Conference Program

Sunday, 25.5

14:00-14:30 Welcoming and Opening Remarks

Mordechai Tamarkin, Head, The Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research

Zvi Shtauber, Director, The Institute for National Security Studies

Dany Leviatan, Rector, Tel Aviv University

14:30-16:00 Session I

Introduction: Theoretical Perspectives

Chairperson - David Vital (Tel Aviv University)

Janice Gross Stein (University of Toronto)

From a Bipolar World to a Unipolar One: International Efforts to Resolve Local Conflicts

Rajan Menon (Lehigh University)

'The Responsibility to Protect': An Idea Worth Considering for Managing Local Conflict?

Yossi Beilin (Knesset Member)

The Interface between Academia and Practice in the Context of Conflict Resolution

16:00-16:30 Coffee break

16:30-18:00 Session II

The Cold War and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Chairperson – Gabriel Gorodetsky (Tel Aviv University)

Galia Golan (The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya)

The Soviet Union and the Efforts to Resolve the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Avraham Ben-Zvi (The University of Haifa)

Between Comprehensiveness and Step-by-Step: Rogers, Kissinger, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Kenneth W. Stein (Emory University)

The Carter Administration: From a Comprehensive Peace to a Separate One

Monday, 26.5

09:30-11:00 Session III

From the Cold War to a New World Order: The Middle East, 1980-2007

Chairperson – Arnon Gutfeld (Tel Aviv University)

Robert David (KC) Johnson (Brooklyn College)

The Reagan-Bush Administrations and the Middle East

Shibley Telhami (University of Maryland)

The Clinton Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Robert Lieber (Georgetown University)

The George W. Bush Administration and the Middle East

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

11:30-13:30 Session IV

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in the Web of Regional and International Politics:

Local Perspectives

Chairperson – Shimon Shamir (Tel Aviv University)

Samir Hulileh (Portland Trust)

In Search for Peace and Justice: A Palestinian Perspective Towards the Role of the International Community

Yehuda Ben Meir (The Institute for National Security Studies)

Israeli Perspective

Shlomo Brom (The Institute for National Security Studies)

Managing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Local Actors' Response to International Policing

Yossi Kostiner (Tel Aviv University)

Mediation by Local Powers: Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process

13:00-15:00 Lunch break

15:00-16:30 Session V

Europe and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in the Aftermath of the Cold War

Chairperson – Uzi Eilam (The Institute for National Security Studies)

Ron Pundak (Peres Center for Peace)

Norway and the Oslo Agreement

Jean-Pierre Filiu (Sciences Po, Paris)

Reflections on French Experiences in the Middle East

Georg Simonis (Fern Universität, Hagen)

The EU and its Efforts to Resolve the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

16:30-17:00 Coffee break

17:00-19:00 Session VI

Diplomatic Round-Table

Chairperson - Zvi Shtauber (former Israeli Ambassador in London)

Itamar Rabinovich (former Israeli Ambassador in Washington)

Saeb Erakat (chief Palestinian negotiator)

Daniel C. Kurtzer (former US Ambassador in Cairo and Tel Aviv)

Tuesday, 27.5

09:30-11:00 Session VII

Conflict-Resolution Efforts in Post-Cold War Europe

Chairperson - Rafi Vago (Tel Aviv University)

James Gow (King's College, London)

International Engagement and the Yugoslav War of Dissolution

Dimitri Trenin (Carnegie Foundation, Moscow)

Conflicts in Russia's Neighbourhood: From Situation-Freezing to Dispute-Resolution

Adrian Guelke (Queen's University of Belfast)

External Mediation and Internal Ownership – The Belfast and St. Andrews Agreements Compared

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

11:30-13:30 Session VIII

Peace-Keeping Operations

Chairperson – Kobi Michael (The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies)

Efrat Elron (Hebrew University, Jerusalem)

