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SAAD BIN TEFLA AL-AJMI
Dr., Former Minister of Information, Kuwait
HASSAN AL-ANSARI
Dr., Director of the Gulf Studies Centre, University of
Qatar
JEAN-MICHEL BOUCHERON
Chairman of the NATO PA Mediterranean Special Group
Member of the French Assemblée Nationale
ANOUSH EHTESHAMI
Dr., Head of School in School of Government and
International Affairs, University of Durham
MUNIRA FAKHRO
Dr., Associate Professor, University of Bahrain
HENNER FUERTIG
PD Dr., Senior Research Fellow at the German Institute for
Middle Eastern Studies
RIAD KAHWAJI
Middle East Bureau Chief, Defense News
CEO and founder of the Institute for Near East and Gulf
Military Analyses
FAISAL AL-KASIM
Al-Jazeera Moderator of “The Opposite Direction” RAMI
KHOURI
Editor at large, The Daily Star, Lebanon
Syndicated Columnist H.E. MOHD BIN
MUBARAK AL-KHULAIFI
Speaker of the Advisory Council of Qatar
IBTESAM AL-KITBI
Dr., Professor of Political Science, Emirates University AISHA
AL-MANNAI
Dr., Dean of The Faculty of Sharia Law, University of Qatar
AMBASSADOR DANIEL SPECKHARD
Director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office,
Embassy of the United States of America to Iraq
Saad bin Tefla Al-Ajmi
Dr., Former Minister of Information, Kuwait
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Hassan al-ansari
Dr., Director of the Gulf Studies Centre, University of
Qatar
Dr Hassan Al-Ansari is currently the
Director of the Gulf Strategic Studies Center, University of
Qatar. He received his BA at Cairo University, and his Ph.D.
in history at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He
served in the Amiri Diwan of the state of Qatar for nearly
20 years, mostly in the research and political departments.
Dr Al-Ansari also teaches modern history at the University
of Qatar.
Jean-Michel Boucheron
Chairman of the NATO PA Mediterranean Special Group
Member of the French Assemblée Nationale
Anoush Ehteshami
Dr., Head of School in School of Government and
International Affairs, University of Durham
Professor Anoush
Ehteshami is Professor of International Relations and Head
of the School of Government and International Affairs at
Durham University. He is also a Fellow of the World Economic
Forum. He was Vice-President of the British Society for
Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) 2000-2003.
His most recent
book-length publications include: The Middle East’s
Relations with Asia and Russia (co-editor) (London:
RoutledgeCurzon, 2004), The Foreign Policies of Middle
East States (co-editor) (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner,
2002), 380pp, Iran’s Security Policy in the Post-Revolutionary
Era (co-author) (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2001), 113pp,
Iran and Eurasia (co-editor) (Reading: Ithaca Press,
2000), 221pp, The Changing Balance of Power in Asia (Abu
Dhabi: ECSSR, 1998), 62pp, Syria and Iran: Middle Powers
in a Penetrated Regional System (with Ray Hinnebusch)
(London: Routledge, 1997), 238pp, Islamic
Fundamentalism (co-editor) (Boulder, CO: Westview Press,
1996), 284pp, After Khomeini: The Iranian Second Republic
(London: Routledge, 1995), 244pp, and From the Gulf to
Central Asia: Players in the News Great Game (editor)
(Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1994), 242pp, Iran
and the International Community (co-editor) (London:
Routledge, 1991), 191pp, and Nuclearisation of the Middle
East (New York: Brassey’s Defence Publishers, 1989),
197pp.
His current research
revolves around five over-arching themes:
- The Asian balance
of power in the post-Cold War era.
- The international
politics of the Red Sea sub-region.
- Foreign policies
of Middle East states since the end of the Cold War.
- The impact of
globalization on the Middle East.
- Governance,
democratization efforts, in the Middle East.
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Munira Fakhro
Dr., Associate Professor, University of Bahrain
Henner Fuertig
PD Dr., Senior Research Fellow at the German Institute for
Middle Eastern Studies
1971-1976, qualified in Arab studies and
History. 1983 dissertation on the Iranian revolution, 1988
postdoctoral thesis on the iraqi-iranian war as a case study
of military conflicts between developing countries. Several
years of field studies in Iran and Egypt. Until 1996 staff
member of the Oriental Institute at the University of
Leipzig, 1996-2002 head of a research team at the Centre of
Modern Middle East in Berlin, since 2002 member of the
scientific staff of the German Institute for Middle East
Studies in Hamburg.
Selected publications:
- The Potential
for Collective Security in the Gulf Region: The Role of
GCC-EU Collaboration. In: Koch, C./Neugart, F. (Hrsg.),
A Window of Opportunity. Europe, Gulf Security and the
Aftermath of the Iraq War. Dubai: Gulf Research Center
2005, p. 85-106.
- Globalization,
the Iraqi War and the Middle East. In: Wick, A./Rafidi,
W. (eds.), Implications of the US War on Iraq: Globally,
Regionally, Locally. Birzeit: Birzeit University Press
2004, p. 51-61.
