The Red Velvet Lawyer

Passionate Voices  Seeking an End to the Suffering Last week, I attended a somewhat chaotic event that showcases the intractability of the conflicts that exist in the Arab Gulf region. The event focused on the Yemeni war.  While some of the speakers briefly mentioned international parties, including the US, in their remarks, the focus remained on the interests of Yemenis.  Speakers also mentioned the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran in the conflict  Their focus may have changed if  Qatar University had hosted the event, just a few days later, after the drone attacks on the Saudi Arabian petroleum facilities on September 14, 2019. The information about the event appears below.  My summary appears after that information.  In summarizing the comments of the speakers and attendees, I suffer from several disabilities.  First, I must rely on the translators because I do not speak Arabic. Second, I have not done any in...

Iran's Islamic Revolution at 40 Regional Cooperation: Prospects and Challenges By Dr. Kamal Kharazi Last night, I attended a lecture sponsored by the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies .  I have attended prior programs offered by the Centre and found them intellectually stimulating.  They always offer points of view I have seldom heard in the West. I have blogged about them in a series of posts beginning here .  The invited guest, Dr. Kamal Kharazi , Chair of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations of Iran, gave a lecture followed by a brief question and answer period at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar.  The moderator introduced Dr. Kharazi as an "insider" to the Iranian Revolution .  That revolution celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2019.  He spoke in English from prepare remarks. Before I start, I want to note that I am working from my notes and apologize in advance if my summary contains any errors or misstatements.  I am h...

Political Stability or a New Wave of Change? On April 28-29, 2018, Al Jazeera held its 12th Forum providing an opportunity for leading scholars and other experts to discuss a variety of topics affecting the Arab world.  The website for the forum,  @aljazeeraform , provides additional information and links to the videos of each session.  You can follow the Twitter coverage at  #AJForum . As I noted in my  first post  in this series, I am working from my notes, so I apologize in advance if I incorrectly paraphrase the remarks of any speaker. I was also reliant on the quality of the translation services and their audibility. Therefore, I am happy to make any needed edits to this summary. For summaries of the other sessions see: Opening Session Session 1: The Gulf Crisis Session 2: Iran and the Gulf Session 3: Change in the Region? Session 4: Changing Alliances in the Arab World Session 5: Palestine and the "Deal of the Century" Session 6...