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS), Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)
14. Gender 2: Harriman Room
Session chair: Andrew Jung, American University
Middle East Conflicts & Peacebuilding through a Gendered Lens
Adina Friedman, George Mason University – Fairfax, Virginia
Adapting Religious Rhetoric to Political Reality
Amel Mili, University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
15. Culture 2: Blair Room
Session chair: David Sollenberger, Catholic University
The Value of Continuous Innovation of Saudi Culture for Sustainable Development
Eman Bukhari, Cultural Program Developer, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture – Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Climate Change and Water Governance in Tunisia
Caroline Boules, George Mason University – Fairfax, Virginia
3:55 – 5:10 pm: BREAKOUT SESSIONS V (3 rooms)
16. International Relations 2: Library
Session chair: Andrew Jung, American University
Misunderstandings in International Negotiations
Bagher Fardanesh, R.H. Smith School of Businnes, University of Maryland – College Park, Maryland
UAE Foreign Policy and the ‘Influential Model’: Economy, Alliances and Soft Power in the Modern Middle East
Robert Mason, British University in Egypt – Cairo, Egypt
The Middle East Oleander Initiative
Ray Matsumiya, The University of the Middle East Project
17. Democracy in Egypt: 1870s Room
Session chair: Franklin Hockenbrocht, Policy Studies Organization
Egypt’s State-Society Dynamics and the Necessity for a New Social Contract
Mohamed Elgohari and Elissa Miller, Atlantic Council