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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220601T120000
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SUMMARY:The Abraham Accords Promised Peace: What's the Reality?
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event discussion regarding the shortcomings of the Abraham Accords. Some of the countries who signed on to the agreement claimed that it would improve the daily lives of Palestinians and stop more illegal Israeli settlements. Let’s see the facts. \n  \nDisclaimer: NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. Please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting “NA” in the “organization” or “job title” section. \n  \nSpeakers \nDiana Buttu\, Palestinian-Canadian Lawyer and Analyst \nDr. Mustafa Barghouti\, Secretary General and Co-Founder of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) \nMaha Hussaini\, Strategy Director of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor \n  \nModerator \nKhaled Saffuri\, Founder and President of the National Interest Foundation (NIF) \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nDiana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer who previously served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team and was part of the team that assisted in the successful litigation of Israel’s separation wall before the International Court of Justice at the Hague in 2004\, which resulted in the indictment of the wall. She frequently comments on Palestine for international news media outlets such as CNN and BBC\, is a political analyst for Al Jazeera International\, and is a regular contributor to The Middle East magazine. She maintains a law practice in Palestine\, focusing on international human rights law. Earlier in her career\, Buttu worked on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations\, serving as the only female negotiator during her five-year tenure. She was a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and at Harvard Law School. She also held a fellowship at the Stanford Center for Conflict Resolution and Negotiation and is an instructor at Harvard Extension School. Buttu received her undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto\, a JD from Queen’s University in Canada\, an LLM from the University of Toronto\, a JSM from Stanford University\, and an executive MBA from Kellogg Northwestern School of Management. \nDr. Mustafa Barghouti is the secretary general and co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) – also known as al-Mubadara. PNI seeks to develop mass nonviolence and international solidarity as the preferred means of resisting the Israeli Occupation\, and to mobilize public opinion by making the Palestinian story visible in the news media. A physician by practice\, he has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) since 2006 and is also a member of the Palestinian Central Council (PCC). Dr. Barghouti is an advocate for the development of Palestinian civil society and grassroots democracy\, and writes extensively for a local and international audience on civil society\, democracy issues and the political situation in Palestine\, and on health development policy for Palestinians living under occupation. In 2007\, he served as minister of information in the Palestinian unity government. He ran for president in the 2005 presidential election\, coming second after Mahmoud Abbas. Barghouti has worked extensively on defending human rights and internal democracy\, and is the founder and chairman of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS). \nMaha Hussaini is the Strategy Director of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and an award-winning journalist based in Gaza. She holds a master’s degree in political science – refugee studies. Maha started her career in the field of human rights and journalism in 2014\, where she covered and documented violations during Israel’s military attack on the Gaza Strip. \n  \nAbout our Moderator:  \nKhaled Saffuri is the Founder and President of the National Interest Foundation (NIF)\, a nonpartisan think tank and nonprofit organization established in April of 2018 which is focused on bettering relationships between the United States and countries across the globe through the promotion of smarter foreign policy. Mr. Saffuri has previously served as a Principal at Meridian Strategies providing international business and government clients with unparalleled strategic and public affairs consulting services\, and also founded and ran one of the United States’ prominent and most active organizations to represent the Middle East and Muslim-Americans. He has worked for many years with Members of Congress and has testified in front of Congressional Committees\, advising them on international issues and leading Congressional delegations to the Middle East. Due to his extensive background and expertise\, Mr. Saffuri is a regular contributor to a number of important media outlets in the United States and internationally including CNN\, CBS\, and BBC and contributes articles and written publications to outlets such as The Washington Post and The American Conservative.  \n  \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/the-abraham-accords-promised-peace-whats-the-reality/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220125T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220125T133000
DTSTAMP:20260430T025334
CREATED:20220114T000649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220124T164640Z
UID:6760-1643112000-1643117400@nifusa.org
SUMMARY:Freedom is in Retreat in the Middle East: 11 Years After the Arab Spring