The Evolution of Peace Operations: From the Cold War to the Global Era

Stefan Wolff (University of Nottingham)

European Union Crisis Management in the Western Balkans: Policy Objectives, Capabilities and Effectiveness

Chen Kertcher (Tel Aviv University)

Same Agenda, Different Results: the UN peacekeeping in Cambodia and Somalia

Udi Dekel (Former C.O. Liaison Unit & Head of Strategic Division)

The Effectiveness of Peace-Keeping Forces: The Israeli Experience

13:00-15:00 Lunch break

15:00-16:30 Session IX

Military Intervention and Democratization: Global Order and the Radical Islamist Challenge

Chairperson - Bruce Maddy-Weitzman (The Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University)

Marvin G. Weinbaum (Middle East Institute, Washington. D.C.)

Lost Faith, Forfeited Trust: Afghan Responses to Post-9/11 International Intervention

in State-Building and Insurgency

Michael Eisenstadt (The Washington Institute for Near East Policy)

Military Intervention, Political Violence and Transitional Democratic Politics in Iraq

Eyal Zisser (The Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University)

Military Intervention and Democratization: Global Order and the Radical Islamic Challenge in Lebanon

16:30-17:00 Coffee break

17:00-18:30 Concluding Session

Chairperson - Eyal Zisser, Director, The Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University

Daniel C. Kurtzer (Princeton University)

Rajan Menon (Lehigh University)

LBJ & Israel Tapes

McGeorge Bundy--Track One


Abe Feinberg--Track Two

Dean Rusk--Track Three



Abraham Ribicoff--Track Four



Arthur Goldberg--Track Five



Dean Rusk--Track Six



Walt Rostow--Track Seven



Bill Fulbright--Track Eight



Dwight Eisenhower--Track Nine



Dwight Eisenhower--Track Ten



Everett Dirksen--Track Eleven



Bill Fulbright--Track 12



Russell Long--Track 13



Arthur Goldberg--Track 14



Everett Dirksen--Track 15



Arthur Goldberg--Track 16



Gale McGee--Track 17

May 5 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

Beyond 2002

May 5, 2008

I. Road to 9/11

1. 2000 (Clinton foreign and domestic struggles; administration divisions; election)

2. Early Bush (Powell/Rice/Rumsfeld; role of Tenet & Mineta; bureaucratic divisions; Cheney?)

3. After 9/11 (9/11 and Saddam; U.S. and Northern Alliance; revising Musharraf relationship; Karzai solution)

II. Path to War

1. Domestic Response to 9/11 (Guantánamo and constitutional theories; failure to capture bin Laden; Patriot Act and civil liberties; Yoo and unitary executive theory; Lieberman and Homeland Security Department; Rove and political issues—Chambliss/Cleland race)

2. Run-up (sanctions and international diplomacy; Clinton and Iraq Liberation Act; significant obstacles: Shinseki; Turks and Kurdistan; French/German hostility; role of Eastern Europe; Iranian question; Blix and lack of WMD)

3. Rationale (schisms between Old Bush and New Bush; rationales: Tenet, Powell, and WMDs; neocons and democracy; Rumsfeld as test case; Cheney and Chalabi, Office of Special Plans and undoing excesses of 1970s; Rice)

4. National Response (New York Times and flawed coverage; role of Pincus and Hersh; divisions among Democrats; significance of Powell)

III. War & Consequences

1. Conflict (“Coalition of the Willing”: significance of Turkish refusal, role of Eastern Europe; Iranian question; from WMD’s and Republican Guard to fedayeen—Franks’ difficulty in adjusting; embedding press and U.S. public opinion)

2. Aftermath of War (looting; lessons of Balkans vs. Bush hostility to Clinton policies & Rumsfeld drawn-down approach; Wolfowitz and lack of contingency planning; Tommy Franks; difficulties of fedayeen; did a chance of success exist?)

