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Middle East Policy Forum Events

The Middle East Policy Forum is presented with the generous support of ExxonMobil.

The Middle East Policy Forum presents a series of events that bring leading scholars, analysts, journalists, diplomats, and policymakers to campus to discuss current and emerging issues in the region.


Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law

April 17, 2013

  • Sadakat Kadri, Legal Historian and Associate Tenant, Doughty Street Chamber

IMES 6th Annual Conference:
Political Economy and the Foundations of Regional Change

April 10, 2013

This interdisciplinary conference brings together a diverse group of Middle East scholars from across the U.S. to discuss empirical and theoretical issues related to the contemporary Middle East political economy. Each panelist presents a unique "think-piece" that outlines how he or she is addressing these issues through their own research agendas — and how the field of regional political economy has changed in the wake of the Arab uprisings.


Energy Developments in the Persian Gulf

April 10, 2013

  • Bijan Khajehpour, Managing Partner, Atieh International
  • Siamak Namazi, General Manager, Access Consulting Group

    Moderated by:
    Amb. Edward "Skip" Gnehm, Jr., Director of the Middle East Policy Forum

The Kurdish Perspective: Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Beyond

April 8, 2013

  • H.E. Fuad Hussein, Chief of Staff to President Barzani
  • H.E. Falah Bakir, Minister, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations
  • H.E. Qubad Talabani, Minister, Head of the Department of Coordination and Follow-up

    Moderated by:
    Amb. Edward "Skip" Gnehm, Jr., Director of the Middle East Policy Forum
    Pal Arne Davidsen, Ambassador Stuart Fellow at IERES

Senior members of the Kurdistan Regional Government discuss the current political stalemate in Iraq, including natural resources disputes and security confrontations in the Disputed Internal Boundaries. They also provide their perspective on other regional developments, including the situation in Syria, as well as prospects for conflict resolution in Turkey.


Iraq in Wartime: Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance

April 1, 2013

  • Dina Khoury, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, GW

Maliki's Next Moves

March 28, 2013

  • Adeed Dawisha, Professor of Political Science, Miami University of Ohio
  • Harith al-Qarawee, Former Political Adviser, Embassy of Iraq

    Moderated by:
    Amb.Edward "Skip" Gnehm, Jr., Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs; Director, Middle East Policy Forum

Iraq is scheduled to hold provincial assembly elections in April 2013 and national parliamentary elections one year later. In late December, following arrests of his major Sunni Arab rival's bodyguards, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the possibility of advancing the 2014 parliamentary election to April 2013 and running for a third term. The parliament then passed a two-term limitation on the prime minister and other senior positions.

Mr. Adeed Dawisha, an Iraqi scholar and professor of political science at Miami University of Ohio, and Mr. Harith al-Qarawee, author of Imagining the Nation: Nationalism, Sectarianism, and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq and former political adviser on political and media affairs to the Iraqi Ambassador in Washington, assess the current political environment in Baghdad and Maliki's strategic vision — or lack of one — for Iraq.


Piety and Pleasure: Youth Negotiations of Moral Authority in South Beirut

March 19, 2013

  • Lara Deeb, Associate Professor and Chair of Anthropology, Scripps College

In this lecture, Dr. Deeb discusses the ways in which young Shi'i Muslims who take their faith seriously negotiate ideas and practices related to leisure in South Beirut — specifically activities related to cafe-going and to dating. These negotiations take place in a context where there are multiple moral authorities and where particular forms of piety have come to be taken for granted.Lara Deeb is Associate Professor and Chair of Anthropology at Scripps College.

She is the author of An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi'i Lebanon (2006) and co-author with Mona Harb of Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi'i South Beirut (forthcoming 2013), as well as articles on Muslim women's participation in the public sphere, morality and leisure, transnational feminism, and Hizbullah in Lebanon.


The 2013 Annual Kuwait Chair Lecture:
U.S. Military Intervention in Iraq: Cost and Consequences

February 28, 2013


Libya: A State in Search of Itself

January 24, 2013

  • Mary-Jane Deeb, Chief, African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress
  • Karim Mezran, Senior Fellow, Rafiq Hariri Center for the Middle East, Atlantic Council

    Moderated by:
    Ambassador Edward W. Skip Gnehm, Jr., Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, GW

America's Other Army: The U.S. Foreign Service and 21st Century Diplomacy

November 29, 2012

  • Nicholas Kralev, Author

Turkey in the Middle East: Role, Influence, and Challenges

November 5, 2012

  • Ömer Taşpinar, Professor, National War College; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
  • Bulent Aliriza, Director and Senior Associate, Turkey Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies

    Moderated by:
    Ambassador Edward W. Skip Gnehm, Jr., Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, GW

