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In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

09/04/08
From Zero-Sum to Win-Win  —Mara Rudman, adviser, Middle East Progress; senior fellow, Center for American Progress. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.
09/04/08
How Progress Is Possible  —
08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —Lt. Col. (Res.) Ron Shatzberg, Project Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Two-State Solution Still Best Option

“In practical terms, we can reach two conclusions: First, a final-status agreement, although its details are known, cannot be secured in the foreseeable future. Second, the time has come to think about other solutions. One of them is a return not to the 1967 borders, but rather, to the reality that prevailed in 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank.”
—Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland, “The Jordanian Option,” YNet, September 3, 2008 versus
  • "On both sides of the green line and, indeed, wherever people think about solutions to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, a lot of old/new thinking is taking place. … Most of these ideas are patently unrealistic. Discussion of them often reflects despair, not pragmatic strategic thinking. … Precisely because there is no such alternative, other options more readily suggest themselves, ranging from temporary conflict management to three states or entities. Nor does failure today mean that tomorrow we cannot try again to arrive at a two-state solution, which remains the best option for all."
    —Yossi Alpher, coeditor of the bitterlemons family of internet publications & former director, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University, "One State Definitely Not an Option," bitterlemons.org, August 18, 2008

    • Middle East Analysis

    • How Progress Is Possible —Hiba Husseini, chair, Legal Committee to Final Status Negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis; former vice chairperson of the Palestine Securities Exchange (1998-May 2005). Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
    • Perils of an Israeli Transition —The New York Times, Editorial
    • The Arabs Will Look Differently Upon America —Ron Pundak, director general of the Peres Center for Peace and former architects and negotiators of the Oslo Agreement (bitterlemons.org)

    Events

    Coping with the Iraqi Displacement Crisis: Implications for the Region, the United States and the International Community
    Thursday, July 10, 2008,12:30pm - 2:15pm
    Featured panelists:

    • Morton Abramowitz, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation and Board Member, the International Rescue Committee
    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, the Center for American Progress
    • Kristele Younes, Senior Advocate, Refugees International

    Moderated by:

    • Michael Wahid Hanna, The Century Foundation

    Iraq: Examining the Diplomatic and Political Tools to Achieve Progress and Stability
    Monday, April 21, 2008, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
    Discussion introduced by:

    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Advisor to Middle East Progress, Center for American Progress

    Featured panelists:

    • Christopher A. Kojm, Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and former Senior Advisor to the Iraq Study Group and Deputy Director of the 9-11 Commission
    • Carlos Pascual, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and former Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, United States Department of State
    • Nabil Al-Tikriti, Senior Fellow, Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program, United States Institute of Peace

    Moderated by:

    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow, Advisor to Middle East Progress, Center for American Progress

    A View from the Ground in Iraq
     Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
    Featured panelists:

    • Michael Ware, CNN’s correspondent in Baghdad
    • Nir Rosen, journalist; Center on Law and Security Fellow, NYU

    Moderated by:

    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress


    No End in Sight: Conversations on Iraq
    Thursday, March 13, 2008, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
    Keynote address:

    • Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)

    Introduction by:

    • Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress

    Featured speaker:

    • Charles Ferguson, author, No End in Sight

    Moderated by:

    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress


    Persepolis: A Reel Progress Screening
    Sunday, December 16, 2007, 7:00pm - 9:15pm
    Featured panelists:

    • Marjane Satrapi, writer/director, PERSEPOLIS
    • Vincent Paronnaud, writer/director, PERSEPOLIS

    Moderated by:

    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow, Advisor to Middle East Progress, Center for American Progress


    Iraq’s Displacement Crisis and the International Response
    Thursday, December 6, 2007, 9:00am - 2:30pm
    Introductions:

    • Helga Flores Trejo, Director, Heinrich Boell Foundation, North America
    • John Podesta, President, Center for American Progress

    Keynote remarks:

    • Earl Blumenauer, Congressman, U.S House of Representative (D-OR)

    Panel One: The Current Crisis and Responses Thus Far

    • Reinhold Brender, Counselor, Political Section, European Commission Delegation to the United States
    • Bill Frelick, Refugee Policy Director, Human Rights Watch
    • Said Hakki, President, Iraqi Red Crescent Society
    • Victor Tanner, Adjunct faculty member, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and consultant for the International Rescue Committee

    Moderated by:

    • Anita Sharma, Center for American Progress

    Introductions:

    • Larry Korb, Center for American Progress

    Luncheon address:

    • An Iraqi Account of the Situation and the International Response to the Crisis
    • Ahmed Ali, former translator and interpreter for numerous media outlets, the U.S. and Iraqi governments, recently resettled in the United States
    • Michel Gabaudan, Washington Director, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