3. Difficulties of Nation-Building (Garner, Franks, and start of insurgency; Garner/Bremer dispute and De-Baathification; Bremer qualifications; Moqtadr al-Sadr, Abu Ghraib: who’s in charge?; gap between abstraction and policy outcomes)

4. War on the Home Front (anti-European sentiment; superficial regional knowledge; Rove and domestic politics: “mission accomplished” banner; Democratic divisions—Dean vs. Kerry; Plame leak and calls for special prosecutor; administration response; response of the press; Iraq and 2004 elections; failed search for WMD’s)

5. Beyond Iraq (Iran: from Axis of Evil speech to confrontation over nuclear weapons; Saudi Arabia: limits of friendship?; Israel: U.S. and the Lebanon war; road to Annapolis; Syria: congressional engagement—Pelosi, Specter—vs. administration stand-offishness; Turkey: containing the Kurds and Islamist movement; Egypt: foreign aid and leverage; Afghanistan: limits of U.S. leverage?; fringes of region—Pakistan, Somalia; cultural diplomacy: lessons of Al-Jazeera)

April 30 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

Road to 9/11

April 30, 2008

I. Clinton and the Middle East

1. Inheriting Bush Difficulties (foreign policy and the 1992 campaign; ineffective early advisors; Somalia, Bosnia, 1994)

2. Terrorism (first WTC bombing: State/DOD, Reno, Clarke, road to Khobar Towers)

3. Taliban & Al Qaeda (US and Afghan civil war; Saudis, Pakistanis, and UNOCAL; second-term distractions: Starr, Kosovo, Pakistani issues)

II. 2000

1. Clinton’s Struggles (domestic context: Starr inquiry, movement toward impeachment, partisan polarization; international context: Kosovo conflict and constitutional showdown, Pakistani issues, terrorism)

2. Administration Divisions (Taliban as potential allies against bin Laden, or clear enemies [Richardson/State vs. Clarke]; assassination acceptable [DOD/Clarke/CIA vs. Justice Department]; Taliban as ideological or strategic enemies [Hillary vs. Clarke]; problem overstated? fizzling of Millennium threats, then USS Cole—Yemeni port scheme, futility of Clinton response, US as “paper tiger”?)

3. Arab-Israeli Peace Process (Oslo and U.S. disengagement; Rabin assassination and emergence of Netanyahu; Clinton, Netanyahu, and the Palestinians; Barak and re-engagement—legacy issue; U.S. and Syria; failure at Camp David; blame game)

4. Election (terrorism and campaign: Bush and Rice, strong hostility to “nation-building”; Republican right—1990s literature on missile shields, North Korea, evil states—looking backwards; neocon arguments on democracy; Gore—difficulties with Clinton, Reno and Elian Gonzalez affair, downplay foreign policy?)

III. 9/11 and Beyond

1. Early Bush (foreign policy team—weakness of Powell, role of Rice, Rumsfeld death watch?—former cheney aide—Career Pentagon officials "fear they're shackled to incompetence”—talk of libs saving Rumsfeld, retaining Tenet; Clarke and bureaucratic battles; warnings from the field—Arizona, Minnesota; weaknesses in airport security—airline industry, consumer groups, fear of federal power; PDB; path to attacks)

2. International Response (Bush/Rumsfeld, Clarke, and Saddam?; significance of Tenet; NATO and international support; U.S. and Northern Alliance; revising Musharraf relationship; decision for war; ousting the Taliban, bolstering Karzai; Guantánamo and constitutional theories; failure to capture bin Laden)

3. Domestic Response (Patriot Act and civil liberties; Yoo and unitary executive theory; Lieberman and Homeland Security Department; Rove and political issues—Chambliss/Cleland race)

April 28 Notes

Bill Clinton & Middle Eastern Affairs

April 28, 2008

I. The First Gulf War

1. The Middle East in the New World Order (Gorbachev and crumbling of Soviet bloc; Gorbachev foreign policy; Bush and world affairs; NSD 26)

2. Run-up to the War (1989-1990 congressional pressure; international significance: Saudis, Kuwaitis, British; Bush, Baker, and coalition: USSR, PRC, Arab states, UN)

3. War & Aftermath (constitutional debate; military strategy; collapse of Iraqi forces; postwar structure; missed opportunity?)

