Live Webcast Features Mideast Experts Top Policymakers, Analysts Address Washington Institute Confer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 3, 2012
Press Contact: 202.230.9550, press@washingtoninstitute.org
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Beginning at 7:45 p.m. (ET), Friday, May 4, the public can watch a live, online broadcast of leading policymakers and analysts addressing the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Weinberg Founders Conference. Live and recorded videos for the May 4-6 event will be available through the Institute’s new web page. A conference schedule is below.
The event will open on Friday, May 4 with a keynote speech by Egyptian business leader and founder of the liberal Free Egyptians Party Naguib Sawiris, and will conclude on Sunday, May 6 with an appearance by U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough.
The conference enables policymakers, journalists and the community leaders to discuss Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Arab Spring, the War on Terror and other challenges for American interests in the Middle East. Other key subjects will include Chinese and Russian policy in the Middle East, U.S. policy in Syria, U.S.-Israel relations in a changing Middle East, navigating the Egyptian revolution, and alternative directions for political Islam.
Follow the conference live on Twitter @WashInstitute #NewMidEast.
About the Washington Institute: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy seeks to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them.
Contact information: press@washingtoninstitute.org, 202-452-0650
TELEVISED PROGRAM
Friday, May 4
7:45 pm: Keynote Address featuring Naguib Sawiris, founder, Free Egyptians Party.
Saturday, May 5
8:45 am: "Iran Policy Options: Prevention, Containment, and the Nuclear Challenge," featuring Colin Kahl, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East; and Jamie Fly, executive director of the Foreign Policy Initiative. Moderated by Amb. Dennis Ross, counselor, Washington Institute.
10:45 am: "After bin Laden: Is the War on Terror Over?" debate featuring Peter L. Bergen, author of The Long War, gold prize winner, 2011 Washington Institute Book Prize; and Juan Zarate, former deputy national security advisor. Moderated by Matthew Levitt, director, Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Washington Institute.
7:40 pm: "Syria, U.S. Leadership, and the Direction of Change in the Middle East," panel discussion featuring Fouad Ajami, senior fellow, Hoover Institution; Peter David, Washington bureau chief, Economist; and Amb. Theodore Kattouf, former envoy to Syria. Moderated by Robert Satloff, executive director, Washington Institute.
Sunday, May 6
8:45 am: "U.S.-Israel Relations in a Changing Middle East," panel discussion featuring Amb. Robert Blackwill, former deputy national security adviser; Amb. Dennis Ross, former NSC senior director and currently counselor, Washington Institute; Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin (IDF, Ret.), former head of Israeli defense intelligence. Moderated by David Makovsky, director, Project on the Middle East Peace Process, Washington Institute.
10:30 am: Closing Address featuring Denis McDonough, assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor. Moderated by Amb. Dennis Ross, counselor, Washington Institute.