Day: July 9, 2012

This week’s peace picks

1. Front Burner: Al Qaeda’s Attack on the USS Cole, Heritage Foundation, 12-1 pm July 10

 

Event Details

 

  • DATE Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012
  • TIME 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
  • VENUE Lehrman Auditorium

More About the Speakers

Kirk Lippold
Author

Hosted By

Charles Stimson Charles Stimson Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Fellow

On October 12, 2000, eleven months before the 9/11 attacks, the USS Cole – with Commander Kirk Lippold at the helm – docked in the port of Aden in Yemen for a routine fueling stop. At 1118, the 8,400-ton destroyer was rocked by an enormous explosion. This bombing marked al Qaeda’s first direct assault against the United States and expanded their brazen and deadly string of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East. In this first-person narrative, Lippold reveals the details of this harrowing experience in which seventeen sailors died and thirty-seven were wounded. Thanks to the valor of the crew in the perilous days that followed, the ship was saved.

Yet, even with al Qaeda’s intentions made clear in an unmistakable act of war, the United States government delayed retaliating. Bureaucrats and politicians sought to shift and pin blame as they ignored the danger signaled by the attack, shirking responsibility until the event was ultimately overshadowed by 9/11. In Front Burner, Lippold captures this critical moment in America’s battle against al Qaeda, telling a vital story that – until now – has been lost in the fog of the war on terror.

Commander Lippold retired from the Navy in 2007 and remains active in current events and national security affairs. His personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon, among others.

2. Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment, 2172 Rayburn HOB, 2 pm July 10

House Committee on Foreign Affairs Oversight Hearing

Date
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Time
2:00 PM
Location
Washington, DC
Room
2172 Rayburn HOB
Subcommittee
Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
Chaired by Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Witnesses
  • The Honorable Elliott Abrams
    Senior Fellow
    Council on Foreign Affairs
  • Jonathan Schanzer, Ph.D.
    Vice President for Research
    Foundation for Defense of Democracies

3. Reform, Revolt and Revolution in Egypt and the Arab World, Embassy of Slovenia, 2410 California Street NW, 6-8 pm July 10

Women's Foreign Policy Group

— Beyond the Headlines —
Reform, Revolt and Revolution in
Egypt and the Arab World

Lisa Anderson

Keynote Speaker
Lisa Anderson
President, The American University in Cairo
Welcome by
H.E. Roman Kirn
Ambassador of Slovenia to the US
Lisa Anderson, a specialist on politics in the Middle East and North Africa, was appointed president of The American University in Cairo in January 2011 after serving two years as the University’s provost. Previously, Anderson served at Columbia University as dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, was the James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations, chaired the political science department, and directed Columbia’s Middle East Institute. Before joining Columbia, she was assistant professor of government and social studies at Harvard University.
Anderson is the author of Pursuing Truth, Exercising Power: Social Science and Public Policy in the Twenty-first Century (2003), The State and Social Transformation in Tunisia and Libya, 1830-1980 (1986), editor of Transitions to Democracy (1999) and coeditor of The Origins of Arab Nationalism (1991). She has served on numerous boards including the Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Affairs, is member emerita of the board of Human Rights Watch, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Anderson holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, an MA in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a PhD in political science from Columbia University.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 6-8 p.m.
Reception and Program

Embassy of Slovenia
2410 California Street, NW
Washington, DC

Space is limited. Advance registration is required.

Click here to register
WFPG Members— $25                                      Non-Members— $40

4. Libya’s First Elections: A Preliminary Look at Results and Outlook, Atlantic Council, 12-2 pm, July 11

Date / Time Wednesday, July 11 / 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Location
Atlantic Council of the United States 1101 15th Street, NW, 11th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005
Speakers Gregory Kehailia, Fadel Lamen, Esam Omeish, Karim Mezran
Description After four decades of dictatorship under the rule of Moammar Qaddafi, Libyans will go to the polls on July 7 to elect the nation’s first constituent assembly. With more than 4,000 candidates for the assembly’s 200 seats and nearly 2.7 million voters, all eyes are on the National Transitional Council to fulfill this final step in handing power over to the elected body. After delays due to security and technical reasons, how did the first election proceed? What do the results say about the desires of Libyans to move forward in their transition to democracy? Who are the major players that emerged through this election and how will government formation proceed?

5. After the Summit: Assessing Iraq’s Relations with its Arab Neighbors, Middle East Institute, 12-1:30 pm July 12

Thu, 7/12/2012 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm

Location:

1800 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington
District of Columbia
20 036

The Middle East Institute is proud to host John Desrocher, Gregory Gause, Ken Pollack and Amb. Samir Sumaida’ie for a discussion about Baghdad’s complex relations with its Arab neighbors during a time of regional transition. As Iraq seeks to reclaim its role as a powerful player in the Arab world, what obstacles does it face as it attempts to project power and influence in a region still largely suspicious of Iraq’s motivations and alliances? What’s the view of Baghdad from the Arab Gulf and what influence does Iraq have on the unfolding crisis in Syria?