II. From Bush to Clinton

1. 1992 Campaign (domestic focus: budget deal, economic downturn, “Year of the Woman”: Thomas/Hill hearings, abortion; scandal and reform: House bank scandal, term-limits movement, Clinton scandal, Perot—withdrawal and re-entry; foreign policy and the decline of Afghanistan; Clinton victory)

2. Inheriting Bush Difficulties (foreign policy team—Christopher, Aspin, Lake: Carter retreads?; national security difficulties—CIA and Woolsey; DADT and military; Somalia—from humanitarian to mission creep, withdrawal; Bosnia and opening to Muslim world?: tensions with NATO allies, congressional pressure—McCloskey, Dole, road to Dayton; early team struggles—Hillary, Whitewater, path to Starr, 1994 elections)

III. The Clinton Agenda

1. Arab-Israeli Peace Process (Oslo and U.S. disengagement; Rabin assassination and emergence of Netanyahu; Clinton, Netanyahu, and the Palestinians; Barak and re-engagement—legacy issue; U.S. and Syria; failure at Camp David; blame game)

2. Terrorism (first WTC bombing: improper frameworks? State-sponsored terrorism—Libya, Iran; law enforcement—legacy of 1960s, COINTELPRO, Watergate and concerns with domestic spying, Gorelick memo; Clarke and Counter-Terrorism Committee (“think globally, act globally”)—calls for focus on “ad hoc terrorists”; Yousef arrest and uncovering of airport plots; diplomatic reluctance to challenge Saudi Arabia—Khobar Towers)

3. The Taliban (Afghan civil war—State, DOD, CIA disinterest; emergence of Mullah Omar; Saudi and Pakistani roles; oil UNOCAL and desire for stability)

4. Second-Term Struggles (domestic context: Starr inquiry, movement toward impeachment, partisan polarization; international context: Kosovo conflict and constitutional showdown, Pakistani issues—nuclear weapons, restoration of democracy; terrorism—East African attacks; administration divisions: Clinton desire to do something; Hillary and international feminism; State Department and “engagement”; DOD and Mullah Omar’s 53 stingers; Richardson and diplomatic opening; CIA and anti-Taliban covert op; Clarke and targeting of Bin Laden; Reno and opposition to assassination; problem overstated?: fizzling of Millennium threats, then USS Cole)

April 30: Lecture: Road to 9/11 May 5: Lecture: Afghanistan & Iraq

May 7: no class—college holiday May 12: Lecture: Looking Back

May 14: Presentation: Syria/Lebanon May 19: Presentation: S. Arabia & Gulf States

May 21: Presentation: Israel May 26: Presentation: Pakistan

May 28: no class (I have a talk at Western Galilee)

June 2: Presentation: Egypt & North Africa June 4: Presentation: Iran

April 9 Notes

U.S. and the Middle East

The First President Bush

April 9, 2008

I. Reagan and Southwest Asia

1. The Iran-Iraq War (from CENTCOM to pro-Saddam tilt; the Tanker War and reflagging decision; US and Gulf States)

2. Casey & Wilson (Reagan and cult of covert operations; Wilson and ability to maneuver Congress)

3. Victory and Its Effects (CIA/Saudi/ISI alliance; significance of stingers; missed opportunities?)

II. The End of the Cold War and the Revival of Middle East Tensions

1. The Cold War Ends (Gorbachev and crumbling of Soviet bloc—perestroika, glasnost; Eastern bloc strategies of survival; economics, Solidarity, and Poland; Hungary and DDR; collapse of East Germany and reunification; importance of the Baltic States and emergence of Yeltsin; dissolution of USSR)