- EU GCC
Political Cooperation: Myth or Reality? In: British
Journal for Middle Eastern Studies, Leeds, No. 1/2004,
p. 25-39.
- Chancen, Probleme
und Perspektiven der Neuordnung im Irak. In: Reader
Sicherheitspolitik, Hamburg, No. 2/2004, p. 106-120.
- Die
Uebergangsverfassung fuer Irak. Ein wichtiger Schritt
auf einem langen Weg. In: Internationale Politik,
Berlin, No. 4/2004, p. 91-96.
- Kleine Geschichte
des Irak. Von der Grndung 1921 bis zur Gegenwart.
Muenchen: C. H. Beck 2003, 176 pages
- Iraq: How
Severe is the Threat? In: Beestermller, G./Little, D.
(Eds.), Iraq: Threat and Response. Mnster u.a.: Lit
2003, p. 97-125.
- Iran's Rivalry
with Saudi Arabia between the Gulf Wars. Reading: Ithaca
Press 2002, 308 pages
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Riad Kahwaji
Middle East Bureau Chief, Defense News
CEO and founder of the Institute for Near East and Gulf
Military Analyses
Riad Kahwaji is the founder and Chief
Executive Office of the Institute for Near East and Gulf
Military Analysis (INEGMA). He is also the Middle East
Bureau Chief for Defense News, a leading international
defense publication based in Virginia, USA. He worked for
Jane's Defense Weekly as Middle East Correspondent from 1999
to 2001. He also contributed on regular basis to various
Jane's publications like Jane's Intelligence Review and
Jane's Sentinel and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst. In his
career as a professional journalist that started in 1988,
Riad has worked at various regional and international news
organizations like the Associated Press, the BBC World
Service, and the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC).
Over the past five
years, Riad has become more involved in security and defense
analysis and research as well as conferencing. He was the
lead Organizer and Master of Ceremony at three major
international Defense conferences: The Middle East Special
Operations Commanders, in Amman, in April 2004; The Middle
East Air Chiefs' Conference in Dubai in 2003; and Special
Operations Conference in Amman, 2002. He was speaker and
moderator at various regional and international conferences
on Middle East affairs. He is also Editor of INEGMA's
quarterly Political and Security Brief. Riad Kahwaji has an
MA degree in War Studies from King's College, the University
of London, UK, and a BA in Mass Communication from Phillips
University, Oklahoma, USA. He has a dual nationality,
Lebanese and British. He is married and has two daughters.
He published many
defense analysis articles in Al-Hayat newspaper and
professional periodicals. His published work:
- Riad Kahwaji and
Michael Kraig (ed.), Alternative Frameworks for Gulf
Security (Arabic), (Dubai: INEGMA 2004).
- Riad Kahwaji, "The
Israeli Military and Security Establishments," in Kamil
Mansour and Fawzi Abdul Hadi, eds. Israel: A General
Survey 2004 (Arabic), (Beirut: Institute for
PalestinianStudies, 2004), pp: 497-561.
- Riad Kahwaji:
"Gulf Cooperation Council Threat Perceptions and
Deterrence Objectives," Comparative Strategy, Vol. 22,
No. 5, 2003, pp: 515-520.
- Riad Kahwaji:
"US-Arab Cooperation in the Gulf," Middle East Policy
Journal, Vol. XI, No. 3, (Fall 2004), PP: 52-62
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Faisal al-kasim
Al-Jazeera Moderator of “The Opposite Direction”
Faisal Al-Kasim is a Syrian national holding a PhD in
English literature. He worked for the BBC Arabic Service as
broadcast journalist, producer and announcer for seven years.
Then he moved to the BBC Arabic television to work as
presenter of the main news rounds and anchor of panel
discussions for almost two years. He has now his weekly show
on Aljazeera Television called "The Opposite Direction",
which is the most controversial political program on Arab
satellite channels. He tackles the most sensitive and highly
controversial Arab political and cultural topics. His
program is watched avidly by Arab viewers from Morocco to
Saudia Arabia. Thousands of articles were written about the
program in Arab and International newspapers. It has also
drawn heavy criticism from Arab governments some of which
have withdrawn their ambassadors from the State of Qatar as
a protest against the Opposite Direction.
Rami
Khouri
Editor at large, The Daily Star, Lebanon
Syndicated Columnist
Rami George Khouri, 57,
a Palestinian-Jordanian and US citizen whose family resides
in Beirut, Amman and Nazareth, is editor at large, and
former executive editor, of the Daily Star newspaper in
Beirut, Lebanon. He is a book author and writes an
internationally syndicated weekly column. In the 2001-02
academic year he was a Nieman Journalism Fellow at Harvard
University. In 1976-2001 he lived in Amman, Jordan, where he
was editor in chief of the Jordan Times newspaper, hosted
television and radio shows on current affairs and ancient
history and archaeology, was general manager of Al Kutba,
Publishers, and wrote for leading international
publications, including the Financial Times, the Boston
Globe and the Washington Post.