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event discussion regarding the 11-year anniversary of the Arab Spring and the state of freedom\, democracy\, and human rights in the region. \n  \nDisclaimer: NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. Please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting “NA” in the “organization” or “job title” section.  \n  \nSpeakers \nSarah Leah Whitson\, Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) \nAmr Hamzawy\, Senior research scholar at the Center on Democracy\, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University and Director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace \nRadwan Masmoudi\, Founder and President of the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID) \nFouad Ibrahim\, Saudi political scientist and author \n  \nModerator \nKhaled Saffuri\, Founder and President of the National Interest Foundation (NIF) \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nSarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Previously\, she served as executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division from 2004 – 2020\, overseeing the work of the division in 19 countries\, with staff located in 10 countries. Whitson has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region\, focusing on issues of armed conflict\, accountability\, legal reform\, migrant workers\, and human rights. She has published widely on human rights and foreign policy in the Middle East in international and regional media\, including The New York Times\, Foreign Affairs\, The Washington Post\, Foreign Policy\, The Los Angeles Times\, and CNN. She appears regularly on Al-Jazeera\, BBC\, NPR\, MSNBC\, and CNN. Previously\, Whitson worked in New York for Goldman\, Sachs & Co. and Cleary\, Gottlieb\, Steen & Hamilton. She graduated from the University of California\, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Whitson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is on the boards of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians\, Artistic Freedom Initiative\, Freedom Forward\, ALQST for Human Rights\, and Sinai Foundation for Human Rights. She speaks Armenian and Arabic. \nAmr Hamzawy is a senior research scholar at the Center on Democracy\, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University and Director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He studied political science and developmental studies in Cairo\, The Hague\, and Berlin. He was previously an associate professor of political science at Cairo University and a professor of public policy at the American University in Cairo. Between 2016 and 2017\, he served as a senior fellow in the Middle East program and the Democracy and Rule of Law program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace\, Washington\, D.C. His research and teaching interests as well as his academic publications focus on democratization processes in Egypt\, tensions between freedom and repression in the Egyptian public space\, political movements and civil society in Egypt\, contemporary debates in Arab political thought\, and human rights and governance in the Arab world. His new book On The Habits of Neoauthoritarianism – Politics in Egypt Between 2013 and 2019 appeared in Arabic in September 2019. Hamzawy is a former member of the People’s Assembly after being elected in the first Parliamentary elections in Egypt after the January 25\, 2011 revolution. He is also a former member of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights. Hamzawy contributes a weekly op-ed to the All Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi. \nRadwan Masmoudi is the Founder and President of the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID)\, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington D.C. dedicated to promoting freedom\, democracy\, and good governance in the Arab and Muslim worlds\, as well as improving relations between the United States and the Muslim World. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Center’s quarterly publication\, Muslim Democrat\, a member of the Board of Directors of the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue (IFID)\, the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS)\, the Executive Committee of the Network of Democrats in the Arab World (NDAW)\, and served as a member of the Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy\, between 2012 and 2022. Dr. Masmoudi holds a Masters and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has published several articles and spoken at major international conferences on the compatibility between Islam and Democracy\, and the democratic transitions in Tunisia following the Arab revolutions of 2011. \nFouad Ibrahim is a Saudi political scientist who specifically studies Islam and Shi’ism in Saudi Arabia. Ibrahim is an editor at Saudi Affairs and has published numerous academic articles. Ibrahim received his M.A. in Religion and Ph.D. in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. He has published in both Arabic and English\, with articles such as\, “The Jurist and the State: Shi’i Political Thought” (1998)\, “Saudi Arabia: State’s Identity Crisis” (2011)\, and “Future of Saudi Arabia: Discourse\, Throne\, and Coalitions” (2017). His most noteworthy book\, published in 2006 by Saqi Books\, “The Shiʻis of Saudi Arabia” traces the evolution of Shi’ite opposition in Saudi Arabia since the late 1970s during the reform movements. Ibrahim’s work ranges from contextualizing the 1979 Iranian Revolution within the history of Shi’ism to the ascension of Abdullah to the Saudi throne. \n  \nAbout our Moderator:  \nKhaled Saffuri is the Founder and President of the National Interest Foundation (NIF)\, a nonpartisan think tank and nonprofit organization established in April of 2018 which is focused on bettering relationships between the United States and countries across the globe through the promotion of smarter foreign policy. Mr. Saffuri has previously served as a Principal at Meridian Strategies providing international business and government clients with unparalleled strategic and public affairs consulting services\, and also founded and ran one of the United States’ prominent and most active organizations to represent the Middle East and Muslim-Americans. He has worked for many years with Members of Congress and has testified in front of Congressional Committees\, advising them on international issues and leading Congressional delegations to the Middle East. Due to his extensive background and expertise\, Mr. Saffuri is a regular contributor to a number of important media outlets in the United States and internationally including CNN\, CBS\, and BBC and contributes articles and written publications to outlets such as The Washington Post and The American Conservative.  \n  \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/freedom-is-in-retreat-in-the-middle-east-11-years-after-the-arab-spring/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://nifusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/1.25.22-NIF-Event-Image-e1642118595415.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211208T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211208T150000
DTSTAMP:20260430T025334
CREATED:20211202T225400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211202T225626Z
UID:6689-1638972000-1638975600@nifusa.org
SUMMARY:Iran Nuclear Talks in Vienna: Can the JCPOA be Revived?
