Princeton University to host panel on Syria Feb. 7

Richard Murphy, former U.S. ambassador to Syria, will speak on the latest developments in Syria at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall, at Princeton University. The event, "Up to the Minute: The Latest Political Developments in Syria," is free and open to the public, and presented by the Workshop on Arab Political Development.

Panelists for the discussion are Marwa Daoudy, visiting research scholar and visiting lecturer in international affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (WWS), and Karam Nachar, a graduate student in history and specialist in Syria. Daniel Kurtzer, lecturer in public and international affairs and S. Daniel Abraham Visiting Professor in Middle East Policy Studies, WWS, and former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Egypt, will serve as moderator.

The event will be followed by a public reception in the Shultz Dining Room.

**Media who would like to attend should RSVP by Feb. 6 to Kathleen Allen at kballen@princeton.edu or 609-258-5978.**

Murphy, appointed as ambassador to Mauritania in 1971 with successive appointments as ambassador to Syria, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs from 1983 to 1989. During that period he was active in the Israeli-Arab peace process. After leaving government service, he was the Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations. Now an independent consultant, he is a frequent commentator for NPR, CNN, BBC, Fox News, Iranian television and al Jazeera, and a contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune and Christian Science Monitor. He is also founding chair and a director of the American Friends of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency and former chair of the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute.

Daoudy is a lecturer in the politics and international relations of the Middle East in the department of politics and international relations and the Middle East Center at the University of Oxford. Her research addresses resource-based conflicts, security, conflict-resolution and political reform, with a focus on the Middle East. In addition to her academic work, Daoudy provides strategic advice to the U.N. Program for Development (UNDP) on Middle East peace negotiations. She is also a consultant in international affairs for multilateral organizations, including the European Commission, International Labor Organization, UNDP and UNESCO, and for the private sector. Daoudy also trains international professionals and diplomats in the field of negotiation theory and practice, water-sharing and security.

Nachar, a Syria specialist who is working with Syrian protesters via social media platforms, is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Princeton, where he is specializing in the modern Middle East.
Kurtzer, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service for 29 years, served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005 and as ambassador to Egypt from 1997 to 2001. Throughout his career, he was instrumental in formulating and executing U.S. policy toward the Middle East peace process. Since leaving government service he has served as an adviser to the Iraq Study Group and as a member of the board of the American University in Cairo.

Amaney Jamal, associate professor of politics, is the director of the Workshop on Arab Political Development. The panel is cosponsored with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; the Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia; and the Department of and Program in Near Eastern Studies.

For more information contact Kathleen Allen at kballen@princeton.edu or 609-258-5978.