ALLIES Intellectual Roundtable: The Changing Strategic Environment of the Middle East and North Africa and Evolving Civil Military Relations

Date & Time February 26, 2014 8:30pm
Location
Tufts University
Program
ALLIES

ALLIES' principal annual event, this multi-day conference is attended by students and faculty from across the ALLIES national network, as well as military officers, government, NGO workers, academics and other professionals. The Intellectual Roundtable allows ALLIES to expand its mission of the study of civil-military relations into a rigorous academic setting in which ALLIES members interact with experts in the field who gather to discuss the most prominent issues in civil-military relations. Throughout the years the conference has expanded to include keynote speakers, panels, and interactive simulations, all while maintaining its purpose of facilitating the discussion of civil-military relations and their place within American society.

This event is in conjunction with the EPIIC 2014 Symposium: The Future of the Middle East and North Africa

Schedule:

Wednesday, February 26
9:30-3:00 Diplomatic Crisis Simulation Exercise: Algeria
Alumni Lounge
The Intellectual Roundtable Simulation is a diplomatic crisis simulation centering around a potential geo-political crisis in Algeria that would have consequences for the stability of the entire MENA region, with concerns for American interests as well. The simulation begins with a joint exercise between the US African Command (AFRICOM) and the Algerian National People’s Army (ANP), in the face of decreasing stability in the country, brought about by the significant inroads of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) into the southern portion of the country. Move 1 revolves around the increased threat of AQIM, which is coming into increased conflict with Algerian security forces, creating both human rights and stability concerns. Students will consider themselves advisors to the National Security Council and will evaluate the dangers to American interests in Algeria and possible strategies to confront them.
 
3:00-4:30 Post Arab Spring Civil-Military Relations In the Middle East and North Africa
Goddard Chapel
• Mr. Ahmed Ali – Senior Analyst on Iraq and Iraq Team Leader, Institute for the Study of War
• Mr. Karim Haggag – Deputy Director, Policy Planning Division, Foreign Ministry, Egypt
• CAPT (ret.) Mark Huber – Program Manager, Middle East and Central Asia, Center for Civil-Military Relations, Naval Postgraduate School
• Dr. Marina Ottaway – Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center; Co-author, Getting to Pluralism: Political Actors in the Arab World; Co-editor, Yemen on the Brink
 
7:00-8:30 Keynote Address: Kathleen Hicks
Cabot Auditorium
Former Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Defense, where she led the development of the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance and the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review; Henry A Kissinger Chair and Senior Vice President, Center for Strategic International Studies
 
Thursday, February 27
10:00-10:30 Presentation of ALLIES Joint Research Project 2013 to Turkey
Alumni Lounge
 
10:30-12:00 Civil-Military Collaboration in Security Sector Reform
Alumni Lounge
• Vice Admiral Paul J Bushong – US Security Coordinator, Israel-Palestinian Authority, Jerusalem
• COL Ibrahim El Ghazawi – Egyptian Ministry of the Interior; International Fellow, Peace Keeping and Stability Operations Institute, U.S. Army War College
• COL (ret.) Anthony Leito – Professor of Governance Planning, Peace Keeping and Stability Operations Institute, U.S. Army War College
• Dr. Richard Shultz – Professor of International Politics and Director, Security Studies Program, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
 
3:00-3:30 Israel's Perspective on the Strategic Environment
Alumni Lounge
• BG Rami Ben Efraim – Special Assistant, J5 Commander, Israeli Defense Forces; former Commander, Ramat David AFB
 
3:30-5:00 The Impact of Civil-Military Relations on Domestic Poltical Decisions
Alumni Lounge
• COL (ret.) Michael Hess – Former Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID
• Mr. Richard Hoffman – Senior Lecturer and Director, Center for Civil-Military Relations, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School; former Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the Sixth U.S. Army
• Ms. Heather Hurlburt – Former Executive Director, National Security Network; former Policy Planning Staff, U.S. Department of State