Events

In May, President Obama defined the Arab Spring as a “historic opportunity” to redefine and strengthen America’s relationships in the Middle East, demonstrating that “America values the dignity of the street vendor . . . more than the raw power of the dictator.” One year after the “Jasmine Revolution” in Tunisia, has the promise of the Arab Awakening been realized? Please join former national security adviser Stephen Hadley and former Jordanian foreign minister Marwan Muasher on Wednesday, January 18, as they lead an analysis and discussion of what the Arab Awakening means for 2012.

The Madrid Peace Conference was a watershed moment for American diplomacy, but the two decades since have witnessed a region facing substantial challenges and instability, with major uncertainty regarding the future of efforts toward peace.  With the recent developments at the United Nations and the Quartet's latest proposal, this conference pulled  lessons from the past, assessed the current state-of-play, and explored new ideas for moving forward.

USIP, CSID, George Mason and ISESCO co-hosted this day-long conference examining America's relations with the Muslim world one year after President Obama's Cairo speech. 

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?