BEIRUT INSTITUTE SUMMIT IN ABU DHABI CELEBRATES e-POLICY CIRCLES ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
A One-on-One Conversation with HE Barham Salih, President of Iraq,
with Input by HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal and General David Petraeus
Wednesday, May 5th, 2021
10 AM- EST, 2 PM- GMT, 5 PM- Beirut time, 6 PM- Abu Dhabi time
Live on Zoom and Facebook
On Wednesday, May 5th, 2021, 2 PM GMT, Beirut Institute will have the great honor to welcome HE Barham Salih, President of Iraq, at Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi e-Policy Circle 34, in an hour-long conversation hosted by its Founder and Executive Chairman Raghida Dergham, with input by Co-Chair HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal, and General David Petraeus, former Commander of US Central Command and former Director of the CIA.
This Circle, marking the first anniversary of the series, will be dedicated to a constructive and forward-looking discussion with the current president of Iraq.
Started in May 2020, the e-Policy Circles are a run-up to the Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi Edition IV and operate under the same theme: Stability Redefined-Who Authors the Future?
In one year of e-Policy Circles, Beirut Institute is proud to have hosted 118 distinguished policymakers from 32 countries, both currently in office and former officials. Our global geopolitical conversation notably featured two all-women casts.
Our esteemed guests represent a diversity of origins, points of view, and interests. Among them: Commander of the US Central Command General Kenneth F. McKenzie, HRH Prince Hassan Bin Talal, Secretary General of the League of Arab States Ahmad Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Nayef Al Hajraf, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, President of the Asia Society and former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, President of ICRC Peter Maurer, UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of State and Managing Director for the Dubai World Expo 2020 Bid Committee Reem Al Hashimi, Adviser to UAE President and former State Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, Minister of State and UAE Ambassador to the US Youssef Al Otaiba, former Vice-President of Iraq Ayad Allawi, UN and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, US Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President Philip Gordon, US National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, former US Special Representatives for Syria James Jeffrey and Joel Rayburn, former US Special Representatives for Iran Elliott Abrams and Brian Hook, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, former Chiefs of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Sir John Scarlett and Sir John Sawers, former UK National Security Adviser Mark Lyall Grant, former Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Fedorov, Director of Hermitage Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky, Chairman of the Valdai Discusion Club Andrey Bystritskiy, former Chinese ambassador to Ireland Yue Xiao Yong, Master of University College, Oxford, Baroness Valerie Amos, Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen, American economist Nouriel Roubini, and Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki.
Beirut Institute Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Raghida Dergham, stated, “There is no better way to mark the first anniversary of our e-Policy Circles than to host such a distinguished guest as HE President Barham Salih.”
She added, “We plan to carry on with our e-Policy Circles in preparation for Beirut Institute Summit Edition IV in Abu Dhabi, which, should global circumstances allow, may take place this October. We are delighted with the response we have received to the Circles, both on- and offline, and to have created a critical thinking movement impacting global policy. The Beirut Institute family has seamlessly adjusted itself to current global challenges to become most impactful in a virtual setting. Neither the Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi nor the e-Policy Circles would have been possible without the most appreciated support of our host country.”
Co-Chair of Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi, HRH Prince Turki al-Faisal, added, “I join my Co-Chair Raghida Dergham in celebrating the first anniversary of the e-Policy Circles. Born at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Circles have brilliantly succeeded in bringing together leading international policymakers, from heads of states to key global influencers. I am proud to join in for this occasion, and to carry further our geopolitical conversation with such prominent guests as President Salih and Gen. Petraeus, who has been a most loyal friend of Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi.”
On Beirut Institute’s future plans, he said, “Beirut Institute is established as a leading, highly respected, global think tank, with a focus on the Arab region and its relations with the world. Our e-Policy Circles, which welcomed 118 guests, hailing from 32 nationalities, have succeeded in gaining an outstanding reputation in the emerging sphere of webinars, and in fact, spearheading this movement not only regionally but also worldwide, thanks to the strength of the Beirut Institute family.”
Commenting on President Salih’s marking the first anniversary of the e-Policy Circles, General David Petraeus said, “I served four years in Iraq, and I got to know – and came to greatly admire – Dr. Barham Salih, as he served in increasingly important positions in Sulaymaniyah, Baghdad, and Irbil. My admiration has grown even more over the past 2-1/2 years during his tenure as President of Iraq. It will be great to be reunited with him on the (virtual) stage of the Beirut Summit and to hear his insights on how he and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi are seeking to address the many challenges – and to capitalize on the many opportunities – in the Land of the Two Rivers.”
Speakers:
HE President Barham Salih
President of the Republic of Iraq since October 2018. He was formerly Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region and deputy Prime Minister of the Iraqi Federal Government, after serving as Deputy Secretary General of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal
Chairman of the Board King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and Co-Chair of Beirut Institute Summit. He was Saudi Arabia’s Director of the General Intelligence before serving as Ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States.
HE Gen. David Petraeus
Partner, KKR and Chairman, KKR Global Institute. He served as 4th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was also the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and the Commander of United States Central Command.
Dr. Raghida Dergham
Dergham is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut Institute. Columnist for The National and Annahar Al Arabi. She served as Columnist, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, and NY Bureau Chief for the London-based Al-Hayat for 28 years and as a political analyst for MSNBC.
Note to the media:
Please register here to attend the Zoom webinar. You may share this link if you wish to extend this invitation:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Lwrv7_BYQzi6BMzkzVN0EA
This 34th anniversary session of the e-Policy Circles will be on the record and live-streamed on Beirut Institute’s Facebook page on Wednesday, May 5th, at 10 AM- EST, 2 PM- GMT, 5 PM- Beirut time, 6 PM- Abu Dhabi time. It will be recorded and available with Arabic subtitles for viewing at www.beirutinstitute.org and on Beirut Institute’s Youtube channel on Thursday, May 6th.
Please contact us at summit@beirutinstitute.org, or call our communications team on +96170223271 to request quotes from and interviews with HE President Barham Salih, General Petraeus, HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal, and Dr Raghida Dergham.
When quoting participants, kindly refer to the e-Policy Circles of Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi.
Beirut Institute is an independent, non-partisan think tank hosting global events and striving to achieve a sustainable impact on local and global policy. Beirut Institute will continue to hold its e-Policy Circles online, until Edition IV of its Summit.
