Peace picks, Sept 30 – Oct 4

Fine, timely events this week in DC:

1. Reform Under Rouhani: Assessing Positive Change in Iran

Monday, September 30, 2013, 9 – 10.30 a.m.

The Stimson Center, 12th Floor

1111 19th Street, NW, Washington , DC

Speakers:

Ramin Asgard, former U.S. diplomat and former director of the State Department’s Iran office in Dubai

Arash Ghafouri, consultant to presidential candidates in 2013 election

Opening remarks

Klaus Linsenmeier, Executive Director, Heinrich Boell Foundation North America

Moderator:

Geneive Abdo, Fellow, Middle East Program, Stimson Center

To RSVP for this event, please click here.

The election of President Hassan Rouhani has led Iran’s political leadership to indicate that reconciliation between the Islamic Republic and the United States could be a distinct possibility.

In the immediate aftermath of talks at the U.N. General Assembly, please join the Heinrich Boell Foundation North America and the Stimson Center for a discussion on the positive social and political changes in Iran, the role of the Iranian youth in changing the political culture, and the implications of the Rouhani presidency on the future of US – Iran relations.

2. The U.S.-Russia Relationship: Transcending Mutual Deterrence

September 30, 2013

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT

Brookings Institution

Washington, DC

Summary

Nuclear weapons issues continue to figure prominently on the bilateral agenda between the United States and Russia. Although the U.S.-Russia relationship is no longer characterized by the hostility of the Cold War years, mutual nuclear deterrence continues to underpin the relationship between the two countries. Is mutual deterrence a permanent fixture of the relationship between Washington and Moscow, or can they move beyond it?

On September 30, the Arms Control Initiative at Brookings, in conjunction with Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, will hold a panel discussion to explore the possibilities for the United States and Russia to move past mutual deterrence. Brookings Senior Fellow Steven Pifer will moderate a panel consisting of Gary Samore, executive director for Research at the Belfer Center and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings; William Tobey, senior fellow at the Belfer Center; and Pavel Zolotarev, deputy director of the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The three panelists are co-authors of a new Belfer-U.S. and Canada Institute report, “Transcending Mutual Deterrence in the U.S.-Russian Relationship,” copies of which will be available. Following opening remarks, the panelists will take questions from the audience.

EVENT AGENDA

Moderator

Steven Pifer
Director, Arms Control Initiative
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence
@steven_pifer

Panelists

Gary Samore
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, Arms Control Initiative

William Tobey
Senior Fellow
The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Pavel Zolotarev
Deputy Director
Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies

RSVP: https://www.cvent.com/events/the-u-s-russia-relationship-transcending-mutual-deterrence/registration-faa522bfb7dd4a2eabaa60caa61abb21.aspx

3. Scenario Planning: Syria 2018

Tuesday October 1, 2013
1:00 – 2:00 pm

IISS-US
2121 K Street NW
Suite 801
Washington, DC 20037

Michael Oppenheimer
Consulting Senior Fellow for Scenario Planning, IISS
Clinical Professor at the Center for Global Affairs, NYU

Moderator: Steven Simon
Executive Director, IISS-US
Corresponding Director, IISS-ME

Please RSVP by following this link.

Published in Summer 2013, the “Syria: 2018” scenarios report discusses three distinct scenarios for how the current conflict in Syria could unfold over the next five years: as a regionalized conflict, a contained civil war, or a negotiated settlement. Michael Oppenheimer, Consulting Senior Fellow for Scenario Planning at IISS and Clinical Professor at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, will be speaking on the scenarios themselves as well as the methodology used to reach these conclusions.

4. Environmental Peacebuilding on the Jordan River

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

11:00AM-01:00PM

WCL, 6th Floor Lounges, American University

FEW BODIES OF WATER IN THE WORLD, are as revered, as fought over, or as polluted as as the lower Jordan River, whose waters have such rich symbolic value and importance to the world’s three major Abrahamic religions. Yet this river of historic conflict has become a symbol of peaceful cooperation, largely through the efforts of EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East (FOEME), a unique, award-winning, tri-national organization that unites people of the region around one very simple idea: the peaceful stewardship of the Earth.

Join us for a presentation by Gidon Bromberg (WCL ‘94), Nader al-Khateeb, and Munqeth Mehyar, the three co-directors of EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East (FOEME) to discuss their work along the Jordan River.

Register For This Event

5. Unheard Voices: Civil Society Perspectives on Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

10:00 am – 11:30 am

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Root Room, Floor 2

1779 Massachusetts Ave, NW

As negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians continue, how can the international community better support grassroots efforts to move the Peace Process forward? To what extent will negotiations incorporate the demands and priorities of non-traditional actors, such as youth, women, and civil society leaders? What opportunities exist for U.S. policymakers to better engage these groups in the hope of encouraging more meaningful change? Join POMED and OneVoice as we tackle these questions to examine the often neglected forces at work in promoting peace between Israel and Palestine.

Join us for a discussion of these topics with:

Tal Harris 
Executive Director
OneVoice Israel

Samer Makhlouf
Executive Director 
OneVoice Palestine

Moderator: Stephen McInerney 
Executive Director
 Project on Middle East Democracy

Click here to RSVP for the event.

6. An Assessment of Rouhani’s Visit to New York: Real Diplomacy or Failed Expectations?

October 02, 2013 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm

RSVP here

Two experts will provide a candid assessment of how realistic diplomacy may be after Presidents Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani spoke at the United Nations General Assembly.

