THE FIFTEENTH BEIRUT EXCHANGE - JANUARY 4-14, 2016
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Application Deadline I: November 20, 2015
Application Deadline II: December 10, 2015
Limited spaces available/Rolling acceptance
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The ten-day Beirut Exchange program rests on two tracks:
Academic - Participants will attend a series of lectures and colloquia led by leading academics and public intellectuals in Lebanon. Topics will include: Recent protest movements in Lebanon; The Arab Uprisings; The Syrian conflict and its regional implications; The Islamic State; The Special Tribunal for Lebanon; The United Nations role in Lebanon and the region; Engaging political Islam; Asymmetrical conflict: The July 2006 Lebanon War; Human Rights in Lebanon and the wider Middle East; Sectarianism and its deployment, as well as a range of other topics.
Dialogue with Leaders - Participants will have the opportunity to meet, listen and engage leading social, political and economic actors from across the spectrum in Lebanon.
NOTE: Due to the current security situation in Lebanon, the Fifteenth Beirut Exchange will generally restrict its meetings in and around Beirut, although at least one trip to the North and one trip to the South is planned.
The ten-day Beirut Exchange program rests on two tracks:
Academic - Participants will attend a series of lectures and colloquia led by leading academics and public intellectuals in Lebanon. Topics will include: Recent protest movements in Lebanon; The Arab Uprisings; The Syrian conflict and its regional implications; The Islamic State; The Special Tribunal for Lebanon; The United Nations role in Lebanon and the region; Engaging political Islam; Asymmetrical conflict: The July 2006 Lebanon War; Human Rights in Lebanon and the wider Middle East; Sectarianism and its deployment, as well as a range of other topics.
Dialogue with Leaders - Participants will have the opportunity to meet, listen and engage leading social, political and economic actors from across the spectrum in Lebanon.
NOTE: Due to the current security situation in Lebanon, the Fifteenth Beirut Exchange will generally restrict its meetings in and around Beirut, although at least one trip to the North and one trip to the South is planned.
The Completed Program of Last January's Beirut Exchange
Monday, January 5
9am - Nicholas Noe, Mideastwire.com
1:30 - Ayman Mhanna, Samir Kassir Foundation
4pm - Omar Nashabe, Consultant for the Defense Counsel at the STL
7pm - Jihad Yazigi, The Syria Report
Tuesday, January 6
9:30am - Karim Makdisi, American University of Beirut
1:30pm - Discussion section
3:30pm - Bashir Saade, Edinburgh University
6pm - Anne Barnard, New York Times
8pm - Nicolas Pouillard, Institut Français du Proche-Orient
Wednesday, January 7
10am - Discussion section
12:30pm - Shadi Karam, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister
2:15pm - Nick Blanford, Times of London/Daily Star
4pm - Ibrahim Moussawi, Al-Manar TV
5:30 - Liz Sly, Washington Post
Thursday, January 8
9am - Alice Arrue, UNIFIL
10:30am - Angelina Eichhorst, EU Delegation to the Lebanese Republic
11:30am - Ahmed Fatfat, Future Movement
1:30pm - The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Staff
7pm - Abdullah Dardari, United Nations/Former VP of Syria
Friday, January 9
9am - Makram Rabah, Georgetown University
11:30pm - Zizette Darkazally, UNRWA
4:30pm - Sami Gemayel, Kataeb
7pm - Mohammad Obeid, Hizbullah
Saturday, January 10
10:30am - Vincent Battle, Former US Ambassador
12pm - Ali Hamdan, AMAL
4pm - Mustapha Alloush, Future Movement
Sunday, January 11
1:30pm- Trip to the South ("Resistance Museum at Mleeta," weather permitting)
5pm - Walid Jumblatt, Progressive Socialist Party
Monday, January 12
10am - Rabih Shibley, AUB
1pm - Alain Aoun, Free Patriotic Movement
2pm - Antoine Zahra, Lebanese Forces
3:30pm - Eli Khoury, Saatchi & Saatchi/Quantum
5pm - Hanin Ghaddar, Now Lebanon
8:30 - Dinner @ Muzzienne Restaurant
Tuesday, January 13
9:30am - Ali Qanso, Lebanese Armed Forces General Directorate
11:30am - Mohammad Afif, Hizbullah
1pm - Nadim Houri, Human Rights Watch
2:30pm - May Akl, Free Patriotic Movement