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event discussion regarding the prospects of reviving the Iran Nuclear Deal in the face of negotiations resuming on the issue. \n  \nDisclaimer: NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. Please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting “NA” in the “organization” or “job title” section.  \n  \nSpeakers \nTrita Parsi\, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft\, expert on U.S.-Iranian relations\, Iranian foreign policy\, and the geopolitics of the Middle East\, author of three books on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East\, named one of the 50 most influential voices on foreign policy in Washington D.C.\, Co-Founder and former President of the National Iranian American Council\, has had articles on Middle East affairs published in the Washington Post\, Wall Street Journal\, New York Times\, Los Angeles Times\, Financial Times\, Jane’s Intelligence Review\, the Nation\, The American Conservative\, and others\, is a frequent guest on CNN\, PBS’s Newshour\, NPR\, the BBC\, and Al Jazeera \nDoug Bandow\, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute\, specializes in foreign policy and civil liberties\, worked as special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and editor of the political magazine Inquiry\, regularly writes for leading publications such as Fortune magazine\, National Interest\, the Wall Street Journal\, and the Washington Times\, speaks frequently at academic conferences\, on college campuses\, and to business groups\, is a regular commentator on ABC\, CBS\, NBC\, CNN\, Fox News Channel\, and MSNBC \nNegar Mortazavi\, Iranian-American journalist and political analyst based in Washington D.C.\, has covered Iranian affairs and U.S.-Iran relations for over a decade\, columnist for The Independent and host of the Iran Podcast\, frequent media analyst on Iran and U.S. foreign policy and has appeared on CNN\, MSNBC\, NPR\, BBC\, France24\, Al Jazeera\, and other international media outlets\, regularly writes about Iranian politics and U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East and has had work published in Foreign Policy magazine\, The Intercept\, Politico\, Huffington Post\, and other\, speaks about Iranian affairs at major universities and academic institutions \n  \nModerator \nBruce Fein\, Founder and Principal Shareholder of Fein & DelValle PLLC\, Harvard Law School honors graduate\, served as Associate Deputy Attorney General and General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission under President Ronald Reagan\, was Counsel to the Joint Congressional Committee on Covert Arms Sales to Iran\, appears regularly as a commentator on national and international radio and television\, has testified as an expert witness before Congress on hundreds of occasions  \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nTrita Parsi is the Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is an expert on U.S.-Iranian relations\, Iranian foreign policy\, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored three books on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East\, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. In 2021\, he was named by the Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 50 most influential voices on foreign policy in Washington D.C.\, and preeminent public intellectual Noam Chomsky calls Parsi “one of the most distinguished scholars on Iran.” Parsi was born in Iran but moved with his family at the age of four to Sweden in order to escape political repression in Iran. His father was an outspoken academic who was jailed by the Shah and then by the Ayatollah. He moved to the United States as an adult and studied foreign policy at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies where he received his Ph.D. under Francis Fukuyama and Zbigniew Brzezinski. He is the Co-Founder and former President of the National Iranian American Council. Parsi has followed Middle East politics through work in the field and extensive experience on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations. He is frequently consulted by Western and Asian governments on foreign policy matters. Parsi has worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the UN\, where he served in the Security Council\, handling the affairs of Afghanistan\, Iraq\, Tajikistan\, and Western Sahara\, and in the General Assembly’s Third Committee\, addressing human rights in Iran\, Afghanistan\, Myanmar\, and Iraq. He has served as an adjunct professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS\, New York University\, and George Washington University\, as well as an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute and as a Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC. He currently teaches at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Parsi is fluent in Persian/Farsi\, English\, and Swedish. Parsi’s articles on Middle East affairs have been published in the Washington Post\, Wall Street Journal\, New York Times\, Los Angeles