Bridging the Desert:
The Middle East in the Coming Decade
(draft agenda as of January 26, 2007)

February 1 – February 4, 2007
Staff Workshops January 31 - February 1, 2007
Omni Shoreham Hotel
2500 Calvert Street off Connecticut Avenue at Woodley Park

High-level Confirmed Speakers
His Excellency Abdullah Alireza, Minister of State for Saudi Arabia
Amb. C. David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt (Ret.), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs
Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, former Majority Leader, US House of Representatives
His Excellency Sallai Meridor, Ambassador of Israel to the United States


William Cohen, former Secretary of Defense, Chairman and CEO of The Cohen Group
(Chairman’s Dinner honoree)

PRE-CONFERENCE STAFF WORKSHOPS
(full agendas will be distributed at the workshop)
Wednesday, January 31
2:00PM      Opening of Staff Workshop
4:00          Registration for General Participants Open
6:00          End of Staff Workshop
6:30          Staff Reception hosted by the WAC of Washington, DC
7:00          End Registration for General Participants

Thursday, February 1
8:00AM      School Workshops
9:00          Registration for General Participants Open
11:15        Leave for School Workshop Program at National Geographic
1:30 PM     Return from National Geographic

MAIN CONFERENCE PROGRAM

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1
9:00 AM        Registration for General Participants Open
2:00 PM        Opening of Conference
2:15-3:30      Plenary Session: The United States and the Middle East
                   Speaker:  Assistant Secretary Amb. C. David Welch

4:00 – 5:15    Plenary Session:  The Axis of Information is Changing: News from the Middle East
                   Speaker: David Marash, Chief Washington Anchor for Al-Jazeera English
      
6:15 – 7:30   Opening Reception
7:00 – 7:45   Special Reception for Chairman’s Dinner
8:00 – 10:00 Chairman’s Dinner (special registration with fee required)
                  WACA Chairman Ambassador James R. Jones will present William S. Cohen, CEO of the
                  Cohen Group and former Senator and Secretary of Defense, with World Affairs Councils
                  of America Lifetime Achievement Award.
                  Speaker and Honoree:  former Secretary of Defense William Cohen
 
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2

8:00 – 9:00 Invitation-only Breakfast: Investment and Trade Opportunities in the Middle East
                 This is for our sponsors and corporate board members to meet with the trade representatives
                 from embassies and the United States.
                 Please contact WACA at 202-833-4557 if you are interested in attending.
                Speaker: Chris Moore, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
                            David Hamod, President and CEO of National US Arab Chamber of Commerce

9:30 – 10:45 Plenary Session: US Strategic Interests in the Middle East--the Military Dimension
                  Speaker: Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt (Ret.), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense,
                  Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs

11:00 – 12:15 Plenary Session: Religion in the Middle East
                    In this session, we will bring together Christians, Jews and Muslims in the United States and in
                    the Middle East to discuss how faith plays a role in bringing hope to the Middle East.
                    Moderator: John Esposito, Professor of Religion and International Affairs, Georgetown University 
                    Panelists: Father Nabil Haddad, Catholic priest from Amman, Jordan
                                The Right Reverend John Chane, Eighth Bishop of Washington
                                M. Bruce Lustig, M.A.H.L., Senior Rabbi Washington Hebrew Congregation
                                Sulayman S. Nyang, Professor of African Studies, Howard University
                                Dr. Ahmad Saifuddin Turkistani, Imam and Khateeb from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
 
12:30 – 2:00 Ambassadorial Luncheons at Hotel 
                  Afghanistan, Bahrain, Estonia, Finland, France, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman,
                  Morocco, Poland, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen

2:30 – 3:45 Discussion Sessions
                  A – Peace Camps – Mary Eisenhower, President and CEO of People to People International
                  B – Imperial Life in the Emerald City: The Making of Iraq’s Green Zone – Rajiv Chandrasekaran, 
                        Assistant Managing Editor, The Washington Post
                  C – Turkish Military – Soner Cagaptay, Director, Turkish Research Program,
                       Washington Institute for Near East Policy
                  D - PeaceMaker: A Video Game to Promote Peace – Eric Brown and Asi Burak, Impact Games
                  E – Beyond Islamism – Peter Mandaville, Director, Center for Global Studies, 
                       George Mason University
                  F – A Middle East Overview  – Yaron Deckel, Washington Bureau Chief,
                       Israel Broadcasting Authority 
                  G - Lebanon - Hesham Melhin, Washington Bureau Chief, An-Nahar
                       Senior Analyst, al-Arabiyya TV (invited)
                  H - Arab Professional Women - Selwa Al-Hazaa, Head of Ophthalmology, King Faisal Specialist 
                       Hospital & Research Center
                       2004 "Arab Woman of the Year" by the Arab Woman's Studies Center
 
4:00 – 5:15 Plenary Session:  Palestine-Israel Peace Process
                 The focus in this session will be on what Israeli’s and Palestinians policymakers perceive their role in
                 promoting peace.
                 Speaker:  Amb. Dennis Ross, Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow,
                               Washington Institute for Near East Policy
                                Ziad Asali, M.D., President, American Task Force on Palestine 
                                His Excellency Sallai Meridor, Ambassador of Israel to the United States

6:00 Buses Leave for Embassy Receptions

6:30  Embassy Receptions
        Receptions will be at the Embassies of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.       
        Participants will be assigned to an embassy.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3

9:00 – 10:15    Plenary Session:  Challenges with Iran
                     This session seeks to examine social and political developments in Iran and how this affects its
                     relationship with the region and the United States.
                     Speaker: Michael Rubin, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
 
10:30 -11:45   Discussion Groups and Workshops
                      A – The Kurdish Dilemma – Kani Xulam, American Kurdish Information Network 
                      B - Turbulent Iran – Sir Eldon Griffiths and Amb. Bruce Laingen
                      C – Counter - Terrorism Security - Stephen Gregory
                      D – Storm from the East - Milton Viorst
                      E – The Stalled War on Terrorist Financing – John Cassara, former CIA and Treasury Agent
                      F - Egypt – Amb. Mark Johnson, Executive Director, Montana World Affairs Council

12:30 – 2:00    Keynote Luncheon Speech: A Democratic View of Middle East Policy
                     Speaker: Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, former Majority Leader, US House of Representatives
                                  Senior Counsel, Government Affairs, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP
 
2:30 – 3:45    Saudi Arabia
                    This discussion will focus on the current political, economic, and social trends in
                    Saudi Arabia.
                    Speaker: His Excellency Abdullah Alireza, Minister of State for Saudi Arabia
 
4:00 – 5:15    Plenary Session:  Oil in the Middle East
                   Speaker:  John Duke Anthony, President and CEO, National Council on US – Arab Relations
                                 Robert Ebel, Chairman, Energy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

7:30              NCIV Breakfast with Sherry Mueller
9:00 - 10:00   National Membership Meeting
10:30            National Board Meeting
12:30            Luncheon for National Board Members