Webinar — Old Conflict, New Frameworks, Evolving Discourses: The Future of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 30 Years After Madrid

November 2021 marked 30 years since the Madrid Peace Conference, the culmination of diplomacy catalyzed by President George H. W. Bush and Secretary James A. Baker, III, announcing that “the time has come to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.” What in 1991 was a motivating force for that multilateral effort — the destabilizing impacts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — appeared in 2021 to be less central to regional politics, amid evolving Middle East relations and international focus on other, more pressing matters of national and regional security.

But while regional relations have changed, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict persists amid trends that bode ill for its resolution, suggesting a challenging road ahead for the interests of all stakeholders. In this context, the once-dominant two-state discourse — an ultimate outgrowth of the Madrid peace talks — is being increasingly challenged as new approaches around the fate and future of the conflict and continued occupation are debated.

At this event, a panel of experts reflected on the future of Madrid’s unfinished business in the shadow of triumphs and failed efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. Introductory remarks were delivered by Baker Institute Director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian and Lise Grande, president and CEO of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

This event was co-sponsored by the Baker Institute Center for the Middle East and the U.S. Institute of Peace. Follow @BakerInstitute on Twitter, and join the conversation with #BakerMiddleEast.

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Agenda

9:00 am

Welcome Remarks

The Honorable Edward P. Djerejian
Director, Baker Institute

Lise Grande
President and CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace

9:10 am

Opening Framing: Eroding Possibilities and the Non-Static Status Quo

Moderated by: His Excellency Hesham Youssef, Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace; Former Ambassador of Egypt

Khaled Elgindy
Senior Fellow and Director of Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs, Middle East Institute

Limor Yehuda, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Truman Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

9:45 am

First Responses: Madrid's Lessons for the New Landscape of Israeli-Palestinian Peacemaking

Moderated by: Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, Director, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Program, U.S. Institute of Peace

Samih Al-Abid, Ph.D.
Diana Tamari Sabbagh Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies, Baker Institute

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Ph.D.
Fellow for the Middle East, Baker Institute

The Honorable Daniel C. Kurtzer
Lecturer and S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East Policy Studies, Princeton University; Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt

Gilead Sher
Isaac and Mildred Brochstein Fellow in Middle East Peace and Security in Honor of Yitzhak Rabin, Baker Institute

10:15 am