He often comments on Mideast issues in
the international media, including the BBC and U.S. National
Public Radio, and lectures frequently at conferences and
universities throughout the world. He is a member of the
Leadership Council of the Harvard Divinity School, and a
member of the board of the East-West Institute, the Center
for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, and
the Jordan National Museum. In 2002 he was named a member of
the Brookings Institution Task Force on U,S Relations with
the Islamic World. He also served for many
years as the chief umpire for Little League baseball in
Jordan.
He has BA and MSc
degrees respectively in political science and mass
communications from Syracuse University (USA), is married to
Ellen Kettaneh, and has two grown sons.
H.E. Mohd Bin Mubarak al-khulaifi
Speaker of the Advisory Council of Qatar
H. E. Mohd Bin Mubarak
al-Khulaifi has been a member of the Advisory Council of
Qatar since 1994 and was elected speaker in 1995 and
reelected in 2004. From 1970-1971 he was the Office Director
to the Minister of Public Health. From 1972 to 1991, he
served as Ambassador first to the State of Kuwait and
subsequently at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He holds a
Bachelor of Science from the University of Northern Arizona,
USA.
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Ibtesam al-kitbi
Dr., Professor of Political Science, Emirates University
Ibtesam al-Kitbi holds a PhD in Economics and Political
Science from Cairo University, Egypt. She is a professor of
political science at the United Arab Emirates University and
her research interests are political and social
developments and the democratization process in the GCC
countries. She is a member of the core team of the Arabic
Human Development Report for 2006. Furthermore, she is
treasurer of the Arab Political Science Association and
member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Social
Affairs, UAE.
Her publications include : Political Elite in UAE, in Political Elite
in the Arab World, Cairo University, 1997; Legislative of
the UAE, in Legislative of the Arab World, Cairo
University, 1998; Indian-Emirates Relations, New
Delhi, 1998; Judiciary in the UAE, in Judiciary in
the Arab World, Cairo University, 1999; Democratic
Transformations in GCC Countries, Al-Mustaqbal Alarabi,
July, 2000; Visions of India and Pakistan for Security
During 1990s, ESCR, Abu Dhabi, 2001; Succession and
State in GCC
Countries, Middle East Policy, Summer, 2002;
The Dilemma of Democracy and Violence in the GCC States,
Bahrain, 2003 ;Women in GCC Countries between Obstacles
and Empowerment, Abu Dhabi, 2003; Political role for
women in GCC States , Gulf in 2003, Gulf Research
Center, Dubai,2004. Political violence in GCC states,
Doha, May 2004; The nature of reform in the Arab Region,
Conference on What Role for outsiders? The Mediterranean and
the middle East: A New Agenda, Institute for Strategic and
International Studies, Lisbon, May 2004;
Women's Political
Status in the GCC States,
Arab Reform Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 7, July 2004;
The global community and the war on terrorism: threat or
opportunity?, The
Mediterranean, the Middle East and Eastern Europe: The EU
and Nato’s wider new neighbourhood, XXII Lisbon
International Conference,
Institute for Strategic and International
Studies, Lisbon Dec. 2004. Women’s
Issues in GCC, Gulf in 2004, Gulf Research
Center, Dubai,2005).
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aisha
al-manNai
Dr., Dean of The Faculty of Sharia Law, University of Qatar
Ambassador daniel Speckhard
Director of the
Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, Embassy of
the United States of
America to Iraq
Ambassador Speckhard is Director of the Iraq Reconstruction
Management Office at the Embassy of the United States of
America to Iraq. From 2003 – 2005, he was Director of Policy
Planning at NATO responsible for advising and assisting the
Secretary General, senior NATO management, and the Council
in addressing strategic issues facing the Alliance.
Prior to this he was NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary
General for Political Affairs, covering political relations
with the countries of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the
former Soviet Union, and the Mediterranean. His directorate
managed the process of NATO enlargement as well as the
development of relations with Russia, Ukraine, the EU and
OSCE. He received the NATO Service Medal for his work in
support of crisis management in Macedonia, spending several
months as NATO Senior Representative in Skopje at the height
of the crisis.
From August 1997 to August 2000, he served as United States
Ambassador to Belarus, working closely with the OSCE and
European Union in promoting democratic reform, human rights,
and institutional development. From 1993 to 1997, Ambassador
Speckhard was a Deputy to the Ambassador-at-large for the
New Independent States at the State Department in
Washington. He was responsible for a broad range of
political, security and economic issues involving the
newly-independent states of the former Soviet Union.
From 1990 to 1993, he was an Advisor and then Director of
Policy and Resources for the Deputy Secretary of State. He
was responsible for the coordination and oversight of
foreign aid funding in support of foreign policy objectives
and received special recognition for his role in reorienting
foreign assistance programs to meet the new challenges of
post-Cold War era. He also played a key role in developing
assistance packages in support of crisis response, post-conflict
reconstruction and countries in transition.
From 1981 to 1990, he had a number of assignments, including
at the International Affairs Division of the Office of
Management and Budget of the Executive Office of the
President of the United States; the US Agency for
International Development; the staff of the US Senate; and
in state and local government.
Ambassador Speckhard has a Masters Degree in Public Policy
and Administration; a Masters Degree in Economics; and a
Bachelor Degree from the University of Wisconsin
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