U.S.-Saudi Relations in a World Without Equilibrium

This event featured panel discussions and remarks on the following topics:

• Fixing the Coordinates for Healthy Geo-Political & Geo-Economic Relations Between Saudi Arabia and the United States
• A Forward Projection of What the Saudi-US Relationship Should Look Like and Needs to Achieve
• Economics as a National Security Imperative: Challenges for Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
• America's Geo-Strategic and Geo-Economic Choices and Challenges in the Arabian Gulf and Beyond
• The Neighborhood Through Saudi Arabia's Window - and Other Lenses
• Moving Beyond Veneer and Protocol: A No-Nonsense Agenda For US-Saudi Relations

A full agenda and participant list are available below. Video of the keynote address, by the Honorable William J. Burns, can be viewed at right; video and MP3 recordings of the other sessions will be added here as they become available.

Welcoming Remarks

• Steve Clemons
  Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation
• Abdulaziz Al-Fahad
  Chairman, Committee for International Trade, Saudi Chambers of Commerce

Panel I: A Forward Projection of What the Saudi-U.S. Relationship Should Look Like and Needs to Achieve

• The Honorable Chuck Hagel
  Former United States Senator
  Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance, Georgetown University
  Chairman, Atlantic Council of the United States
• HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal
  Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research & Islamic Studies
  Former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States
  Former Director, Saudi Arabia Intelligence Services
• Rita E. Hauser
  Chairperson, International Peace Institute
  Chair, Director's Council, New America Foundation
• The Honorable Zbigniew Brzezinski
  Trustee & Counselor, Center for Strategic & International Studies
  Chair, RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy
  Former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter
  Co-Author, America and the World: Conversations on the Future of US Foreign Policy
• His Excellency Abdullah Alireza
  Minister of Commerce and Industry, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• comments
  Peter Robertson
  Co-Chairman, U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council
  Vice Chairman, Chevron
• moderator
  Steve Clemons
  Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation

Panel II: Economics as a National Security Imperative: Challenges for Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

• His Excellency Ibrahim Al-Assaf
  Minister of Finance, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Heidi Crebo-Rediker
  Chief, International Finance and Economics, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
• Brad Bourland
  Chief Economist, Jadwa Investments
  Former Chief Economist, Samba Financial Group
• His Excellency Muhammad Al-Jasser
  Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
• Flynt Leverett
  Director, Geopolitics of Energy Initiative, New America Foundation
  Former Senior Director for the Middle East, National Security Council
• moderator
  Jane Sasseen
  Washington Bureau Chief, BusinessWeek

Keynote Address: America's Strategic Choices and Challenges in the Middle East

• The Honorable William J. Burns
  Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
  Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia

Panel III: Through Saudi Arabia's Window and Other Lenses: Middle East Dynamics and Stakeholder Challenges

• The Honorable Anne-Marie Slaughter
  Director of Policy Planning, Department of State
  Former Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University
• Neil Crompton
  Counsellor, Foreign and Security Policy Group
• Abdulrahman Al-Saeed
  Director General, Specialized Studies Center-Riyadh
  Advisor to the Royal Court
• The Honorable Wyche Fowler
  Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
  Former United States Senator
• Joseph McMillan
  Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs Department of Defense
• His Excellency Pierre Vimont
  Ambassador of France to the United States
  Former Chief of Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of France
• moderator
  Edward Luce
  Washington Bureau Chief, Financial Times

• Abdulrahman Al-Saeed
  Director General, Specialized Studies Center-Riyadh
  Advisor to the Royal Court
• Steve Clemons
  Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation