AUSTIN, Texas—Egypt’s Consul-General to the U.S., Israel’s Consul-General to the Southwest, the Vatican’s representative to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and Sweden’s Ambassador to the United States are among the participants in a conference to be held Monday (April 12) at The University of Texas at Austin.
Titled “The Middle East in the New Millennium: Diplomatic Perspectives,” the conference is cosponsored by UT Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Office of Graduate Studies. The event, scheduled for 1:15 to 5 p.m. in the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center, is free and open to the public.
The senior diplomats, all of whom have been involved in Middle East peace talks, will share their experiences and opinions on issues facing the Middle East in the 21st century.
Among them is Rolf Ekeus, who before being appointed Swedish Ambassador to the United States in 1997 was executive chairman of the United Nations Special Commission for Iraq, in charge of monitoring Iraq’s disposal of weapons of mass destruction.
Other participants include Ambassador Fouad C. M. Cherif, consul-general of Egypt to the United States; Tzion Evrony, consul-general of Israel to the Southwest and a key figure in the Middle East peace process; Shafeeq Ghabra, director of information at the Kuwait Embassy to the United States; David Jaeger, Vatican representative to Israel and the Palestinian Authority; and U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Dirk Jameson, a retired officer whose military service includes leadership positions in the Gulf War.
Divided into two sessions æ one focusing on the near East and the other on the Gulf region æ the conference will include discussions on Egypt and Israel, the future of the Palestinian Authority, relations of the three faiths, prospects for democratic reform in the Gulf and Middle East and potential military threats in the new millennium.
For more information, contact Professor David Eaton at (512) 471-8972.