Times\, Financial Times\, Jane’s Intelligence Review\, the Nation\, The American Conservative\, the Jerusalem Post\, The Forward\, and others. He is a frequent guest on CNN\, PBS’s Newshour\, NPR\, the BBC\, and Al Jazeera. \nDoug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute\, specializing in foreign policy and civil liberties. He worked as special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and editor of the political magazine Inquiry. He writes regularly for leading publications such as Fortune magazine\, National Interest\, the Wall Street Journal\, and the Washington Times. Bandow speaks frequently at academic conferences\, on college campuses\, and to business groups. Bandow has been a regular commentator on ABC\, CBS\, NBC\, CNN\, Fox News Channel\, and MSNBC. He holds a JD from Stanford University. \nNegar Mortazavi is an Iranian-American journalist and political analyst based in Washington D.C.\, who has been covering Iranian affairs and U.S.-Iran relations for over a decade. She is a columnist for The Independent and host of the Iran Podcast. She is a frequent media analyst on Iran and U.S. foreign policy\, has appeared on CNN\, MSNBC\, NPR\, BBC\, France24\, Al Jazeera\, and international media outlets in China\, Turkey\, and Israel. Negar has interviewed prominent political\, social\, and cultural figures including American boxing champion Muhammad Ali\, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif\, U.S. State Department spokesperson Alan Eyre\, and former political prisoner Sarah Shourd\, among others. Negar regularly writes about Iranian politics and U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East. Her work has been published in Foreign Policy magazine\, The Intercept\, Politico\, Huffington Post\, and elsewhere. She frequently speaks about Iranian affairs at universities and academic institutions including MIT\, Princeton\, Johns Hopkins University of Maryland\, and American University. In 2021 Negar was featured in Forbes magazine among 30 inspirational women who have made great achievements in various fields and continue to break boundaries in their work and life. Negar was also named among “40 Under 40” experts shaping U.S.- Middle East relations\, and among “40 Under 40” Iranian-Americans who have made an enormous impact on their community and country. In 2020\, she was named a MENA – American rising star in foreign policy by New America and named a MENA Young Leader by Friends of Europe in 2017. Previously\, she was a television anchor for Voice of America where she hosted a Persian talk show on current affairs and an English news show on U.S. elections. She was also a Washington Correspondent for Iran International television\, and worked at the International Center For Journalists\, the National Iranian American Council\, and the United Nations Development Programme in New York. She obtained a Master of Arts from Brandeis University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts. She was raised in Iran and Germany\, and immigrated to the United States in 2002. \n  \nAbout our Moderator:  \nBruce Fein is a Harvard Law School honors graduate and a founder and principal shareholder of Fein & DelValle PLLC\, a Washington D.C. civil litigation firm with an international client base. Mr. Fein has served as senior advisor to former Congressman Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign; associate deputy attorney general; counsel to the Joint Congressional Committee on Covert Arms Sales to Iran; general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission; special assistant to the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice; professor at George Washington University; Senior Fellow at American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation; executive editor of World Intelligence Review; and lecturer at the National Defense University. He appears regularly as a commentator on national and international radio and television\, and has testified as an expert witness before Congress on hundreds of occasions. Mr. Fein’s firm\, Fein & DelValle\, was responsible for convincing Congress to release the 28 classified pages of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11\, 2001\, which implicated Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 terrorism. He also drafted Senate legislation to terminate United States military assistance to Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen\, House legislation that makes Presidential Wars an impeachable offense\, and drafted legislation which was instrumental in the enactment of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. \n  \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/iran-nuclear-talks-in-vienna-can-the-jcpoa-be-revived/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210805T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210805T123000
DTSTAMP:20260430T025334
CREATED:20210802T214708Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210802T214708Z
UID:6519-1628161200-1628166600@nifusa.org
SUMMARY:Coup in Tunisia: Is This the End of Democracy in North Africa?
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event discussion on the latest developments in Tunisia and the way out of the current crisis. \n  \nDisclaimer: NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. Please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting “NA” in the “organization” or “job title” section. \n  \nSpeakers \nMP Oussama Sghaier\, Member of Parliament from Ennahdha political party\, serves on the Tunisian Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee\, previously elected to serve on the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)\, was a member of the Transitional Justice Committee \nDr. Monica Marks\, Assistant Professor of Middle East Politics at New York University\, Abu Dhabi\, Rhodes Scholar and former postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University\, completed her Masters and PhD on post-revolutionary Tunisian politics at Oxford University\, has published widely on Tunisian politics and is a regularly quoted analyst on the country \n  \nModerator \nDr. William Lawrence\, Professor of Political Science at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University\, former State Department officer\, has served as North Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group\, Middle East/North Africa Program Director at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy\, and Middle East/North Africa Associate Director at Control Risks \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nMP Oussama Sghaier was elected to serve on the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) in October 2011. During his time in the NCA\, Mr. Sghaier served on numerous prestigious committees\, including the Transitional Justice Committee and the committee charged with preparing the country’s first constitution following the revolution. After the October 2014 elections\, Mr. Sghaier served on the Defense and Security Committee and the Finance\, Planning\, and Economic Development Committee. Mr. Sghaier is currently serving his third term as a member of the Peoples Assembly. He serves on the Tunisian Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee\, as well as the commission for investigation on networks involved in sending Tunisian youth to conflict zones. Mr. Sghaier has been a member of the Political Bureau of Ennahdha Party since its 10th Congress that took place in May of 2016. \nDr. Monica Marks is Assistant Professor of Middle East Politics at New York University\, Abu Dhabi. A Rhodes Scholar and former postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University\, Dr. Marks completed her Masters and PhD on post-revolutionary Tunisian politics at Oxford University\, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Based in Tunis full-time from 2012-2016\, with 14 years experience studying and researching the country\, Dr. Marks has published widely on Tunisian politics and is a regularly quoted analyst on the country. She is currently based in Tunis. \n  \nAbout our Moderator:  \nDr. William Lawrence is a former State Department officer\, holds a PhD from Tufts University\, and currently is professor (part-time) of political science at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Since 2011\, Dr. Lawrence has served successively as North Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group\, Middle East/North Africa Program Director at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy\, and Middle East/North Africa Associate Director at Control Risks. Previously\, he served as Senior Advisor for Global Engagement in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES)\, working closely with the White House on core Obama administration Cairo speech-related initiatives. He also served as Iraq Reconstruction Desk Officer for the State Department\, Tunisia-Libya Desk Officer\, and at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli\, helping negotiate the first U.S.-Libya bilateral agreement in decades. In addition\, he has co-produced 6 Middle East/North Africa-related documentary films and 14 albums of North African music\, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. \n  \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/coup-in-tunisia-is-this-the-end-of-democracy-in-north-africa/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210722T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210722T143000
DTSTAMP:20260430T025334
CREATED:20210712T193636Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T194344Z
UID:6484-1626958800-1626964200@nifusa.org
SUMMARY:U.S. Potholes in Iraq: 31 Years After Saddam's Invasion of Kuwait
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event on where Iraq is today\, the U.S. role\, how we arrived here\, and if the U.S. can play a constructive part in Iraq’s future. \n  \nDisclaimer: NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. Please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting “NA” in the “organization” or “job title” section. \n  \nSpeakers \nDr. Tallha Abdulrazaq\, Researcher at the University of Exeter’s Strategy & Security Institute\, award-winning academic specializing in counterterrorism\, security\, and military history\, columnist and regular contributor to international media outlets providing expert analysis on issues including Iranian strategic ambitions in the Middle East\, Turkish-Arab relations\, and the security and political situation in Iraq since 2003 \nGeneive Abdo\, Visiting Fellow at The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington\, Consultant at the World Bank\, formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center\, previously worked at the Atlantic Council and the Stimson Center\, former Non-Resident Scholar at the Brookings Institution\, worked with the United Nations and before that as a foreign correspondent covering the Middle East \n  \nModerator \nHamdi Rifai\, Executive Director at the Council of United Syrians & Americans\, government affairs specialist focused on foreign policy between the United States\, Eurasia\, and the Middle East\, expert analyst on international affairs\, national security\, and legal issues who frequently appears on Fox News\, Al-Hurra\, Al-Jazeera\, the BBC\, and TRT \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nDr. Tallha Abdulrazaq is an award-winning academic who holds a PhD in strategy and security from the University of Exeter in England. He specializes in counterterrorism and military history\, with a particular focus on the operational development of the Iraqi armed forces during the Iran-Iraq War. He is also a columnist and a regular contributor to international media outlets\, providing expert analysis and commentary on issues including Iranian strategic ambitions in Iraq\, Syria\, and the wider region\, Turkish-Arab relations\, and the security and political situation in Iraq since 2003. \nGeneive Abdo is a visiting fellow at The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW) and a consultant at the World Bank\, and was formerly a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. Her current research focuses on the shifting political and religious alliances within Shia communities in the Middle East. Abdo has worked at several Washington-based think tanks\, including the Atlantic Council and the Stimson Center. She was a non-resident scholar at the Brookings Institution from 2013-17. Among her extensive list of publications\, including monographs and works in scholarly journals\, Abdo is the author of four books on the Middle East\, including The New Sectarianism: The Arab Uprisings and the Rebirth of the Shi’a-Sunni Divide (Oxford University Press\, 2016). Her articles and commentaries have been published by The New York Times\, Newsweek\, Foreign Affairs\, Foreign Policy Magazine\, and The Washington Post\, and she has been awarded the John Simon Guggenheim fellowship and Nieman Fellowship for study at Harvard University. Abdo was formerly the liaison officer for the Alliance of Civilizations\, a United Nations initiative established by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan\, which aimed to improve relations between Islamic and Western societies. Before joining the United Nations\, Abdo was a foreign correspondent\, where her 20-year career focused on coverage of the Middle East and the Muslim world. From 1998 to 2001\, Abdo was the Iran correspondent for The Guardian and a regular contributor to The Economist and the International Herald Tribune. She was the first American journalist to be based in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. \n  \nAbout our Moderator:  \nHamdi Rifai is the Executive Director at the Council of United Syrians & Americans. Mr. Rifai is a government affairs specialist focused on foreign policy between the United States\, Eurasia\, and the Middle East. He has appeared frequently throughout the years as an expert analyst on international affairs\, national security\, and legal issues on Fox News\, Al-Hurra\, Al-Jazeera\, the BBC\, and TRT. \n  \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/u-s-potholes-in-iraq-31-years-after-saddams-invasion-of-kuwait/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210610T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210610T124500
DTSTAMP:20260430T025334
CREATED:20210604T210836Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210609T135900Z
UID:6419-1623324600-1623329100@nifusa.org
SUMMARY:Aftermath of the Gaza War: Should the U.S. be Talking Directly to Hamas?
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event discussing the recent war in Gaza and the United States’ position in the region moving forward. \n  \nSpeakers \nPeter Beinart\, Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York\, Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents\, a CNN Political Commentator\, a frequent contributor to The New York Times\, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace\, Writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack.Com. \nDiana Buttu\, Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and analyst based in Haifa\, Former legal advisor to PLO and Palestinian negotiators\, Part of the team that assisted in the successful litigation of Israel’s separation wall before the International Court of Justice at the Hague in 2004\, Maintains a law practice in Palestine focusing on international human rights law. \nAmbassador Edward M. Gabriel\, Former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco (1997-2001)\, President and CEO of the American Task Force on Lebanon\, and a member of the boards of AMIDEAST\, the Arab American National Museum\, the Arab American Institute\, and The Keystone Center. \nCongressman Jim Moran\, Former U.S. Representative for VA-08 Congressional District (1991-2015)\, Former Mayor of Alexandria\, Virginia (1985-1991)\, Served on the Appropriations\, Foreign Affairs\, Banking\, Housing and Finance\, and Government Reform and Oversight committees during his 12 terms in U.S. Congress. \n  \nModerator \nKelley Beaucar Vlahos\, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft\, Editorial Director of Responsible Statecraft and Senior Adviser at the Quincy Institute\, formerly Executive Editor of the American Conservative Magazine\, social media director and online editor at WTOP News (2013-2017)\, and worked for 15 years as an online political reporter for Fox News. \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nPeter Beinart is Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York. He is also Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents\, a CNN Political Commentator\, a frequent contributor to The New York Times\, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack.Com. His first book\, The Good Fight\, was published by HarperCollins in 2006. His second book\, The Icarus Syndrome\, was published by HarperCollins in 2010. His third\, The Crisis of Zionism\, was published by Times Books in 2012. Beinart has written for the Wall Street Journal\, the Financial Times\, the Boston Globe\, the Atlantic\, Newsweek\, Slate\, Reader’s Digest\, Die Zeit\, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung\, and Polity: the Journal of the Northeastern Political Science Studies Association. The Week magazine named him columnist of the year for 2004. In 2005\, he gave the Theodore H. White lecture at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has appeared on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos\,” “Charlie Rose\,” “Meet the Press\,” “The Colbert Report” and many other television programs. Beinart graduated from Yale University\, winning a Rhodes scholarship for graduate study at Oxford University. After graduating from University College\, Oxford\, Beinart became The New Republic’s managing editor in 1995. He became senior editor in 1997\, and from 1999 to 2006 served as the magazine’s Editor. \nDiana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer who previously served as a legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team and was part of the team that assisted in the successful litigation of Israel’s separation wall before the International Court of Justice at the Hague in 2004\, which resulted in the indictment of the wall. She frequently comments on Palestine for international news media outlets such as CNN and BBC; is a political analyst for Al Jazeera International and is a regular contributor to The Middle East magazine. She maintains a law practice in Palestine\, focusing on international human rights law. Earlier in her career\, Buttu worked on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations\, serving as the only female negotiator during her five-year tenure. She was a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and at Harvard Law School. She also held a fellowship at the Stanford Center for Conflict Resolution and Negotiation and is an instructor at Harvard Extension School. Buttu received her undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto\, a JD from Queen’s University in Canada\, an LLM from the University of Toronto\, a JSM from Stanford University\, and an executive MBA from Kellogg Northwestern School of Management. \nAmbassador Edward M. Gabriel  is the former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco\, having served from November 1997 to March 2001\, during which time a new U.S.-Morocco strategic relationship was launched on political\, military and economic levels. He has an extensive background in international affairs\, having convened multilateral policy forums involving national security\, environmental\, and trade and energy issues. He has been involved in matters of Russian and European nuclear non-proliferation and has been active in advising the U.S. government on Mideast policy matters. Currently\, Ambassador Gabriel is President and CEO of The Gabriel Company\, LLC\, which advises American corporations and international entities on investment and policy strategies and projects. He is the President and CEO of the American Task Force on Lebanon\, Co-Chairman of the American Schools of Tangier and Marrakech\, Chairman of the Moroccan American Center\, and a member of the boards of AMIDEAST\, the Arab American National Museum\, the Arab American Institute\, and The Keystone Center. \nCongressman Jim Moran represented Virginia’s 8th Congressional District from 1991 to 2015\, where he was known for his bipartisan leadership and ability to resolve complex issues. He served on the Appropriations\, Foreign Affairs\, Banking\, Housing and Finance\, and Government Reform and Oversight committees during his 12 terms in the U.S. Congress. As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee\, he was chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment\, a senior member on the Defense and Military Construction subcommittees\, Foreign Operations\, Labor\, Health and Human Services and Ranking Member of the D.C. and Legislative Branch subcommittees. He also served as a member of the Steering and Policy Committee of the House Democratic Leadership. As chairman of the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee\, Jim oversaw the budgets for the Environmental Protection Agency\, the Interior Department\, Bureau of Indian Affairs\, Forest Service\, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management\, the Smithsonian\, the Kennedy Center\, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum\, and the National Endowment for the Arts and the Humanities. As a senior member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee\, he oversaw all aspects of the defense budget\, including weapons procurement\, cybersecurity\, research and development\, military medical research\, military base closures\, civilian personnel\, and overseas contingency operations. \n  \nAbout our Moderator:  \nKelley Beaucar Vlahos is the Editorial Director of Responsible Statecraft and Senior Advisor at the Quincy Institute. Previously\, she served for three years as Executive Editor of the The American Conservative magazine\, where she had been reporting and publishing regular articles on national security\, civil liberties\, foreign policy\, veterans\, and Washington politics since 2007. From 2013 to 2017\, Vlahos served as director of social media and online editor at WTOP News in Washington\, D.C. She also spent 15 years as an online political reporter for Fox News at the channel’s Washington D.C. bureau\, as well as Washington correspondent for Homeland Security Today magazine. \n  \nDisclaimer: please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting NA in the “organization” or “job title” section. NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/aftermath-of-the-gaza-war-should-the-u-s-be-talking-directly-to-hamas/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210512T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210512T123000
DTSTAMP:20260430T025334
CREATED:20210505T182507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210511T161936Z
UID:3353-1620817200-1620822600@nifusa.org
SUMMARY:China's Crimes Against Humanity: The Plight of the Uyghurs
