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EventsPast EventsSome of our past events include: JPC Senior Director Bryen Addresses Variety of Audiences December 5, 2012 at 12:20 pm JPC Senior Director Shoshana Bryen addressed varied audiences in November and December, focusing attention on Iran, Syria, the implications of the Arab revolution and the need for carefully calibrated U.S. policy to help America's friends and thwart its adversaries. Jewish Council for Public Affairs – NY At a meeting of the JCPA Board of Governors, Bryen shared a panel with Tamara Wittes of the Brookings Institution to address the foreign policy issues that will face the president and the country in 2013. Bryen focused her remarks on the nature of America's primary adversaries – Iran, al Qaeda and China – across dimensions of time and space. Beginning with the observation that the United States has ceased to use the military as a blunt instrument, she explained that the U.S. military has become an element of American diplomacy designed to change minds and/or behavior. The door is always open for negotiation, including to the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood. The civilian population has become the object of intense and expensive American courtship. Adversaries of the U.S. and the West do not see themselves limited by time or territory, though they have more of both than we do and they do not see defeat in either sphere as definitive. Sometimes losing a war is just prelude to the next war, something with which Israel has become familiar. Read more by Shoshana Bryen on this subject: http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/3505/changing-the-battlefield Atlanta RJC Bryen addressed a meeting of the Atlanta Chapter of the RJC in November, shortly after the election. The topic was "Threats from the Arab Revolution," focused on the increasingly dictatorial government of Mohammed Morsi in Egypt, the increase in Hamas rocket activity, and role of Iran. Read more by Shoshana Bryen on Egypt: http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/3348/us-security-interests-in-egypt and http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/3309/egypt-fully-remilitarizing-sinai-with-us-help Jewish Federation General Assembly – Baltimore Sharing a panel on Iran sanctions with Ambassador Baruch Binah of the Israeli Embassy and Ambassador Stuart Eisenstadt, Bryen made the case that there is no track record of countries altering their behavior because of international sanctions. Instead, Western sanctions inevitably fall most heavily on the people who lack political protection – civilians rather than their governments. In Iraq, North Korea and Cuba, civilians paid heavily for Western sanctions, but in no case did the government change its international behavior. Iran has passed the point where even effective sanctions could stop its acquisition of nuclear-related technology, and the increased sanctions currently proposed by the U.S. and its international partners are more along the lines of punishment for the civilian population. Furthermore, estimates are that Iran still has enough in reserves to remain solvent until mid-2014; well after Tehran could cross Prime Minister Netanyahu's "red line." According to sanctions authority Mark Dubowitz, even if Iran's petroleum exports decline from 2.5 million barrels a day in 2012 to 1 million barrels a day next year, the government would still accrue about $37 billion in revenue. Read more by Shoshana Bryen on this subject: http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/3542/what-to-do-with-sanctions Restoration Weekend – Palm Beach, FL At Restoration Weekend, a conservative gathering sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Bryen moderated a panel entitled, "Middle East Winter: The Muslim Brotherhood Takes Over." Joined by Professor Daniel Pipes, Daniel Doron and Andrew McCarthy, she opened the panel by addressing the American propensity to find something familiar when faced with massive change. In the case of the Arab upheaval, an unfortunate analogy was made to the Prague Spring and the relatively peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Empire and communism. The Middle East, however, is experiencing something different – the pulling apart of the boundaries and societies stitched together primarily by the French and British Colonial Offices in the aftermath of World War I. This experience itself was preceded by thousands of years of occupation and colonial rule by Ottomans, Crusaders, Byzantines, Romans, etc. The two years spent trying to fit the Arab experience into the European model were wasted in terms of arriving at policies that could help in a transition to more modern governance in the region and enhanced the role of the Moslem Brotherhood and other religiously based group. Center for Security Policy – Washington, DC In a meeting on Capitol Hill, Bryen discussed both the impetus for Israel's attack on Gaza and the reasons the Israeli government chose not to engage in a ground war there. Operation Pillar of Defense was not only retaliation for Hamas rocket fire. The attack was a response to the discovery that Hamas had acquired perhaps 100 Iranian Fajr-5 rockets. These are the same type of rockets destroyed in a Sudanese weapons factory in October, and their presence in Gaza was unacceptable to Israel. Hamas tried desperately to