Based on a recent USIP report "Hamas: Ideological Rigidity, Political Flexibility" by Paul Scham and Osama abu-Irshaid, this discussion will explore how the international community can detect and take advantage of any willingness by Hamas to compromise, without making ourselves vulnerable to manipulation. How should we interpret this movement, what is the role of Shari'a law in Hama's political behavior and what are the policy implications of the report?

Cam Simpson, former Jerusalem Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal, will moderate an unconventional roundtable format, guiding a conversation among the report's authors and several experts who will examine this question from different angles. They will challenge the findings of the report in terms of what it means for devising and implementing an effective policy toward Hamas and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Speakers

In addition to the authors, the following experts will participate in the debate:

• Amjad Atallah
  Co-Director, Middle East Task Force
  The New America Foundation
• Nathan J. Brown
  Nonresident Senior Associate, Middle East Program
  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• David Makovsky
  Senior fellow and Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process
  The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• Wayne White
  Adjunct Scholar
  Middle East Institute
• Cam Simpson, Moderator
  The Wall Street Journal

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