    Panel Two: The Next Challenges of Iraq’s Displacement Crisis

    • Elizabeth Ferris, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, and co-director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
    • John Merrill, Director for Refugees, IDPs, and Parole Programs, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Middle East - Iraq Office
    • Kristele Younes, Advocate, Refugees International

    Moderated by:

    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

    No End in Sight: A Reel Progress Screening
    Monday, July 24, 2007, 9:00am - 12:00pm
    Featuring:

    • Charles Ferguson, Filmmaker, "NO END IN SIGHT"
    • Nicholas Cull, Professor and Director of the USC Master’s in Public Diplomacy
    • Gregory Treverton, Director, RAND Center for Global Risk and Security

    Moderated by:

    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

    No End in Sight: A Reel Progress Screening
    Thursday, July 19, 2007, 7:00pm - 9:30pm
    Featuring:

    • Charles Ferguson, Filmmaker, “No End in Sight”
    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress


    Settlements vs. Security – Why Addressing Settlements is Critical to Next Steps in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
    Thursday, July 12, 2007, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
    Featuring:

    • Brigadier General (Ret.) Ilan Paz, Retired high-ranking IDF officer
    • Talia Sasson, Legal adviser to Prime Minister Sharon on settlements and illegal outposts and author of the definitive and far-reaching "Sasson Report" on the issues of settlements, outposts, and law enforcement in the Palestinian territories.

    Moderated by:

    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

    Palestinian Loan Guarantee and Risk Insurance Projects Roundtable
    Tuesday, July 10, 2007, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
    Featuring:

    • Toni Verstandig, Executive Director, Middle East Investment Initiative, Director of the Middle East Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute, and Senior Policy Advisor at the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation
    • Jim Pickup, Partner at DLA Piper and contributing writer of the Mitchell Plan
    • Dan Morrison, Project Director for the Palestinian Political Risk Insurance Project and Middle East Investment Initiative
    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Advisor to Middle East Progress

    No End in Sight: A Reel Progress Screening
    Monday, June 25, 2007, 7:30pm - 9:30pm
    Featured panelists:

    • Ambassador Barbara Bodine, Former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen
    • Col. Paul Hughes (Ret.), Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations, U.S. Institute of Peace
    • Charles Ferguson, Director, “NO END IN SIGHT”
    • Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.), Former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell

    Introduction by:

    • Anna Soellner, Center for American Progress

    Moderated by:

    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

    Assessing U.S. Policy in Iraq and the Middle East
    Monday, March 19, 2007, 8:30am - 1:30pm
    Time: 9:00am - 9:10am

    • Welcome: Melody Barnes, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress

    Examining Iraq’s Impact on the Middle East and Regional Diplomacy
    Time: 9:10am - 10:15am

    • Jon Alterman, Director and Senior Fellow, Middle East Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
    • Judith Yaphe, Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University

    Moderated by:

    • Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

    Debating U.S. Military Strategy
    Time: 10:30am - 11:45am

    • Ken Adelman, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations General John M. Keane, United States Army, Retired, and Senior Managing Director and co-founder of Keane Advisors, LLC
    • Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress, and Senior Adviser, Center for Defense Information

    Moderated by:

    • Peter Rundlet, Vice President and Managing Director for National Security, Center for American Progress

    Featured remarks by:
    Time: 12:00pm - 12:30 pm

    • Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)

    Luncheon keynote address by:
    Time: 12:30pm - 1:20pm

    • Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN)

    A Roundtable Discussion with Sheikha Lubna al Qasimi
    Tuesday, March 13, 2007, 8:30am - 10:00am
    Featuring:

    • Sheikha Lubna al Qasimi, Minister of Economy and Planning of the United Arab Emirates, introduced by The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State and trustee of the Center for American Progress.

    Moderated by:

    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress


    What to expect, what to hope for, after Prime Minister Olmert’s visit to Washington
    Thursday, November 16, 2006, 12:30pm - 2:00pm
    Featuring:

    • Gadi Baltiansky - Director General of the Geneva Initiative and former Press Secretary to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

    Comprehensive Peace-Making in the Middle East: What Next?
    Tuesday, October 24, 2006, 9:00am - 10:30am
    Featuring:

    • David Kimche, President, Israel Council of Foreign Relations, Former Deputy Head of Mossad, Former Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry

    Introduced and moderated by:

    • Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress


    Arabian Tales: Walking the Winds — Can theatre and music build bridges and cross divides others cannot?
    Thursday, April 6, 2006, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
    Featuring:

    • Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas
    • Alina L. Romanowski, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Professional and Cultural Exchanges
    • Lina Attel, Founder and Director General, The Performing Arts Center of The Noor Al Hussein Foundation in Jordan; Co-Director of Arabian Tales
    • Kim Peter Kovac, Director for Youth and Family Programs, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Production Manager of Arabian Tales

    Moderated by:

    • Mara Rudman, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress