Ideology, Religion, and the Prospects for Peace

March 3-4, 2011

RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA

Thursday March 3

12:30-1:30: Arrival and lunch

1:30-1:45: Welcoming remarks: Dalia Rabin, Rabin Center and Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

1:45-3:15: The political landscape of Israel’s nationalist right

Speakers:

Uzi Landau, Member of Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and Minister of National Infrastructure

Moshe Arens, Former Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Aluf Benn, Ha’aretz

Moderator:

Sharon Baradaran, Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation

3:15-3:30: Break

3:30-5:00: Israeli religious and settler voices: Is compromise possible?

Speakers:

Nicolas Pelham, The Economist

R. Meir Soloveichik, Shalem Center

Moderator:

Gidi Grinstein, Founder and President of the Reut Institute

6:30: Cocktails and Dinner (Brentwood, CA)

Friday, March 4

8:30-9:00: Breakfast

9:00-10:30: Hamas: understanding its beliefs and politics

Speakers:

Khaled Hroub, University of Cambridge

Nathan Brown, George Washington University

Taghreed el-Khodary, Journalist and visiting fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Moderator:

Brian Katulis, Center for American Progress

10:30-10:45: Coffee Break

10:45-12:15: Hizballah: a nationalist, religious or ideological agenda?

Speakers:

Rob Malley, Program Director for North Africa and the Middle East, The International Crisis Group

Nicholas Blanford, Journalist based in Beirut

Moderator:

Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND Corporation

12:15-1:15: Lunch and concluding remarks

Nachum Braverman, Academic Exchange
Charles Kupchan, Council on Foreign Relations/Georgetown University