The Middle East Political and Economic Institute (MEPEI), the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Romania, and the EURISC Foundation, in partnership with the Institute for Political and International Studies (MoFA, Iran), the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies (Tehran, Iran) and the Chamber of Commercial Diplomacy with Iran (Bucharest) organized the International Conference “The New Geopolitical Environment in the Middle East: between Fighting Terrorism and the Future of the Region” (The Fourth Forum), in Bucharest, Romania on Thursday, the 5^th of July 2018, hours 08:30 – 17:30, at Ronda Conference Hall (1^st Floor) of InterContinental Bucharest Hotel (4 Nicolae Bălcescu Blvd / University Square).

We organize this event with a view to address salient international affairs. The Middle East has never been a simple place, holding its special standing in international geopolitics, which is characterized by the complexity of the security milieu and strategic energy resources. The region has been confronted with significant challenges over the last years, subsequent to the strengthening of terrorist groups’ operational methods, posing more challenges than ever in an already volatile environment.

Threats nowadays are not isolated, given the current transnational context, thus the purpose of this Conference is to promote an approach that highlights commitment to the fight against all forms of violence, including its extreme version, namely terrorism. In addressing this complex issue, we should focus on four main pillars: prevent, protect, pursue, and respond. In addition, a complete strategy recognizes the importance of cooperation with third countries and international institutions. The in-depth analysis offered by the experts attending the Conference enables us to study a vicious phenomenon and deliver perspective solutions for the future if the region. Moreover, the Forum is envisaged as an occasion to benefit from the expertise of government representatives, renowned analysts, and scholars from different countries, who are all directly engaged with the matter.

The conference keynote speakers are experts in counter-terrorism, international relations, energy security, international affairs, critical protection infrastructure, and crisis management from Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Italy, Romania, Russian Federation, Syria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Türkiye.

We welcome representatives of the accredited diplomatic missions in Romania, officials of the Romanian public institutions, NGOs, academia (students and professors), think-tanks (researchers and analysts), business persons, and mass-media to the event.

If you are interested to participate in this event, please kindly respond for participation before the 4^th of July 2018, 18:00 at the e-mail address: office@mepei.com

The Draft Program is presented below:

 

DRAFT PROGRAM

The New Geopolitical Environment in the Middle East:

Between Fighting Terrorism and the Future of the Region

Thursday, 5 July 2018

08:30 – 09:30 Registration of the Participants and Welcome Coffee

09:30 – 09:50 Official Opening Session

– Representative of the Parliament;

– Representative of the Government / MFA

– Representatives of the Organizers

09:50 – 10:50 Plenary Session;

10:30 – 12:00 Session I: Great Powers, Regional Powers, and International Organizations

12:00 – 12:30 Coffee Break

12:30 – 14:00 Session II: Evolutions in Fighting Terrorism and the Future of the Region

14:00 – 15:00 Lunch on the Conference Venue

15:00 – 16:30 Session III: Middle East and European Union / Romanian Presidency of the European Council

16:30 – 17:00 Coffee Break

17:00 – 17:30 Conclusions and Final Remarks

Speakers

A.   The Islamic Republic of Iran

1.  HE Dr. Mostafa ZAHRANI, Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Director-General of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), MFA;

2.  HE Dr. Mohammad Hasan SHEIKHOLESLAMI, Dean, School of International Relations, IPIS; former Advisor to the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament;

3.  HE Dr. Mohammad Reza Raouf SHEIBANI, former Iranian ambassador to Syria (2011 – 2016) and Lebanon, IPIS;

4.  Prof. Kayhan BARZEGAR, Director of the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies, Tehran; Professor at the Islamic Azad University / Tehran, and Fellow Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University;

5.  Prof. Gholamali CHEGNIZADEH, the Allameh Tabatabai University, International and Regional Security Expert at IPIS, Tehran;

6.  Prof. Davood KIANI, the Islamic Azad University, Vice President at the Institute of Iran and Eurasia Studies (IRAS), Tehran;

7.  Prof. Ahmadi BEHZAD, Vice President of the International Studies and Research Institute, Secretary of the Tehran Security Forum, Tehran.

B.   International

1.  Maj. Gen. Abdulaziz Abdullah Al ANSARI, Chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee of Qatar, State of Qatar – TBC;

2.  Prof. Nicola PEDDE, Director of IGS – Institute for Global Studies, Rome, Italy;

3.  Prof. Mohamad TAY, Vice President, the Consultative Center for Studies and Documentation, Beirut, the Lebanese Republic;

4.   Dr. Basam ABOABDOLAH, Head of the Center for Strategic Studies and Adviser to the Syrian Information Minister, the Syrian Arab Republic;

5.  Dr. Alexander SHUMILIN, Institute of Europe, Chief Research Fellow, Head of the Center for the Middle East conflicts, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federation;

6.  Prof. Slah DAWDI, Lecturer at the ISAMM Manouba-Tunis University, the Republic of Tunisia;

7.  Prof. Philipp O. AMOUR, Middle East Institute / Sakarya, Türkiye & visiting Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University/ Istanbul, the Republic of Türkiye;

8.  Prof. Nesrin KENAR, Head of Department of International Relations, Faculty of Political Sciences, Sakarya University, the Republic of Türkiye – TBC;

9.  Dr. Naeem JEENAH, President of the Middle East – Africa Centre, Johannesburg, the Republic of South Africa;

10.  Dr. Hassan Abu TALEB, Strategic Advisor at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and Lecturer at Misr International University, Cairo, the Arab Republic of Egypt;

11.  Prof. Sandro BOLOGNA, President of Italian Association of Critical Protection Infrastructure, Chair of TIEMS International Program Committee, Rome, Italy.

C.   Romania

1.  HE Prof. Emil CONSTANTINESCU, President of Romania 1996-2000, President of the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin;

2.  Mr. Virgil POPESCU, Ph.D., Deputy, the Head of the Romania – Iran Parliamentary Friendship Group, The Parliament of Romania;

3.  Dr. Liviu MUREŞAN, Executive President of the EURISC Foundation, Bucharest;

4.  Mr. Flavius CABA-MARIA, President of MEPEI, Bucharest;

5.  Prof. Adrian POP, Professor in International Relations, The National University of Political Science and Public Administration (NUPSPA), Bucharest;

6.  Mr. Florin LUCA, Secretary-General, the Titulescu European Foundation;

7.  Prof. Ecaterina MAȚOI, Lecturer at the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Department of Basel University, Switzerland and at the National Defense University of Romania;

8.  Prof. Radu MUȘETESCU, Director of International Economic Relations at MEPEI, and Director of the Department for International Economic Relations, University of Economic Studies (ASE), Bucharest;

9.  Dr. Alexandru GEORGESCU, Strategic Analyst, EURISC Foundation, Bucharest;

10.   Mr. Iulian MAREŞ, Strategic Analyst and Senior Researcher at MEPEI, Bucharest.