This year’s Intellectual Roundtable was held at Tufts University from Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 through Thursday, February 27th, 2014. The theme was “The Changing Strategic Environment of the Middle East and North Africa and Evolving Civil Military Relations.” The keynote address was given by Dr. Kathleen Hicks, the Senior Vice President at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The conference panels each revolved around a specific issue related to the overall conference theme and featured international government officials, former and current American military and civilian officials, and leading experts in the field of civil-military relations.
Additionally, the Intellectual Roundtable included a simulation that revolved around a potential geo-political crisis in near-future Algeria. Created by the Tufts chapter of ALLIES in conjunction with professional military advisers, the simulation participants were tasked with analyzing the crisis from the prospective of different actors within Algeria. The student participants were divided into four different teams and each team was guided by a professional adviser. The simulation offered an opportunity for the Intellectual Roundtable to apply the knowledge that they have learned at the conference while simultaneously exploring the complex demands of an international emergency.
Read the Tufts Daily’s article on the event here!
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Diplomatic Crisis Simulation Exercise
9:30am-3:00pm
Alumnae Lounge
- The Intellectual Roundtable Simulation is a diplomatic crisis simulation centering around a potential geo-po- litical crisis in Algeria that would have consequences for the stability of the entire MENA region, with concerns for American interests as well. The simulation begins with a joint exercise between the US African Command (AFRICOM) and the Algerian National People’s Army (ANP), in the face of decreasing stability in the country, brought about by the significant inroads of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) into the southern portion of the country. Move 1 revolves around the increased threat of AQIM, which is coming into increased conflict with Algerian security forces, creating both human rights and stability concerns. Students will consider themselves advisors to the National Security Council and will evaluate the dangers to American interests in Algeria and possible strategies to confront them. (RSVP only)
Post Arab Spring Civil-Military Relations in North Africa
4:00pm-5:30pm
Goddard Chapel
- Mr. Ahmed Ali – Senior Analyst on Iraq and Iraq Team Leader, Institute for the Study of War
- Mr. Karim Haggag – Deputy Director, Policy Planning Division, Foreign Ministry, Egypt
- Captain (Retired) Mark Huber – Program Manager, Middle East and Central Asia, Center for Civil Military Relations, Naval Postgraduate School
- Dr. Marina Ottaway – Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center; Co-author, Getting to Pluralism: Political Actors in the Arab World; Co-editor, Yemen on the Brink
Keynote Address: Dr Kathleen Hicks
7:00pm-8:30pm
Cabot Auditorium
- Former Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Policy, US Department of Defense, where she led the development of the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance and the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review; Henry A. Kissinger Chair and Senior Vice President, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Presentation of the ALLIES Joint Research Project 2013 to Turkey
10:00am-10:30am
Alumnae Lounge
Civil Military Collaboration in Security Sector Reform
10:30am-12:00pm
Alumnae Lounge
- Vice Admiral Paul J. Bushong – US Security Coordinator, Israel-Palestinian Authority, Jerusalem
- Colonel Ibrahim El Ghazawi – Egyptian Ministry of the Interior;
- International Fellow, Peace Keeping and Stability Operations Institute, US Army War College
- Colonel (Retired) Anthony Lieto – Professor of Governance Planning, Peace Keeping and Stability Operations Institute, US Army War College
- Dr. Richard Shultz – Professor of International Politics and Director, Security Studies Program, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Israel’s Perspective on the Strategic Environment
3:00pm-3:30pm
Alumnae Lounge
- Brigadier General Rami Ben Efriam – Special Assistant, J5 Commander, Israeli Defense Forces; former Commander, Ramat David AFB
The Impact of Civil Military Relations on Domestic Political Decisions
3:30pm-5:00pm
Alumnae Lounge
- Colonel (Retired) Mike Hess – Former Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID
- Mr. Richard Hoffman – Senior Lecturer and Director, Center for Civil-Military Relations, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School; former Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the Sixth Army
- Ms. Heather Hurlburt – Senior Advisor, National Security Network; former Policy Planning Staff, U.S. Department of State