The US, Europe and the Middle East - Foundation Office Israel
Symposium
Details
Most security challenges to the West – the US and Europe – emanate from the Middle East. This region has seen the rise of strategic issues such as nuclear proliferation, energy security, radical Islam, terrorism, and failed states. While problems stem primarily from domestic and regional dynamics, Western interactions with the region could positively or negatively impact developments. The Middle East continues to constitute a region of paramount importance for the West.
The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University has decided to organize an international workshop and conference to address the question of how the West has dealt with these challenges and what is needed to improve the Western response. This policy-oriented, intellectual exercise will convene American, European and Israeli scholars to discuss the West’s strategic agenda for the Middle East.
PROGRAM
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Place: Konrad Adenauer Conference Center
Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem
(closed session, researchers only)
10.00–11.15Session 1
American, European and Israeli Perspectives
on theMiddle East (emphasis on Turkey and Afghanistan)
11.45–13.00Session 2
American, European and Israeli Perspectives on the Gulf Arena
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Session 3
American, European and Israeli Perspectives on the Arab-Israel Arena
16.00Session 4
What Can Outsiders Do?
19.00Dinner
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Place: Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan
(open to the public)
09.30 Greetings
Dr. Lars Hänsel, KAS
Representative BESA
09.30 Session 1
Transatlantic Relations and the Middle East
Chair: Dr. Lars Hänsel, KAS
Prof. Robert Lieber, Georgetown University: Obama, the Middle East and Europe: Obama, the Middle East and Europe
Prof. Eytan Gilboa, BESA Center: American vs. European Public Attitudes towards Israel: American vs. European Public Attitudes towards Israel
Dr. Patrick Keller, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Germany: Transatlantic Relations and the Middle East: A German Perspective
Dr. Florence Gaub, NATO Defense College: An indeterminate Equation: The Role of NATO in the Middle East
11.45 Session 2
Western Policies toward the Gulf Arena
Chair: Prof. Shmuel Sandler, BESA Center
Prof. Efraim Inbar, BESA Center: The Iranian Nuclear Challenge
Dr. Guido Steinberg, SWP – German Institute for International and Security Affairs: Germany’s Middle East Policies
Prof. Hillel Frisch, BESA Center, The West: Iran and the Muslim Cold War
13:15 – Lunch Break
14:30 Session 3
Western Policies toward the Arab-Israeli Arena
Chair: Dr. Shlomo Shpiro, BESA Center
Dr. Tsilla Hershco, BESA Center: French Middle East Role in the Sarkozy Era
Dr. Jonathan Rynhold, BESA Center: The Cultural Construction of Attitudes in the West to the Arab-Israeli Conflict – The Transatlantic Divide
Dr. Thomas Rid, University of Constance
Amb. Dr. Meir Rosenne, Former Israeli Ambassador to the US and France: Washington, Paris and Jerusalem
16.30 Session 4
Human Rights, International Law and Politics
Chair: Gen. (res.) Yaacov Amidror, Vice President, Lander Institute
Prof. Gerald Steinberg, Bar Ilan U. and NGO Monitor: European-Funded Human Rights NGOs and Political Warfare
Prof. Lorenzo Zambernardi, University of Bologna: The Changing Meaning of Death in the West and the Nature of War
Dr. Amichai Magen, Director, Institute for Democracy, Law and Diplomacy; Associate Fellow, Shalem Center: Hybrid War and the Gulliverization of the West
Dr. Ed Rettig, Acting Director, American Jewish Committee – Jerusalem: Moral Dimensions and Complexities
18.00 Session 5
Round Table of Western Ambassadors and Israeli Diplomats
Chair: Efraim Inbar, BESA Center
Amb. Efraim Halevy, Head of the Shasha Institute for Strategic Research, Hebrew University, and Former Mossad Chief
Amb. Tomáš Pojar, Czech Ambassador to Israel
Amb. Naor Gilon, Deputy Dir. Gen. for Europe, Israeli Foreign Ministry
Amb. Bénédicte Frankinet, Belgian Ambassador to Israel