Join us for a timely webinar on February 25th at 11:00 AM ET to examine the international dimensions of the two‑state solution, featuring Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen (MEI), Alexander Loengarov (KU Leuven), and Amb. Hesham Youssef (European Institute of Peace). Drs. Kurtzer-Ellenbogen and Loengarov recently contributed to The Middle East Journal policy symposium “Whither the Two‑State Solution?” Amb. Youssef, a career diplomat with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, has extensive experience in Arab Israeli negotiations.
The discussion will explore how the two-state solution shapes US, European, and Arab diplomatic strategies toward Israel/Palestine. Speakers will assess the roles of major and regional powers in sustaining prospects for a negotiated settlement and whether new approaches can help break the impasse.
Speaker Biographies
Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen
Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Dr. Alexander Loengarov
Senior Affiliated Fellow, Faculty of Law and Criminology, KU Leuven
Amb. Hesham Youssef
Retired Egyptian Diplomat and Senior Advisor, European Institute of Peace
Dr. Ariel Ahram (Moderator)
Editor, The Middle East Journal Middle East Institute
سير ذاتية مفصلة للمتحدثين
Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen is a Senior Fellow with the Middle East Institute. Prior to joining MEI, she served at the U.S. Institute of Peace for 15 years where she directed its work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. An expert in US diplomatic history in the Middle East, regional conflict dynamics, and civil society peacebuilding efforts, Lucy is a frequent presenter, author and facilitator in a variety of academic, policy, media and dialogue forums. She has worked with the Department of State as an Arabic translator and as a program officer for the Kennedy School of Government’s Middle East Initiative at Harvard University.
Dr. Alexander Loengarov is an international law expert at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium) and Former Official of the European Economic and Social Committee (Brussels, Belgium). At the Free University of Brussels (VUB), he managed the first rounds of an EU-funded academic mobility scheme with Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian partners. Following Middle East developments in Hebrew, Arabic and English on a daily basis, he has published analysis and commentary for The Hill, The National Interest, and The Washington Institute, as well as for a variety of European and Middle Eastern outlets.
Ambassador Hesham Youssef is a Senior Advisor at the European Institute of Peace which he joined in 2024. Previously, he was a career diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt and a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (2019-2024), focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other Middle Eastern conflicts. From 2014-2019, he served as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian, Cultural, and Social Affairs at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Before that, he was a senior official in the Arab League (2001-2014), including roles as Official Spokesman, Chief of Staff to Secretary-General Amre Moussa, and Senior Advisor to Secretary-General Dr. Nabil Elaraby.
Dr. Ariel I. Ahram (Moderator) is the Editor of The Middle East Journal. Dr. Ahram is a professor at Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs. He is the author of several acclaimed books on regional conflict, governance, and security, and he has served as the principal investigator for the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Ending Proxy Wars in the Middle East initiative.
