A Special Conference Hosted by the Center for Middle East Studies at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

The Center for Middle East Studies at the Josef Korbel School or International Studies, University of Denver, is pleased to announce a special two-day conference on the continuing crisis in Syria. To be held Thursday, January 10 and Friday, January 11, at the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies, the conference will bring together scholars, journalists, activists, and policymakers from around the world to explore and discuss the history behind the ongoing conflict, its current contours, national, regional and geopolitical implications, and potential resolutions. The conference is free and open to the public. We hope you can join us!

With the exception of the evening keynote panel at 7:30 PM on Friday, January 11, all conference panels will take place in Ben Cherrington Hall, home to the Josef Korbel School and the Sié Chéou-Kang Center. The keynote panel will take place in the Davis Auditorium in Sturm Hall. Further information on the conference, its schedule, participants, and paper topics can be found at the conference website, www.cmesconference.wordpress.com. For further information about the conference, please visit the Center for Middle East Studies on Facebook. RSVP at MEC@du.edu.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Center for Middle East Studies, the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, and the Conflict Resolution Institute at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, the University of Denver's Department of Religious Studies, and the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.

For additional information about the Center for Middle East Studies (CMES), the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, and the University of Denver, please contact CMES Associate Director, Danny Postel, at dpostel@du.edu or Communications Officer, Douglas Garrison, at doug.garrison@du.edu. CMES staff can also be reached at 303-871-4314.

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Conference Schedule
(subject to modification)

RESOLVING THE CRISIS IN SYRIA
A Conference Exploring the Dynamics of the Conflict,
Key Forces, Possible Solutions, and Future Scenarios

Center for Middle East Studies
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
University of Denver
January 10-11, 2013

Thursday, January 10

OPENING SESSION
"Surviving the Syrian Civil War"
A Roundtable Discussion with Oliver Kaplan on Civil Resistance & Violent Conflict
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM | Arthur N. Gilbert Cyber Café, Ben Cherrington Hall

Friday, January 11

WELCOMING REMARKS – Nader Hashemi
9:15 AM | Sié 150

OPENING REMARKS – Ambassador Christopher R. Hill
9:20 AM | Sié 150

PANEL ONE
Mapping the Syrian Crisis
National, Regional & Geopolitical Dimensions

9:30 AM – 11:30 AM | Sié 150

•    Amb. Christopher R. Hill: Title TBD
•    Joshua Landis: How to Think About the Syrian Endgame: Considering the Turkish, Iraqi, and Lebanese Models
•    Mohammed Ayoob: The Struggle for Syria: The New-Old Cold War in the Middle East
•    Tom Farer: Assad's Crimes and Minimum World Order: Are There Lessons to be Found Amidst the Syrian Ruins?

Discussant/Moderator: Ved Nanda

PANEL TWO
The Assad Regime & the Evolving Dynamics of the Opposition
Who Supports Whom? What Do the Rebels Want?

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Sié 150

•    Stephen Starr: Syria's Societal Cleavages: Who Supports Whom?
•    Thomas Pierret: The Islamization of the Syrian Revolution: Origins and Prospects
•    Radwan Ziadeh: The Syrian Revolution: Why is it Difficult and What Will be its Outcome?

Discussant/Moderator: Erica Chenoweth

PANEL THREE
What Might a Post-Assad Syria Look Like?
Future Scenario Building

3:30 PM - 5:30 PM | Sié 150

•    Molham Aldrobi: Syria's Future: A Muslim Brotherhood Perspective
•    James Gelvin: The Syrian Crisis as History: What the Immediate Past Tells us About the Immediate Future
•    Rafif Jouejati: Beyond Assad: What's Next for Syria?

Discussant/Moderator: Andrea Stanton

EVENING KEYNOTE PANEL
Solving the Syrian Crisis
What Are the Options/Possibilities?

7:30 PM – 9:30 PM | Davis Auditorium (Sturm Hall, 248)

•    Kenneth Roth: What Should We Be Doing?
•    Michael Ignatieff: When Assad Goes, Then What?
•    Richard Falk: Syria: A Tragic Predicament?
•    Rafif Jouejati: Respondent to the Panel

Discussant/Moderator: Nader Hashemi