Conference
Security in the Middle East: Risks of War and Opportunities for Peace
9–10 November 2009
Belweder Palace (ul. Belwederska 56), Warsaw

Agenda 

Day One (9 Nov)

9:00-9:30 Registration

9:30–9:45       

Keynote Speech: Jacek Najder, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland

9:45–11:30     

Session 1: Israeli-Palestinian Relations

Moderator: Sławomir Dębski, Director, PISM

• Marc Otte, EU special representative for the Middle East peace process
• Nabil Sha’ath, former Foreign Minister and Acting Prime Minister for the Palestinian Authority
• Yossi Alpher, former senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University (TBC)
• Ian Black, Middle East editor, The Guardian

11:30–12:00    Coffee break

12:00–13:30   

Session 2: Arab-Israeli Conflict: The importance of Syria, Lebanon, and the Arab League

Moderator: Patrycja Sasnal, Research Fellow for the Middle East, PISM

• Itamar Rabinovich, former Israeli Ambassador to US, former President of Tel Aviv University, Chief Negotiator with Syria (1992–1995)
• Nawaf W. Tell, Director, Arab Center for Strategic Studies (CSS), Jordan
• Timur Goksel, Former Spokesperson and Senior Advisor of UNIFIL, Lebanon
• Dominic Moran, ISN senior correspondent in the Middle East, Director of Operations of ISA Consulting

13:30–14:30    Lunch break

14:30–16:00   

Session 3: Activities of Iran in the Broader Middle East

Moderator: Łukasz Kulesa, Head of Research Office, PISM

• Kayhan Barzegar, Fellow, Harvard University, Islamic Azad University, Iran
• Jonathan Spyer, Senior Research Fellow, Global Research in International Affairs Center, IDC Herzliya, Israel
• Haizam Amirah-Fernández, Senior Analyst, Mediterranean and the Arab World, Real Instituto Elcano, Spain
• Piotr Krawczyk, Senior Research Fellow for Afghanistan and Iran, PISM

Day Two (10 Nov)

9:30–11:30     

Session 4: The Role of External Actors in the Region: US, EU, Russia

Moderator: Maciej Kozłowski, Deputy Director, Department of Africa and the Middle East, MFA

• Robert Blecher, Senior Analyst, Middle East Program, International Crisis Group
• Sawsan Chebli, Policy Advisor, German Bundestag
• Aharon Klieman, Professor, University of Tel Aviv, Israel
• Patrycja Sasnal, Research Fellow for the Middle East, PISM

The conference will be held in English.

Please confirm the participation by 6 November: Agnieszka Kondek, kondek@pism.pl, (22) 556 80 00 (13).