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FOREIGN POLICY SEMINAR
THE MIDDLE EAST IN 2007 - A Political-Economic Conflict Seminar
September 25-27, 2007
The political and strategic landscape of the Middle East in 2007 remains marked by violent conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, and on the Israel-Palestine front. In Iraq, the very existence of that country as a unitary state is in doubt, given the rising tempo and brutality of sectarian violence. The United States will likely be forced to make some tough political and military decisions if the Iraqi government does not show more success in combating terrorist groups.
The challenges facing the United States by an increasingly assertive and aggressive Iran are sure to mount throughout the region, from the Persian Gulf and Iraq to southern Lebanon. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah was, in part, a proxy war between the United States (and Israel) and Iran over a host of issues, most prominent among them, Iran's nuclear program.
American diplomacy will be hard pressed in 2007 to contain hostilities in Palestine-Israel, continue the war against extremist Islamists groups, and promote its democracy agenda at a time when reformers in the region are complaining they have been abandoned by the Bush Administration.
This annual Middle East Political Economic Conflict Seminar will examine these and other issues, focusing on American options in the Middle East, as well as the future of peace, democracy and stability in this volatile part of the world.
SEMINAR TOPICS
- A Region on the Brink: The Fires in Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine - What It Means to U.S. National Interests
- Nuclear Threats in the Middle East
- Iran: Domestic Dynamics and Regional Ambitions
- Jordan, Kuwait and Yemen: The Other Stories
- The Christian-Islamic Divide: Past, Present, and Future
- Turkish Presidential Elections: The End of Secularism
- Leadership at Home and Abroad: Egypt and Saudi Arabia
- The United States, Israel and Syria
- The United States, Europe and the Greater Middle East
- Oil, Jihad and the Great Powers in the Middle East
ALAN L. FREED ASSOCIATES
Alan L. Freed Associates specializes in the design and development of non-partisan Public Policy Seminars for senior managers and executives from the Defense and Intelligence communities.
In 1976, Alan L. Freed Associates founded and developed the original Capitol Hill Workshop and White House Workshop. Since then more than 800 executive-level policy seminars have been conducted in Washington, D.C., and more than 100 programs presented at various military bases around the United States.
Each year Alan L. Freed Associates also conducts a series of Foreign Policy Seminars focusing on specific areas of the world. These Political-Economic Conflict seminars are designed to provide an insider's view of regional issues of interest to attendees.