lure Israeli troops into Gaza. But Israel, having limited objectives in Gaza, was able to successfully carry them out without taking the bait. Israel, in the meantime, took measured steps to protect its people and eliminate the next threat. It conducted an almost flawless mobilization nearly ten times greater than the troubled one during the 2006 Hezbollah war. It successfully tested the most advanced anti-missile system in the world. It showed the limitations of Egyptian and Hezbollah support for Hamas and the limitations of Iranian "help" as well. Without subjecting the IDF to a ground invasion of Gaza. Read more by Shoshana Bryen on this subject: http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/3711/because-they-could Bryen on Panel at RJC Leadership Meeting October 13, 2012 at 11:23 am JPC Senior Director Shoshana Bryen participated in a panel with Middle East analysts Lee Smith and Danielle Pletka during the RJC Leadership Meeting in Washington on 13 October. Smith, author of the book The Strong Horse and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, described the evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood across the region, including its role in the Syrian uprising. Pletka, vice-president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, offered policy prescriptions for Western diplomacy in the region. Shoshana focused on the nature of America's adversaries across time and across space, concluding that the U.S. is ill-placed to defend itself, its allies and its interests in the region. Corruption, Money, Sex, and Humiliation: The "Arab Spring" in Four Words May 22, 2012 at 7:00 pm JPC Senior Director Shoshana Bryen spoke to an RJC meeting in Skokie, Illinois on the subject of The Arab Revolution in Four Words: Corruption, Money, Sex, and Humiliation. Her presentation included a discussion on the roots of the Arab revolutions, why Islamist regimes are replacing dictators throughout the region, and what diplomatic relations the United States should pursue with these new regimes. She credited the beginnings of the Arab revolutions to "the rise of educated and ambitious young people". On why the voters in the Middle East are replacing their old despotic rulers with new, religious ones, she said, "The best organized groups… are Islamist. The people face the likelihood of radical Islamist government—whether they want it or not—because free elections favor the organized". On what course of action the United States should take against the Islamist governments, she recommended, "To ensure that those governments know we don't approve of what they do…they should be treated like we treated the Soviet Union—as an abhorrent system of governance—and we should publicize and work to ameliorate the condition of the people. During the Cold War, we were good at the distinction between the people and their government. 'Making nice' to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas tells the people, 'We are interested in your leaders regardless of what they do to you.'" The Arab Upheaval: Spring or Winter for America and Israel? October 30, 2011 at 7:00 pm Moderator: Michael Medved 9/11 A Decade Later: Lessons Learned and Future Challenges September 8, 2011 at 8:00 pm Moderator: Michael Medved Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer convened for a JPC panel in commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The panelists discussed their experiences on September 11, 2001, their perspectives on terrorism, and their perceptions of the Bush and Obama administrations' approach to the war on terror and diplomatic relations with the Middle East. According to Rumsfeld, "The president made a conscious decision [after the attacks] that the task was really not to retaliate—it wasn't to punish—it was to protect the American people…[by] put[ting] pressure on terrorists on a sustained basis". On the current White House's counterterrorism efforts, Fleischer noted that President Obama has "continued many of the very tough anti-terrorist tactics that George Bush put into place that he criticized Bush during the campaign for." To those who decry the U.S. as meddlers, Mukasey said, "We are first at the scene of every emergency, every natural disaster, without expecting any thanks—which is a good thing because we don't get any. The only territory we've conquered in any of those escapades has been the gravesites necessary to bury American troops who died in protecting freedom." Securing America's Future September 26, 2010 at 7:30 pm Moderator: Michael Medved Freedom Center president David Horowitz, Foundation for Defense of Democracies president Cliff May, and columnist and author Mona Charen convened for a JPC panel in Beverly Hills to discuss the topic, "Securing America's Future." The conversation touched upon the Islamist war on Western civilization, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and President Obama's domestic policies, among other issues. May implied that the U.S. could secure its future by reducing its dependence on oil: "Why is there so much power in Saudi Arabia and Iran? Because of oil…so long as we're addicted to oil and so long as they have most of it in the world we are in a difficult situation." On Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Horowitz said, "The Palestinians want to destroy the State of Israel and to push the Jews into the sea…the only way there