Amid the death and devastation of the war that has followed the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on southern Israel, there have been profound reverberations for Israeli domestic politics, the Palestinian cause, and the regional confrontation between the United States and Iran-backed militias. An international panel of experts will discuss the situation, explore any opportunities to ease long-standing conflicts, and provide a road map to a more peaceful and sustainable future for the Middle East.
Featured Speakers
Mairav Zonszein, Israel-American journalist and senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group
Mairav is an Israeli-American journalist and commentator who has covered Israeli politics and U.S. foreign policy for over a decade. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Columbia Journalism Review, and more. She is a founding editor of +972 Magazine and currently serves as senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group.
Collin Meisel, Associate Director of Geopolitical Analysis Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver
Collin Meisel is a Nonresident Fellow with the Strategic Foresight Hub at the Stimson Center. He is also the Associate Director of Geopolitical Analysis at the University of Denver’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for
International Futures at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and a subject matter expert at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.
Randa Slim, Senior Fellow and Director of Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program, Middle East Institute
Randa Slim is the Director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute and a non-resident fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced and International Studies (SAIS) Foreign Policy Institute. A long-term practitioner of Track II dialogue and peace-building processes in the Middle East and Central Asia, she is the author of several studies, book chapters, and articles on conflict management, post-conflict peace-building, and Middle East politics.
Ali Vaez, Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran, International Crisis Group
Ali Vaez is Crisis Group’s Iran Project Director and Senior Adviser to the President. He led Crisis Group’s efforts in helping to bridge the gaps between Iran and the P5+1 that led to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Previously, he served as a Senior Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and was the Iran Project Director at the Federation of American Scientists.
Khalil E. Jahshan, Executive Director, Arab Center Washington D.C.
Khalil E. Jahshan is a Palestinian American political analyst and media commentator. He serves as Executive Director of Arab Center Washington DC. Between 2004 and 2013, he was a Lecturer in International Studies and Languages at Pepperdine University and Executive Director of Pepperdine’s Seaver College Washington DC Internship Program. He also served as Executive Vice President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Moderator
Barbara Slavin, Distinguished Fellow, Stimson Center
Barbara Slavin is a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and a lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University. Prior to joining Stimson, she founded and directed the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council and led a bi-partisan task force on Iran. The author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path to Confrontation (2007), she is a regular commentator on US foreign policy and Iran on NPR, PBS and C-Span.