Jordan in the Crosshairs

October 23, 2012

  • Marwan Al-Muashar, Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Former Deputy Prime Minister, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
  • Curtis Ryan, Associate Professor of Political Science, Appalachian State University

    Moderated by:
    Ambassador Edward W. Skip Gnehm, Jr., Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, GW

Oil Politics in the Persian Gulf

September 26, 2012

  • Jean-Francois Seznec, Managing Director, The Lafayette Group
  • Denise Natali, Minerva Chair, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University
  • Matt Amitrano, Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State Moderated by:

    Moderated by:
    Ambassador Edward W. Skip Gnehm, Jr., Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, GW

Ultimate Allies: Israel and the United States

April 30, 2012
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  • Michael B. Oren, Ambassador of Israel to the United States

Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions

April 26, 2012

  • Joy Gordon, Professor of Philosophy, Fairfield University

The Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

April 19, 2012

  • Rania Elhilou, Gaza-based Communications Officer, American Near East Refugee Aid

The Legal Dimensions of the Arab Spring

April 17, 2012
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  • Conference Panelists:
  • Ruti Teitel, Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law, New York Law School
  • Michael Hanna, Fellow, The Century Foundation
  • Shadi Mokhtari, Assistant Professor, American University
  • Ellis Goldberg, Professor, University of Washington
  • Clark Lombardi, Associate Professor of Law, University of Washington
  • David Mednicoff, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • Bruce Rutherford, Associate Professor of Political Science and Middle Eastern & Islamic Civilization Studies, Colgate University
  • Catherine Warrick, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Villanova University

  • Moderators:
  • Marc Lynch, Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies, GW
  • Nathan Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GW

The Arab Spring: A Regional Perspective

March 28, 2012

  • Mohammed Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait

The 2012 Annual Kuwait Chair Lecture –
Gulf Monarchies: Facing Change

March 22, 2010
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King's Counsel: A Memoir of War, Espionage, and Diplomacy in the Middle East

March 5, 2012

  • Vernon Loeb, Co-Author, King's Counsel: A Memoir of War, Espionage, and Diplomacy in the Middle East; Editor, The Washington Post

Is Israeli-Palestinian Peace Still Possible?

February 16, 2012

  • Gershon Baskin, Founder & Chairman, Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI)

The U.S. and the Arab Spring: An Arab Perspective

November 16, 2011

  • Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, Professor of Political Science, United Arab Emirates University

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Report from the Field

November 3, 2011
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  • Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem Bureau Chief, The New York Times

Turning Motion Picture into Emotion

October 26, 2011

  • Walid Al-Awadi, Producer, C Sky Pictures

Revolutionary vs. Reformist Islam: The Iran-Turkey Rivalry in the Middle East

October 17, 2011

  • Omer Taspinar, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
  • Hadi Semati, Iranian Political Scientist
  • Mohammad Tabaar, Adjunct Lecturer, GW

Implications of a Nuclear Empowered Iran for the United States and the Region

September 28, 2011

  • Bruce Riedel, Senior Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution

Institute for Middle East Studies Annual Conference: Iran in Transition

April 21, 2011

  • Kaveh Ehsani, Assistant Professor of International Studies, DePaul University
  • Nader Hashemi, Assistant Professor of International Studies, University of Denver
  • Elliot Hen-Tov, Princeton University
  • Arang Keshavarzian, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies; Director of Undergraduate Studies, New York University
  • Azam Khatam, York University
  • Pardis Minuchehr, Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania
  • Misagh Parsa, Professor of Sociology, Dartmouth College
  • Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Professor of Economic, Virginia Tech; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
  • Naghmeh Sohrabi, Lecturer in History, Brandeis University
  • Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Visiting Scholar, Institute for Middle East Studies, GW
  • Roxanne Varzi, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine
  • Keynote: Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Human Rights Lawyer

The Edge of War: Kuwait's Underground Resistance Movement

April 7, 2011

  • Ambassador Edward "Skip" Gnehm, Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, GW; former U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait, Australia, and Jordan
  • Ambassador Salem al-Sabah, Ambassador of Kuwait to the United States
  • Dr. Farida al-Habib, Cardiologist; former Resistance Member
  • General Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor to President George H. W. Bush

The Joseph Cedar Film Retrospective: Time of Favor

March 7, 2011

  • Yaron Peleg, Associate Professor of Hebrew, GW
  • Dan Schwartz, Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish History, GW

Yaron Peleg and Dan Schwartz speak before presenting Time of Favor, Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar's debut film. The movie plays out a psychologically complex love triangle in the middle of terrorist conflict in Israel's West Bank.