is going to be peace in the Middle East is if Israel and the United States will stand down the Palestinians." On the Obama administration, Charen noted, "We have witnessed over the last 18 months an experiment with unrestrained liberalism, with the Left-wing of the Democratic Party being able to enact its wish list [including] more spending…more government programs, [and] nationalized health insurance." President Obama's Approach to the Middle East May 16, 2010 at 7:00 pm Moderator: Michael Medved The Jewish Policy Center hosted a Dallas forum moderated by radio talk show host and best-selling author Michael Medved. The panel discussion featured author John Podhoretz, Middle East Forum Director Daniel Pipes, and former Bush speechwriter David Frum. They discussed the Obama administration's policies toward Israel including what they each concluded was a misguided focus on Israeli settlements. "[The President] has a deep and very serious animus toward the State of Israel," said Mr. Podhoretz. On the settlements, Mr. Medved poignantly said, "When we have a President of the United States who is more worried about Jews building apartments in Jerusalem than he is about Islamic fanatics building nukes in Tehran, we have a problem." The speech also covered the crisis with the Islamic Republic of Iran. On the threat of a nuclear Iran, Mr. Podhoretz contended, "95% of the populace of Israel believes that Iran poses an existential threat…the development of a nuclear bomb could lead to strikes on Israel that could kill anywhere between 50,000 and one million people." Mr. Frum added, "The American people regard this as an unacceptable threat to Israel." Radical Islam and Rogue Regimes: Security Challenges for America and Israel October 25, 2009 at 7:30 pm Moderator: Michael Medved Foundation for Defense of Democracies president, Cliff May, Former Undersecretary of Defense for George W. Bush, Douglas Feith, and former advisor to President Ronald Reagan, Michael Ledeen, convened for a JPC panel in Atlanta titled "Radical Islam and Rogue Regimes: Security Challenges for America and Israel". The panelists discussed the Iranian nuclear program and the War on Terror's ramifications for America and Israel. On the prospect of Iran building an atomic bomb, Feith said, "As dangerous as it would be for Iran to have nuclear weapons, it's possible that the worst consequence is not anything that they themselves would do. It is the fact that this would trigger thoughts in Egypt, in Saudi Arabia, [and] Turkey that we have reached a tipping point in proliferation." According to Leeden, "Iran doesn't need nukes to kill Americans. Iran is doing just fine with roadside bombs and bullets. They are killing Americans every day in Iraq and Afghanistan." On Israel's role in the War on Terror, May said, "Israel is on the front lines in a war on militant Islamism [and] is an island of Western values surrounded by Islamic regimes, which would like to see it wiped off the face of the earth… We will not have peace on the Israeli front until we have peace more generally, until the militant Islamist threat is overcome." Bursting Bubbles, Bail-Outs, and Bounce-Backs: Prospects For An Economic Recovery June 14, 2009 at 7:00 pm Moderator: Michael Medved From Iran Aggression to U.S. Recession: The Challenges Ahead October 26, 2008 Moderator: Michael Medved From Iran Aggression to U.S. Recession: The Challenges Ahead October 12, 2008 at 7:00 pm Moderator: Michael Medved From Iran Aggression to U.S. Recession: The Challenges Ahead September 21, 2008 at 7:00 pm Moderator: Michael Medved Panel with Mona Charen, Cliff May, and John Podhoretz September 15, 2008 Moderator: Michael Medved American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Dangerous Times in a Dangerous Neighborhood December 9, 2007 Moderator: Michael Medved American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Dangerous Times in a Dangerous Neighborhood November 11, 2007 Moderator: Michael Medved The Fight Against Radical Islam and the New Anti-Semitism on Campus September 19, 2007 Moderator: Michael Medved Liberal Roots, Conservative Solutions December 11, 2005 Moderator: Michael Medved Liberal Roots, Conservative Solutions September 11, 2005 Moderator: Michael Medved Forum with Daniel Pipes, David Frum, Mona Charen September 12, 2004 Moderator: Michael Medved John Podhoretz and Michael Ledeen speak April 24, 2004 Moderator: Michael Medved Book Event with John Podhoretz February 29, 2004 Forum with Daniel Pipes, John Podhoretz, Larry Miller November 16, 2003 Moderator: Michael Medved Liberal Roots, Conservative Solutions December 8, 2002 Moderator: Michael Medved Forum with Daniel Pipes, David Brooks, Murray Friedman, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Johnathan Tobin May 21, 2000 Moderator: Michael Medved Panel with Ruth Wisse, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Don Feder January 24, 1999 Moderator: Michael Medved Panel with Dennis Prager, David Horowitz, Barry Farber, Rabbi Daniel Lapin September 28, 1997 Moderator: Michael Medved Jews: Liberal Roots and Conservative Solutions: A Jewish, Conservative View of The Issues Facing America October 28, 1996 Moderator: Michael Medved Sign up to receive JPC updates, including recent published work by JPC scholars, links to online inFocus articles, and forthcoming events. |
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