2. The Middle East in the New World Order (Gorbachev foreign policy; PRC and Tiananmen; Saddam after the Iraq war; Bush background—political difficulties, Panama invasion; Bush and Shamir; NSD 26; Bush and the Saudis; Khomeini’s death and Iran’s turn inward)

3. Afghanistan in the New World Order (media role; Wilson and continued push for aid; ISI and Kashmir; Najibullah and desire for national unity government—Bush, Wilson, Pakistan rejection; Bush I: bureaucratic divisions, global distractions; what could US have done differently?—question of leverage)

III. The Gulf War

1. Run-up to the Invasion (Iraq and NSD 26; Congress: Dole, Simpson, and aid, Metzenbaum and human rights, Gonzales, Kerry, and BNL; Justice Department; Kuwait dispute: diplomatic failure?, trusting Saudis; US intelligence failure?)

2. Run-up to the War (Bush, Thatcher, and decision to protest; significance of Saudis; Kuwaitis and U.S. public opinion; Bush and international coalition—role of Arab states; role of UN—significance of Shevardnadze, realism and the relationship with PRC, path to UN 678)

3. Domestic Matters (domestic difficulties: Bush, taxes, and 1988 campaign; deficit, interest rate, and economic slowdown; Darman and budget deal; emergence of Gingrich; Bush and Mitchell: congressional Democrats and post-Cold War world; 1990 elections; Bush and UN argument; congressional pressure; Senate debate; Baker-Aziz meeting)

4. War & Aftermath (decision for war and operation of coalition military strategies—air campaign, effect of Vietnam; diplomatic strategies—importance of Israel, Scuds and Palestinians; media and the war—CNN, Scud Stud; invasion and Powell Doctrine; no-fly zones and Bush response; UN sanctions and WMDs)

April 2 Notes

The Reagan Agenda

April 2, 2008

I. The Carter Years
1. Carter and the Middle East Peace Process (Sadat and Begin; nature of settlement; limited political benefits)

2. The Iranian Revolution (US intelligence failure; death of regime; hostages and “rescue mission”; crisis and its effects)

3. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (Brezhnev Doctrine and invasion; origins of mujahadin)

II. Documents of U.S. Foreign Policy

1. FRUS (Seward and government openness; development of 30-year rule; post-WWII bureaucratization and State Dept. Historian’s Office; pre-1961: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/; post-1961: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/)

2. Other Sources (FDR and development of presidential library system; Watergate and presidential papers; FOIA and foreign policy; National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/)

3. Approaches to Field (journalists and independent scholars; diplomatic history; theory, public policy, and political science)

III. Reagan and the Middle East

1. The Reagan Team (election of 1980 and altered American political culture; growth of defense budget; importance of William Casey, Haig, Kirkpatrick; nomination of Lefever; Weinberger; increasing importance of NSC)

2. AWACS (Big Oil and Saudi alliance; altered strategic situation—Iran/Iraq war; Yemen, Ethiopia, Sadat assassination; Reagan and confronting Congress; Israel Lobby and House rejection; significance of Jepsen; final Senate vote)

IV. Iran-Contra

1. Lebanon and Iran (Reagan and international terrorism; Israeli invasion of Lebanon; US troops to Lebanon: War Powers Act and Hezbollah terrorist attack; hostages and US response; search for the Iran “moderates”; role of NSC; diversion of funds to contras)

2. The Scandal Breaks (Hasenfus and crash; from Lebanon to Washington; Meese investigation; Tower Committee; what was Reagan’s role? Bush’s; Inouye Committee and North as GOP folk hero)

Year	Defense budget	Year	Defense budget
1977	$97.2B	1979	$116.3B
1980	$134.0B	1981	$157.5B
1982	$185.3B	1983	$209.9B
1984	$227.4B	1985	$252.8B