Transcript
JAMES STEINBERG: We are here to discuss the very challenging events that are taking place in the so-called Greater Middle East. They've obviously had a very difficult week for the Coalition forces, both on the military and political front as they struggle to deal with military challenges, both around Baghdad, and the Sunni Triangle and in the South, a lot of political questions about the process of the handover leading to June 30th, and at the same time the president facing two very important visitors this coming week, with President Mubarak and Prime Minister Sharon coming to discuss not only the crisis in Iraq, but more importantly some of the developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, notably Prime Minister Sharon's plan for unilateral disengagement from Gaza.
And so we thought it was an appropriate time to really take a fairly comprehensive look at events in the region, what's going on, on the ground, what are the potential strategies going forward, what are the pitfalls and opportunities, if any, for the administration, as it faces what I think is clearly a critical period in the evolution of its policy towards the region.
We have a very distinguished group of Brookings and Saban Center scholars here to discuss these issues. They are well-known to all of you. We are going to begin with Michael O'Hanlon, who is going to talk about the military situation; then, Ken Pollack, the director of research at the Saban Center, who is going to talk about U.S. options going forward, and particularly what to do with the upcoming June 30th handover; and then we'll turn to Ivo Daalder, senior fellow at Brookings, to talk about the implications of recent events for the U.S. relations with its allies and the role of the troop contributors on the ground and potential future roles for NATO and the U.N.; and then to Martin Indyk, the director of the Saban Center, to talk about Prime Minister Sharon's initiative and the meetings with the president; and, finally, Tamara Wittes, who is going to talk about President Mubarak's visit and the Greater Middle East Initiative, which is going to be a centerpiece, hopefully, for the administration, of its meeting with the G8 allies later this spring.
So a busy schedule. We'll each take a few minutes to begin the discussion, and then we'll turn to questions from the audience.
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