Friday 24 November 2006

Morning

Arrival of Participants

13:30 - 15:00

lunch for participants

13:00 – 16:00

Registration

16:0 0 -16:15

Welcoming remarks

Dr.Thanos Dokos, Director General, ELIAMEP, Athens

16:15- 18:00

Strategic Actors in Eurasia: Interests and policies vis-à-vis the Mediterranean and the Broader Middle East; Competing or converging strategic visions? The need for strategic dialogue

Chair: Mr.DanielVernet, Director, International Relations Department, ‘Le Monde’ Newspaper, Paris

Speakers:

• The EU -EU Security Strategy
• Prof. Sven Biscop, Senior Research Fellow, Royal Institute for International Relations (IRRI-KIIB); Professor of European Security, Ghent University
• USA –American policy in the Broader Middle East
• Dr. Ian Lesser , Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center; Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the U.S., Washington D.C
• Russia – Russian interests and strategies
• NATO –NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative
• Mr. Nicola De Santis , Head of Section, Mediterranean Dialogue and ICI countries, NATO Public Diplomacy Division, Brussels

18:00-18:30

Coffee break

18:30-20:30

Regional flashpoints I: The Gulf region ( Iran, Iraq, proliferation of WMDs, energy security)

Chair : Dr. WalterPosch, Senior Research Fellow, EU-ISS, Paris

Speakers:

• Prince Mohammed Bin Faisal Bin Turki Al Saud, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riyadh
• Mr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman, Gulf Research Center, Dubai
• Dr. KayhanBarzegar, Assistant Professor, Science and Research Campus, Islamic Azad University, Tehran
• Dr. Michael Myrianthis, Director-General, International Activities, Hellenic Petroleum Group, Athens

20:45

Dinner

Keynote speaker: Ms. Dora Bakoyanni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Athens

Saturday 25 November 2006

09:00-11:00

Regional flashpoints II: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the elections in Israel and Palestine and the recent conflagration in Lebanon

Chair: Prof. Michael Stuermer , Chief Correspondent, ‘Die Welt’ daily, Berlin

Speakers:

• Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, Director, PASSIA, East Jerusalem
• Dr. Ariel Levite, Principal Deputy Director General, Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Tel Aviv
• Dr. Sufyan Abu Zayda, Director, Alquds University, Gaza Strip
• U.S. view – Speaker TBA

11:00-11:30

Coffee break

11:30 – 13:30

The politics of Arab reform. Is there popular demand for Arab reform? How is this reform perceived and defined? What is the (expected) reaction of regimes in the Arab countries?

Chair: Dr. Bassma Kodmani, Associate Professor, Coll è ge de France; Executive Director, Arab Reform Initiative (ARI), Paris

Speaker:

• Dr. Abdel MonemSaid Aly, Director, Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Al Ahram Foudation, Cairo

Discussants:

• Dr. Paul Salem , Director, Carnegie Middle East Center, Beirut
• Dr. Mustafa Hamarneh, Director, Center for Strategic Studies, Amman
• Dr. Ekavi Athanassopoulou , Lecturer, University of Athens; Senior Research Fellow, ELIAMEP

13:30-15:00

Lunch

15:00-17:00

WORKING GROUP I:
Security Sector Reform in the Middle East: How can the international community help?

Facilitator: Mr. Arnold Luethold, Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF)

 WORKING GROUP II:
Gulf Region stabilization efforts: The role of Europe?

Facilitator: Prof. Gerd Nonneman, Professor of International Relations and Middle East Politics, Lancaster University

17:00 – 17:30

Coffee break

17:00 – 19:00

Working Group Reports

Round-table discussion

Chair: Mr. William Pfaff , Author and Syndicated Columnist, Tribune Media Services, Paris

Discussants:

• Dr. Osama El Baz, Political Adviser to the President of Egypt, Cairo
• Dr. Henry Siegman, President, U.S./Middle East Project, New York
• Mr. Christian Jouret , Head, Middle East and Mediterranean Task Force, Council of the European Union, Brussels
• Dr. Thanos Dokos , Director General, ELIAMEP, Athens

20:30

Dinner for our foreign guests at the fish tavern “Garbis”

Sunday 26 November 2006

Departure of participants