October 29-30, 2007
National Press Club, Washington, DC
Introduction, October 29
Ambassador Wyche Fowler, Jr., Chairman of the Board of the Middle East Institute
Banquet Address
John Burns, New York Times London Bureau Chief
Introduction, October 30
Wendy Chamberlin, President of the Middle East Institute
Keynote Address
Richard Clarke, former Assistant to the President on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Panel I: Radicalization and Survival for Palestinian Refugees
Mustafa Barghouthi, Director of the Health Development Information and Policy Institute and the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative
Benny Morris, Ben Gurion University
Richard Cook, Director of UNRWA, Lebanon
Moderator: H.E. Amb. Wegger Chr. Strommen, Norwegian Ambassador to the U.S.
Luncheon Address
Frances Fragos Townsend, Advisor to the President on Homeland Security
Panel II: America in the Middle East: What Comes Next?
Tariq Ramadan, Oxford University, Research Fellow
Philip Gordon, Brookings Institution, Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies
Robert Satloff, Executive Director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP)
Moderator: David Ignatius, Washington Post, Associate Editor and Columnist
Panel III: Post Iraq War Jihadists: Where Next?
Fawaz Gerges, Sarah Lawrence College, Christian A. Johnson Chair in International Affairs and Arab and Muslim Politics
H.E. General Ehsan ul Haq, former Chief of Pakistani ISI
Michael Ware, CNN Correspondent Baghdad
Moderator: Paul Pillar, Georgetown University, Security Studies Program
Closing Remarks
His Excellency Abdullah Alireza, Minister of State, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ambassador David Mack, Vice President, Middle East Institute
"...to promote knowledge of the Middle East in America and strengthen understanding of the United States by the people and governments of the region."
-- MEI Mission Statement
-- MEI Mission Statement