LOCATION: 

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

Event Speakers List: 

Robin Wright // USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished Scholar

Journalist and Author/Editor of eight books, most recently editor of “The Islamists Are Coming: Who They Really Are”

Meir Javedanfar //

Iranian Politics Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya and Iranian-Israeli Middle East Analyst

7. Geneva Initiative – Why An Israeli-Palestinian Agreement Could Be Near

October 2, 2013 9:30 AM

Location: Conference Rooms

National Press Club 10/2/14 – 9:30 a.m. panel discussion:

Former Israeli and Palestinian Negotiators Offer an Insider’s View;
an Outline for a Peace Process

At a National Press Club press conference on October 2, Geneva Initiative (“GI”) leaders—Gadi Baltiansky, former Israeli negotiator and Press Secretary to Prime Minister Ehud Barak; Samih Al-Abid, former Palestinian negotiator and former Palestinian Authority cabinet minister; and Nidal Foqaha, Executive Director of the Palestinian Peace Coalition–will offer their inside views of the challenges that face current negotiators and reasons to hope for a successful outcome, which has eluded peacemakers for over 40 years.

The GI leaders will discuss seemingly intractable issues such as the 1967 borders, Jerusalem and the impact of each side’s extremists, as well as each side’s urgent needs for cooperation for security and economic progress.

The Geneva Initiative, an Israeli-Palestinian alliance, began when the two nations’ past negotiators cooperated to complete a model peace plan after the 2001 Intifada ended official talks. The Swiss government in 2003 offered support to form the counterpart Israeli-Palestinian GI organizations (see www.geneva-accord.org). Since then, these nongovernmental partners have worked behind the scenes to educate each nation’s leaders about the practical peace prospects, to build majority public support from both Israelis and Palestinians, and to set up an organization of advisors ready to help official negotiators with the difficult details of a treaty.

Swiss Ambassador Manuel Sager also will attend and offer remarks as to his nation’s role in forming the Geneva Initiative. Randa Fahmy Hudome, Esq. will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

7. Geneva Initiative – Why An Israeli-Palestinian Agreement Could Be Near

October 2, 2013 9:30 AM

Location: Conference Rooms

National Press Club 10/2/14 – 9:30 a.m. panel discussion:

Former Israeli and Palestinian Negotiators Offer an Insider’s View;
an Outline for a Peace Process

At a National Press Club press conference on October 2, Geneva Initiative (“GI”) leaders—Gadi Baltiansky, former Israeli negotiator and Press Secretary to Prime Minister Ehud Barak; Samih Al-Abid, former Palestinian negotiator and former Palestinian Authority cabinet minister; and Nidal Foqaha, Executive Director of the Palestinian Peace Coalition–will offer their inside views of the challenges that face current negotiators and reasons to hope for a successful outcome, which has eluded peacemakers for over 40 years.

The GI leaders will discuss seemingly intractable issues such as the 1967 borders, Jerusalem and the impact of each side’s extremists, as well as each side’s urgent needs for cooperation for security and economic progress.

The Geneva Initiative, an Israeli-Palestinian alliance, began when the two nations’ past negotiators cooperated to complete a model peace plan after the 2001 Intifada ended official talks. The Swiss government in 2003 offered support to form the counterpart Israeli-Palestinian GI organizations (see www.geneva-accord.org). Since then, these nongovernmental partners have worked behind the scenes to educate each nation’s leaders about the practical peace prospects, to build majority public support from both Israelis and Palestinians, and to set up an organization of advisors ready to help official negotiators with the difficult details of a treaty.

Swiss Ambassador Manuel Sager also will attend and offer remarks as to his nation’s role in forming the Geneva Initiative. Randa Fahmy Hudome, Esq. will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

8. The Encounter: Americans, Iraqis, and a Decade of War
A Day-long Conference

Thursday, October 3
9:00am – 4:00pm
City View Room
1957 E St., NW, 7th floor

American discussions of the Iraq war often focus on questions of military strategy and regional foreign policy. But what about the war itself? How did Iraqis and American soldiers experience a decade of war? How did they view each other? What lessons have they learned? This unique full-day conference brings together Iraqi students and American veterans of the war, along with academics and former policymakers, to discuss the human side of America’s war in Iraq.

Panelists will offer their unique experiences of major moments of the war, including the immediate aftermath of the invasion and ensuing occupation; the U.S. military ‘surge’ and its impact on local communities; population dislocation and humanitarian crisis; the legacy of the war for young U.S. service members; and prospects for future U.S.-Iraqi relations. By bringing together the voices and experiences of these diverse populations, this conference aims to facilitate critical reflections on the legacy of the U.S. war in Iraq.

The conference will feature both Iraqi graduate students and U.S. Veterans:

                        Ahmed Fahad, University of Cincinnati

                        Jabbar Jafar, American University

                        Louis Yako, Duke University

                        Abdulameer Hamdani, SUNY Stony Brook

                        Paul Leonard, National Veterans Center

                        Kate Hoit, Tillman Military Scholar

                        Alex Horton, Georgetown University; Department of Veteran Affairs

                        Michael Kothakota, WolfBridge Financial Corporation

                        Brett Gibson, Harvard University

Moderated by

Marc Lynch, Director, Institute for Middle East Studies, George Washington University

Douglas Ollivant, Senior National Security Fellow, National Security Studies Program, New America Foundation

Kevin Jones, Institute for Middle East Studies 2013-2014 Post-doctoral Fellow, George Washington University

Keynote Address:

Colin Kahl, Associate Professor of History, Georgetown University

Abbas Kahdim, Senior Government Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq

RSVP here

*Refreshments will be served.

This conference is sponsored by the Institute for Middle East Studies, with the support of the US Department of Education’s Title VI National Resource Center Grant for the Middle East.