On Monday 2 November 2009, Dr Alon Ben-Meir, Senior Fellow and the Middle Eastern Studies Project Director, World Policy Institute and Senior Fellow, School of Global Affairs, New York University will speak on ‘Is the Arab Peace Initiative the Answer to Resolving the Middle East Conflict? from 3.30-4.45pm
Dr Ben-Meir will present on the Arab Peace Initiative and its current potential to jump-start the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. The Arab Initiative provides a comprehensive formula for an Arab-Israeli peace and the means to unravel the political conundrum between Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel. While the Initiative has done little to tide the Israeli-Arab conflict since its introduction in 2002 and then its reintroduction in 2007, Dr. Ben-Meir will discuss the merits of the Initiative, showing that it is the key to opening dialogue between the 22 Arab states and Israel. He will also stress the importance of Arab leaders actively promoting the document and the Obama administration’s endorsement of it to bring Israel to the table to move towards a two-state solution.
Dr Alon Ben-Meir is an expert on Middle East politics and affairs, specializing in peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab states. For the past twenty five years, Dr Ben-Meir has been directly involved in various negotiations and has operated as a liaison between top Arab and Israeli officials. Dr. Ben-Meir serves as senior fellow at New York University's School of Global Affairs where he has been teaching courses on the Middle East and negotiations for 18 years. He is also a Senior Fellow and the Middle Eastern Studies Project Director at the World Policy Institute. Dr Ben-Meir hosts "Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir," a series of debates and conversations with top policy-makers around the world. He also regularly holds briefings at the US State Department for international visitors.
Dr Ben-Meir writes frequently and has appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines and websites including the Middle East Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Le Monde, American Chronicle, the Week, the Political Quarterly, Israel Policy Forum, Gulf Times, the Peninsula, The Jerusalem Post, and the Huffington Post. He also makes regular television and radio appearances, and has been featured on networks such as CNN, FOX, PBS, ABC, al Jazeera (English and Arabic), and NPR.
He has authored six books related to Middle East policy and is currently working on a book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dr Ben-Meir holds a masters degree in philosophy and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University. He is fluent in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
This meeting will be chaired by Dr Toby Dodge, Consulting Senior Fellow for the Middle East, IISS and will take place in The Lee Kuan Yew Conference Room at Arundel House.
RSVP: Clara Lane-Spollen lane-spollen@iiss.org
Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX