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event regarding the Chinese government’s ongoing persecution of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province\, with a focus on the grave human rights violations being committed in the region. \n  \nSpeakers \nMustafa Aksu\, Uyghur Human Rights Project \nJoanne Lin\, Amnesty International USA \n  \nModerator \nHamdi Rifai\, Council of United Syrians & Americans \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nMustafa Aksu is Program Coordinator for Research and Advocacy at the Uyghur Human Rights Project. His research interests focus on language policy and surplus labor transfer in East Turkistan\, Turkic languages\, and the Uyghur diaspora in the Middle East and Central Asia. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Linguistics\, Languages\, and Cultures in China and a master’s degree in Turkey. Mustafa also studied in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies\, Indiana University Bloomington. Mustafa has spoken on the Uyghur crisis at universities\, churches\, mosques and synagogues. He was a key organizer of the 2018 conference on “Mass Incarceration: China’s Radical and Dangerous Policies in Xinjiang” at Indiana University. He taught intensive Uyghur at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Summer Language Program\, served as a Uyghur language developer at the Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region\, and as outreach staff in the Center for the Study of the Middle East at Indiana University Bloomington. Before moving to the U.S.\, he lived and worked in China\, Turkey\, UAE\, UK\, and Singapore. \n  \nJoanne Lin directs Amnesty International USA’s Advocacy and Government Affairs Department. She has over 14 years of experience advocating for the rights of immigrants and refugees before Congress and the U.S. government\, and over seven years of experience representing immigrants in family law and immigration proceedings. At Amnesty International USA\, Lin leads the development and implementation of strategies to advance the organization’s human rights priorities before Congress and the U.S. government. She leads a team of advocacy directors dedicating to protecting the human rights of refugees\, asylum seekers\, displaced peoples\, prisoners of conscience\, and gun violence victims. She has overseen advocacy initiatives aimed at protecting Rohingya refugees fleeing mass burnings and rape at the hands of the Myanmar military\, ending U.S. arms sales to the Saudi-Emirati coalition committing war crimes against Yemeni civilians\, and requiring universal background checks on all gun sales in the U.S. Lin has been recognized by The Hill as one of the top lobbyists for grassroots organizations. She has been a regular commentator on human rights through media outlets including CNN\, MSNBC\, NPR\, Washington Post\, New York Times\, Foreign Policy\, USA Today\, Politico\, Washington Examiner\, The Guardian\, and others. Lin is a graduate of Stanford University\, Stanford School of Education\, and New York University School of Law. She clerked for Shirley Abrahamson\, former Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. \n  \nAbout our Moderator:  \nHamdi Rifai is the Executive Director at the Council of United Syrians & Americans. Mr. Rifai is a government affairs specialist focused on foreign policy between the United States\, Eurasia\, and the Middle East. He has appeared frequently throughout the years as an expert analyst on international affairs\, national security\, and legal issues on Fox News\, Al-Hurra\, Al-Jazeera\, the BBC\, and TRT. \n  \nDisclaimer: please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting NA in the “organization” or “job title” section. NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/chinas-crimes-against-humanity-the-plight-of-the-uyghurs/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://nifusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/5.12.21-Uyghur-Zoom-Event-Picture-e1620239079806.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210408T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210408T140000
DTSTAMP:20260430T025334
CREATED:20210331T190219Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210331T190954Z
UID:3293-1617885000-1617890400@nifusa.org
SUMMARY:The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Modern Era and Future Prospects
DESCRIPTION:An NIF Zoom event discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the modern era\, focusing on human rights\, competing narratives\, and future relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. \n  \nSpeakers \nAhmad Obali\, Gunaz TV \nYusuf Erim\, TRT World \nHamdi Rifai\, Council of United Syrians & Americans \n  \nModerator \nKhaled Saffuri\, National Interest Foundation \n  \nAbout our Speakers:  \nAhmad Obali is the founder and Managing Director of Gunaz TV\, a broadcasting station based in Chicago that reaches millions of people in Iran\, promoting human rights\, ethnic rights\, and freedom of information. The TV station operates 24/7 in the Azerbaijani\, Persian\, Arabic\, and Turkmen languages. He escaped from Iran in 1982 and immigrated to the United States in 1985. He worked with the UN special rapporteur on Iran from 1999 to 2003 and various human rights organizations before setting up his broadcasting station in late 2004 that continues to date. \n  \nYusuf Erim is a security analyst and political commentator. He is the editor-at-large at Turkish public broadcaster TRT World. Yusuf lectures at universities\, has written OpEds for several global publications\, and regularly appears on many international news channels. \n  \nHamdi Rifai is the Executive Director at the Council of United Syrians & Americans. Mr. Rifai is a government affairs specialist focused on foreign policy between the United States\, Eurasia\, and the Middle East. He has appeared frequently throughout the years as an expert analyst on international affairs\, national security\, and legal issues on Fox News\, Al-Hurra\, Al-Jazeera\, the BBC\, and TRT. \n  \nDisclaimer: please note that when registering for any of our events\, all required fields must be properly filled out. We reserve the right to deny entry for those who fail to do so\, i.e. inputting NA in the “organization” or “job title” section. NIF events are by email invitation only and are non-transferable. \nNote: additional speakers may be announced later.
URL:https://nifusa.org/event-2/the-nagorno-karabakh-conflict-in-the-modern-era-and-future-prospects/
LOCATION:Zoom Meeting\, 1800 K Street\, NW\, Suite 1124\, Washington\, DC\, 20006\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://nifusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/4.8.21-NK-Event-Image-e1617217778694.jpg
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