Ideology, Religion, and the Prospects for Peace

March 3-4, 2011

RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA

Thursday March 3

12:30-1:30: Arrival and lunch

1:30-1:45: Welcoming remarks: Dalia Rabin, Rabin Center and Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

1:45-3:15: The political landscape of Israel’s nationalist right

Speakers:

Uzi Landau, Member of Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and Minister of National Infrastructure

Moshe Arens, Former Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz

Moderator:

Sharon Baradaran, Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation

3:15-3:30: Break

3:30-5:00: Israeli religious and settler voices: Is compromise possible?

Speakers:

Nicolas Pelham, The Economist

R. Meir Soloveichik, Shalem Center

Moderator:

Gidi Grinstein, Founder and President of the Reut Institute

6:30: Cocktails and Dinner (Brentwood, CA)

Friday, March 4

8:30-9:00: Breakfast

9:00-10:30: Hamas: understanding its beliefs and politics

Speakers:

Khaled Hroub, University of Cambridge

Nathan Brown, George Washington University

Taghreed el-Khodary, Journalist and visiting fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Moderator:

Brian Katulis, Center for American Progress

10:30-10:45: Coffee Break

10:45-12:15: Hizballah: a nationalist, religious or ideological agenda?

Speakers:

Rob Malley, Program Director for North Africa and the Middle East, The International Crisis Group

Nicholas Blanford, Journalist based in Beirut

Moderator:

Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

12:15-1:15: Lunch and concluding remarks

Nachum Braverman, Academic Exchange
Charles Kupchan, Council on Foreign Relations/Georgetown University

One Year On:

American-Israeli Relations in the Obama and Netanyahu Era

May 13-14, 2010

RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA

Thursday May 13

1:30-1:45: Welcoming Remarks: Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Rabin Center and CONTACT _Con-409912741 \c \s \l Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

1:45-3:00: The Peace Process from the Israeli View: An Ongoing Crisis in US-Israeli Relations?

Chair: Etel Solingen, UC Irvine

Speakers:
Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz
David Makovsky, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Asher Susser, The Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University

3:00-4:15: The Peace Process from the Palestinian View: Is Progress Possible?

Chair: Michael Barnett, University of Minnesota

Speakers:
Robert Malley, International Crisis Group
Ghaith Al-Omari, The American Task Force on Palestine
Pini Meidan-Shani , Former Senior Israeli Intelligence Official

4:15-4:30: Coffee Break

4:30-5:45: American Domestic Politics and Israel: The Changing Landscape

Chair: Edward Mansfield, University of Pennsylvania

Speakers:
Alon Pinkas, Former Israeli Consul General and foreign affairs analyst, Fox News
Peter Beinart, CUNY
Daniel Levy, New America Foundation

7:00: Depart for Dinner, Albert Dwoskin residence, McLean, VA

Speaker
Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic

Friday, May 14

8:30-9:00: Continental Breakfast

9:00-10:30: Converging or Diverging? American and Israeli Strategic Interests in the Broader Middle East

Chair: Stephen Krasner, Stanford University

Speakers:
Aaron David Miller, Woodrow Wilson Center
Shai Feldman, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University
Martin Kramer, Shalem Center

10:30-10:45: Coffee Break

10:45-12:30: Iran Inside Out: Domestic Politics, Diplomacy, and Deterrence

Chair: Nina Tannenwald, Brown University

Speakers:
Suzanne Maloney, Brookings Institution
David Menashri, Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University
David Aaron, The RAND Corporation
Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, former Chief of Staff, IDF

12:30-2:00: Roundtable Lunch Discussion with AE Alumni

Chair: Miles Kahler, UC San Diego

2:00-2:30: Closing Remarks

Nachum Braverman, Academic Exchange
Charles Kupchan, Council on Foreign Relations/Georgetown University