Events Detail

The Hudson Institute Center for Middle East Policy

held a foreign policy discussion and luncheon on

Iran, Hezballah, and Hamas:

Tehran's War against the West by Proxy?

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

9:00 am – 3:30 pm

         Bar, Wurmser, and Kramer

    Fradkin, Schanzer, Bachar, Levitt

                     Michael Oren

Transcript Available Here

Since revelations of Iran's nuclear intentions became public in 2002, the U.S. and its allies have remained focused on the question of what a nuclear Iran would mean for the Middle East. Given the monumental concerns derived from the prospect of a nuclear Iran, less attention has been paid to Iran's two key proxies, Hamas and Hezballah. Both terrorist organizations have been instrumental in attempting to destabilize the Levant in the past few years, whether by undermining the democratically elected Lebanese government through violent tactics or by attacking Israel.

The questions that emerge are: How does Iranian backing for these two groups relate to their recent actions in the region? Does it represent a greater Iranian strategy in the Levant? What do Iran, Hezballah, and Hamas ultimately hope to achieve? Can Hamas or Hezballah be expected to become moderate by coming to power?

To address these and related questions, Hudson Institute's Center for Middle East Policy, directed by Meyrav Wurmser, hosted a conference featuring a series of panel discussions.

First panel:

"Iranian Ideology and Strategic Ambitions"

9:00 am – 10:30 am

Moderator: Meyrav Wurmser, Director, Center for Middle East Policy, Hudson Institute. Discussants included Shmuel Bar, Director of Studies, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya; and Martin Kramer, Scholar, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Shalem Center, and Harvard University's Olin Institute

Second panel:

"Hezballah and Iran: Destabilizing Lebanon and Israel"

10:45 am – 12:15 pm

Moderator: David Schenker, Director, Program on Arab Politics, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (invited). Discussants included Tony Badran, Research Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Gilad Danenberg, Research Fellow, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya; and Hussain Abdul Hussain, Washington Correspondent, Al Rai Newspaper (Kuwait)

12:15 pm – Lunch

Third panel:

"Iran, Hamas, and the Palestinians"

12:30 pm – 2:00 pm

Moderator: Hillel Fradkin, Director, Hudson Institute's Center for Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World. Panelists included Jonathan Schanzer, Director of Policy, Jewish Policy Center; Shmuel Bachar, Research Fellow, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya; Matthew Levitt, Senior Fellow and Director, The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence

Final discussion:

"The Iranian Threat in the Levant: An Israeli Perspective"

2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Discussant: Michael Oren, Visiting Professor, Georgetown University

The Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Room

Hudson Institute

1015 15th St., NW

6th floor

Washington, DC 20005