4:30pm - Becharra Rai, Patriarch of the Maronite Church
7pm - Nadim Gemayel, Kateab
Wednesday, January 14
10am - Ali Fayyad, Hizbullah
11:30am - Mohammad Qabbani, Former Sunni Mufti of Lebanon
Monday, January 5
9am - Nicholas Noe, Mideastwire.com
1:30 - Ayman Mhanna, Samir Kassir Foundation
4pm - Omar Nashabe, Consultant for the Defense Counsel at the STL
7pm - Jihad Yazigi, The Syria Report
Tuesday, January 6
9:30am - Karim Makdisi, American University of Beirut
1:30pm - Discussion section
3:30pm - Bashir Saade, Edinburgh University
6pm - Anne Barnard, New York Times
8pm - Nicolas Pouillard, Institut Français du Proche-Orient
Wednesday, January 7
10am - Discussion section
12:30pm - Shadi Karam, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister
2:15pm - Nick Blanford, Times of London/Daily Star
4pm - Ibrahim Moussawi, Al-Manar TV
5:30 - Liz Sly, Washington Post
Thursday, January 8
9am - Alice Arrue, UNIFIL
10:30am - Angelina Eichhorst, EU Delegation to the Lebanese Republic
11:30am - Ahmed Fatfat, Future Movement
1:30pm - The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Staff
7pm - Abdullah Dardari, United Nations/Former VP of Syria
Friday, January 9
9am - Makram Rabah, Georgetown University
11:30pm - Zizette Darkazally, UNRWA
4:30pm - Sami Gemayel, Kataeb
7pm - Mohammad Obeid, Hizbullah
Saturday, January 10
10:30am - Vincent Battle, Former US Ambassador
12pm - Ali Hamdan, AMAL
4pm - Mustapha Alloush, Future Movement
Sunday, January 11
1:30pm- Trip to the South ("Resistance Museum at Mleeta," weather permitting)
5pm - Walid Jumblatt, Progressive Socialist Party
Monday, January 12
10am - Rabih Shibley, AUB
1pm - Alain Aoun, Free Patriotic Movement
2pm - Antoine Zahra, Lebanese Forces
3:30pm - Eli Khoury, Saatchi & Saatchi/Quantum
5pm - Hanin Ghaddar, Now Lebanon
8:30 - Dinner @ Muzzienne Restaurant
Tuesday, January 13
9:30am - Ali Qanso, Lebanese Armed Forces General Directorate
11:30am - Mohammad Afif, Hizbullah
1pm - Nadim Houri, Human Rights Watch
2:30pm - May Akl, Free Patriotic Movement
4:30pm - Becharra Rai, Patriarch of the Maronite Church
7pm - Nadim Gemayel, Kateab
Wednesday, January 14
10am - Ali Fayyad, Hizbullah
11:30am - Mohammad Qabbani, Former Sunni Mufti of Lebanon
Costs
Tuition - $1200; Partial financial aid is available for those students and individuals that can demonstrate need.
Accommodation - $600; Except for those students already residing in Lebanon, organizers recommend that all participants in the Exchange reside at the conference hotel during the duration of the 10-day program. The hotel, located near Downtown Beirut, is priced at $60 per person/per night, including all taxes and breakfast, for a shared double room (organizers will arrange for sharing). Single rooms are available for $100 per night. Note that organizers can also arrange for less expensive, private housing near to the conference room which will be priced at approximately $40 per person, per night.
Airfare - $400, approximate from the European Union.
At the discretion of the student, tuition is 50% refundable up to three weeks before the program commences. (Airline tickets and accommodation should be purchased with travel insurance.)
REQUEST AN APPLICATION via info@mideastwire.com.
For more information, visit the Beirut Exchange website: www.thebeirutexchange.com
Visit the Facebook page and ask alumni questions.
Visit the Facebook page and ask alumni questions.
About the Exchange
The Exchange is an effort by Mideastwire.com and its partners to promote understanding and academic enrichment through a variety of city-focused conferences in and around the Middle East and North Africa.
During their stay, typically lasting from one to two weeks, students and professionals from around the globe engage directly with some of the leading intellectuals, academics and political leaders in the country - representing a variety of different viewpoints.
The First Exchange was launched in June 2008 in Beirut, Lebanon. Now, seven years on, almost 450 students from 48 different countries have participated, with many going on to work as diplomats in their home countries, for NGOs serving the region and as social entrepreneurs.