Bios:
John Desrocher took up his position as the director of the Office of Iraq Affairs in September 2010. He spent the preceding year at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as minister counselor for Economic Coordination, responsible for U.S.-Iraq economic policy issues.  He has extensive experience in international trade and in Middle East issues and has served as counselor for Economic and Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. He participated in Palestinian-Israeli economic negotiations while serving at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem in the late 1990s and served as State Department desk officer for Iraq in the mid-1990s.

Gregory Gause is professor of political science at the University of Vermont, and was director of the University’s Middle East Studies Program from 1998 to 2008. In 2009-2010, he was the Kuwait Foundation Visiting Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He was previously on the faculty of Columbia University (1987-1995) and was a Fellow for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (1993-1994). He has published three books, among them The International Relations of the Persian Gulf (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Kenneth Pollack is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is an expert on national security, military affairs, and the Persian Gulf. He was drector for Persian Gulf affairs at the National Security Council. He also spent seven years in the CIA as a Persian Gulf military analyst. He is the author of A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East (Random House, 2008)

Amb. Samir Sumaida’ie was appointed Iraq’s ambassador to the United States in April 2006. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Sumaida’ie served as a member of Governing Council (GC) in Iraq.  In the GC, he was chairman of the media committee, helped found the Iraqi Telecoms and Media Commission and the Public Broadcasting Institution, and held positions on the security, finance, and foreign relations committees. He then served as the minister of interior in Baghdad. In this capacity he managed a domestic security force of over 120,000.  Prior to his appointment as ambassador to the U.S., Sumaida’ie served as permanent representative to the United Nations from July 2004 to April 2006.

Moderator: Phebe Marr is a prominent historian of modern Iraq. She was research professor at the National Defense University and a professor of history at the University of Tennessee and at Stanislaus State University in California. She is the author of The Modern History of Iraq (Third Edition, Westview Press, 2011). She is a member of the Board of Advisory Editors of The Middle East Journal.

6. Democratic Transition in the Middle East: Between Authoritarianism and Islamism, National Endowment for Democracy, 12-2 pm July 12

featuring

Mokhtar Benabdallaoui, Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow

with comments by

Samer Shehata, Georgetown University

Thursday, July 12, 2012
12 noon–2:00 p.m.
(Lunch served 12:00–12:30 p.m.)

1025 F. Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20004
Telephone: 202-378-9675

RSVP (acceptances only) with name and affiliation by Tuesday, July 10

About the Event

The outcomes of the recent Arab uprisings have confirmed the organizational superiority and widespread appeal of Islamist political parties in a number of countries in the Middle East. The new form of Islamism appears to be compatible with democracy, a free society, and a modern economy, and its ascendancy may foreshadow the political future of the region and the roles of domestic, regional, and international actors.

In his presentation, Mokhtar Benabdallaoui will explain why Islamists have embraced democracy instead of fundamentalism and why the appeal of Islamists exceeds that of leftists and liberals in the Arab world. He will assess the challenges of shaping Islamist political thought in a democratic direction, the prospects of Islamist governments accepting diversity and differences of opinion, and the ways in which Islamists may reconcile conflicting religious and political ideas from across the Arab world. Drawing upon the example of Islamist political parties in four countries—Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Lebanon—Mr. Benabdallaoui will consider how ascendant Islamists have influenced societies across the Middle East and conclude with an assessment of the main stakeholders in the Arab Spring, their propensity for reform, and the prospects for further change in the region. Samer Shehata will provide comments.

About the Speakers

Mokhtar Benabdallaoui is a professor of Islamic studies and director of the Doctoral Center for Studies in Politics and Religion at Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco. He is also founding director of the Center for Humanities Studies and Research, a Casablanca-based nongovernmental organization that carries out a broad range of activities under the auspices of the Civic Forum, including civic education workshops, publication of the quarterly journal Rihanat, and conferences on democratic reform. During his fellowship, Dr. Benabdallaoui is studying the evolution, activities, and impact of Islamist parties in the Arab world and intends to publish his findings in the form of a book. Samer Shehata is an assistant professor of Arab politics at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University.

7. The Role of Central Asia in Afghanistan, Carnegie, 12:15-1:45 pm July 12

Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Martha Brill Olcott Thursday, July 12, 2012 – Washington, D.C.
12:15 PM – 1:45 PM EST

As Central Asia plays a fundamental role in efforts to develop a peaceful and stable Afghanistan as well as a secure and prosperous region, the United States must continue to actively engage with Central Asian countries.

Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake will discuss the prospects for developing Central Asia into a region of economic opportunity, which could help lead to regional integration.
Please note that the event will take place in the Saul/Zikha Room of the Brookings Institution.

8. View from the Ground in Syria, CSIS, 10:30-11:30 am, July 13

  • Friday, Jul 13, 2012 | 10:30 am – 11:30 am

The Center for Strategic and International Studies invites you to a discussion on

View From the Ground in Syria

With Donatella Rovera Senior Crisis Response Adviser, Syria Amnesty International

With commentary by Aram Nerguizian
Visiting Fellow, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy Center for Strategic and International Studies

Moderated by Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman
Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy Center for Strategic and International Studies

Friday, July 13, 2012 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

B1 Conference Room
1800 K Street, NW, Washington DC 20006

Seating is limited.

RSVP is required. Please RSVP (acceptances only) with your name and affiliation to externalrelations@csis.org

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