As part of its 20th Anniversary event series, Rice University"s Baker Institute, with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, will host the conference "U.S. Engagement on Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and the Crisis in Syria." Scholars and experts from the two institutions will participate in panel discussions and deliver featured addresses on the opportunities and risks for American foreign policy in these critical areas. The conference will conclude with a keynote speech by The Honorable Robert Ford, U.S. ambassador to Syria.
Conference panelists will include Baker Institute fellows and scholars Yair Hirschfeld, Samih Al-Abid and Andrew Bowen, as well as Woodrow Wilson Center Middle East Program experts Aaron David Miller and Robin Wright. Also joining the discussion will be Ambassador Fred Hof, former special representative to Syria, and the editor-in-chief of Asharq Al Awsat, Adel al Toraifi.
Baker Institute founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian will speak on U.S. policy and the "Arab Spring" and moderate the panel discussion on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Miller will give a luncheon address on lessons learned from peacemaking in Israel and Palestine. The Woodrow Wilson Center"s Middle East Program director Haleh Esfandiari will moderate the afternoon panel on Syria.
After the conclusion of the afternoon discussion panel, Ambassador Ford will present his Shell Distinguished Lecture Series address. A reception will follow.
For a full agenda and participant bios, 
download the conference program.