Untitled

On Thursday 26 October 2017, the Arab Center, Washington DC will hold its second annual conference, devoted to the theme of “Trump and the Arab World: First Year Assessment”. The Arab and American researchers at the conference will discuss the policies of US President Donald Trump's administration towards the Arab region and the expectations of Arab countries and peoples.

On the agenda is an interdisciplinary academic analysis of US policy in the region under the Trump Administration, with speakers offering both American and Arab perspectives on the issues at hand. Former Lebanese cabinet minister HE Tarek Mitri, Director, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut and previously special representative and head of UN Support Mission in Libya will deliver the first Keynote Address on “US Policy in the Arab World: An Arab Perspective”. A second, afternoon keynote lecture delivered by Ambassador Joan A. Polaschik, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs in Washington will be devoted to "US Policy in the Arab World: An American Perspective." 


During the first plenary session, the Arab Center Washington DC will present the findings of an opinion poll conducted alongside the ACRPS on Arab public attitudes to the Trump presidency. This will be followed by a discussion with several Middle East policy experts, including Tamara Kharroub, Senior Analyst and Assistant Executive Director, Arab Center Washington DC; Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding; and Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland-College Park and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution. 


A second session will be moderated by Dina Khoury, Professor of History and International Relations at George Washington University. Khoury will address the current political and economic challenges facing the Arab world today. Speakers on this panel include: Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies; Perry Cammack, Fellow at the Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Hani Findakly, Investment Banker and Advisor to governments, central banks, and international institutions; and Najib Ghadbian, Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Arkansas and Special Representative of the Syrian National Coalition to the US. 


A third session will be centered on US Policy Recommendations in the Arab World, moderated by Khaled Al-Jaber, Director of Al-Sharq Studies and Research Center. Speakers on this panel include: Abdullah Baabood, Director of the Gulf Studies Program at Qatar University; Sheila Carapico, Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Richmond; David Des Roches, Associate Professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA), National Defense University; and Barbara Slavin, Director of the Future of Iran Initiative, Atlantic Council. 


The fourth and final session will be devoted to US Policy Recommendations in the Arab World, with Laurie King, Associate Teaching Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown University as Moderator. Speaking on this panel is: Marwan Kabalan, Head of Policy Analysis at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS); Rami Khouri, Professor of Journalism and Public Policy Senior Fellow, American University of Beirut and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Middle East Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School; Ibrahim Fraihat, Associate Professor in International Conflict Resolution, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies; Ellen Laipson, Director of International Security Program, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University; and William Lawrence, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University.