The Annual Kuwait Chair Lecture —The Liberation of Kuwait: Reflections

February 17, 2011
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Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2003

November 8, 2010

  • Ussama Makdisi, Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Arabic Studies and Professor of History, Rice University

Negotiating with Iran

October 27, 2010

  • Ambassador John Limbert, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State; author, Negotiating with Iran: Wrestling the Ghosts of History.

Oman 2010: 40 Years — Building the Future

September 30, 2010
co-sponsored by the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center and the Elliott School of International Affairs


The Arab-Israeli Peace Process

September 22, 2010

  • Ambassador Nabil Fahmy, Founding Dean, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP), Professor of Practice in International Diplomacy, Ambassador in Residence, The American University in Cairo

The Annual Kuwait Chair Lecture — A Focus on Yemen

March 4, 2010
» Read more
» Read the transcript
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Ambassador of Bahrain

January 28, 2010

  • Ambassador Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, Ambassador of Bahrain to the United States

Iran and Gulf Security

November 12, 2009

  • Sami M.K.M. Al-Faraj, President, Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies

Underexposure: Baghdad Spring 2003

November 11, 2009

  • Ziad Turkey Jazzaa, Iraqi Director, cinematographer and photographer

Mayor of Jerusalem

November 6, 2009
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  • The Honorable Nir Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem

Palestinians in Israel: Predicaments, Opportunities, and Challenges

October 13, 2009

  • Raef Zreik, Georgetown University
  • Ori Nir, Americans for Peace Now

The Annual Kuwait Chair Lecture — The Gulf: Searching for a New Balance

April 14, 2009
» Read the transcript


Israel's Future in the Middle East: A Conversation

April 1, 2009

Jerusalem Women Speak: Hope for Peace

November 20, 2008

  • Leila Shelimar Mosenson
  • Taghreed El Khodary
  • Lucy Talgieh
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The Future of World Energy Markets: the United States and the Middle East

October 14, 2008

  • Richard Sawaya, Executive Director, U.S.-Venezuela Business Council
  • Frank Verrastro, Director, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Jon Alterman, Director, Middle East Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Public Diplomacy and the War of Ideas: Agendas for the Next Administration

September 30, 2008

  • Hady Amr, Director, Brookings Doha Center; Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, The Brookings Institution; co-author of Engaging the Muslim World: A Communication Strategy to Win the War of Ideas
  • Michael Doran, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Support to Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of Defense
  • Kristin Lord, Fellow, Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, The Brookings Institution; author of the forthcoming Voices of America: U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century
  • Marc Lynch, co-director of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communications, George Washington University; author of Voices of the New Arab Public

September 25, 2008

  • John D. Negroponte, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of State

September 18, 2008

  • Shaikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister, State of Kuwait

Iran Elections 2008 — Domestic, Regional, and International Consequences

April 2, 2008

  • Afshin Molavi, Fellow, New America Foundation; author of Persian Pilgrimages: Journeys Across Iran
  • Ray Takeyh, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; author of Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic

Saudi Arabia: Legacy, Stability, and Destiny

March 5, 2008
» Read the transcript

  • Amb. Edward W. Gnehm (Ret.), Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsular Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University; former Ambassador to Kuwait, Australia, Jordan and Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations; former Director General of the Foreign Service

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Israel, Iran and the U.S.: Is Conflict Inevitable?

February 26, 2008

  • Trita Parsi, Co-Founder and President of the National Iranian American Council

Partition Iraq? Imperial Iraq Strategies from Suleiman the Magnificent to Joseph Biden

January 15, 2008

  • Reidar Visser, Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Iran's Role in the Post 9/11 Middle East

November 13, 2007

  • Kayhan Barzegar, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Iraq: Today's Reality — Tomorrow's Horizons

October 29, 2007

  • Bruce Riedel, Senior Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution; former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs, National Security Council; former U.S. Government official at the Pentagon and CIA
  • Christopher Kojm, Professor of the Practice of International Affairs and Director of the U.S. Foreign Policy Institute, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University; former Senior Advisor to the Iraq Study Group; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; former senior staff if the Committee of Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives
  • Judith Yaphe, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University; Adjunct Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
  • Amb. Edward W. Gnehm (Ret.), Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsular Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University; former Ambassador to Kuwait, Australia, Jordan and Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations; former Director General of the Foreign Service

Turkey's View of Its Southern Neighbors

October 4, 2007

  • Bulent Aliriza, Senior Associate and Director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

His Excellency Sallai Meridor, Ambassador of Israel

April 20, 2007

  • His Excellency Sallai Meridor, Ambassador of Israel

Inaugural Lecture – The Arab States of the Gulf: Under Pressure

March 29, 2007
» Read the transcript

  • Amb. Edward W. Gnehm (Ret.), Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsular Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University; former Ambassador to Kuwait, Australia, Jordan and Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations; former Director General of the Foreign Service
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Phone: (202) 994-1462
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