Image: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Derek Seifert
The MEI-CENTCOM Annual Conference is a flagship event of MEI’s Defense and Security Program
It convenes top CENTCOM leadership and staff as well as some of the world’s leading Middle East scholars and practitioners to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the United States and its regional partners. Unique in the U.S. public policy and think tank communities, this two-day conference features speeches by CENTCOM leaders in addition to multiple policy-relevant panels on a range of strategic, political, military, and economic issues in the region.
2023 Conference
The third MEI-CENTCOM annual conference on May 24 will feature multiple panels as well as a keynote address by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities Mara Karlin at MEI’s headquarters on May 24.
Please note that, except for the public keynote, attendance for the conference is by invitation only, and the sessions will be held under Chatham House Rule.
Agenda
May 24, 2023
8:30 – 9am
Breakfast & Registration
9:00 – 9:10am
Introductory Remarks and Overview
Bilal Y. Saab Senior Fellow and Director, Defense and Security Program, MEI
9:10 – 10:10am
Keynote Address
Dr. Mara KarlinAssistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, US Department of Defense
Bilal Y. Saab (moderator) Senior Fellow and Director, Defense and Security Program, MEI
10:15 – 11:30am
Session I: After Afghanistan, After Ukraine: Lessons for US Middle East Policy
Anne Patterson Kissinger Senior Fellow, Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University
Ellen Laipson Professor and Director of the Center of Security Policy Studies, George Mason University
Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr. Distinguished Senior Fellow on National Security, MEI
Steven A. Cook (moderator)Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars, Council on the Foreign Relations
11:30am – 12pm
Lunch
12 – 1:15pm
Session II: A US China Policy in the Middle East?
Michael K. Nagata Distinguished Senior Fellow on National Security, MEI
Dawn Murphy Associate Professor, National War College
Yun Sun Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program, Stimson Center
Missy Ryan (moderator) Reporter, The Washington Post
1:25 – 2:40pm
Session III: Innovation in US Middle East Security Cooperation
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command
Celeste Ward Gventer President, Defense Security Cooperation University
Katie Crombe Non-Resident Scholar, MEI
Melissa Horvath Non-Resident Senior Fellow, MEI
Eric Schmitt (moderator) Senior Correspondent, New York Times
2:50 – 4:05pm
Session IV: Combating ISIS and Addressing the al-Hol Challenge in Syria
Charles Lister Senior Fellow and Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism Programs, MEI
Mick Mulroy Non-Resident Senior Fellow, MEI
Mona Yacoubian Vice President and Director of Middle East and North Africa Center, USIP
Courtney Kube (moderator) National Security Correspondent, NBC News