Daniel Pipes - Director of the Middle East Forum
Daniel Pipes, a historian, is director of the Middle East Forum.. He received his A.B. (1971) and Ph.D. (1978) from Harvard University. A former official in the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, he has taught at the University of Chicago and Harvard University.
He has written twelve books and his website, www.danielpipes.org/ with a near-complete archive of his writings, has recorded nearly 60 million page visits, making it one of the most accessed internet sources of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. He writes a bi-weekly column for the Jerusalem Post, National Review, Die Welt, and other publications. Two presidents have appointed Mr. Pipes to U.S. government positions.
CBS Sunday Morning says he was "years ahead of the curve in identifying the threat of radical Islam." "Unnoticed by most Westerners," he wrote, for example, in 1995, "war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the United States." The Boston Globe states that "If Pipes's admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a 9/11." The Wall Street Journal calls Mr. Pipes "an authoritative commentator on the Middle East" and the Washington Post deems him "perhaps the most prominent U.S. scholar on radical Islam."
Ron Wexler - Heritage Study Programs
Ron Wexler heads Heritage Study Programs, an educational travel organization based in Boca Raton, Florida and serves as president of the Ten Commandments Commission, a non-profit that fosters improved understanding between Christians and Jews.
Ron Wexler served in the Israel Defense Force during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. He both attended rabbinical school and has done research on early Christianity, giving him the basis for his work promoting conciliation between Jews and Christians. He has produced programs for the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Government of Israel Tourist Office; in particular, he was responsible for the “Jerusalem 2000” celebration.
Debra Weinstein - Heritage Study Programs
Debra Weinstein has a background in education and a master’s in political science with a specialty in the Middle East. She has worked for the Middle East Forum and the Taube Philanthropies.
Professor Ioannis Th. Mazis
Dr. Ioannis Mazis is a Professor of Geopolitics, and Director of the Laboratory of Geocultural Analyses (Geolab) at Ionian University, Corfu, Greece, since 2002. He is one of the Founders of Ionian University in 1984. Prof. Mazis specialises in Geopolitics of the Middle East and the South Eastern/SE Mediterranean.
He is the author of many books and articles on the Middle East, the Islamist Movement and the water issue in the Middle East, the theory and practice of Geopolitics, and the Secret Islamic Orders in relation to the economic and political Islam in Modern Turkey. He introduced the theoretical geopolitical approach of the Islamist movement. (His name in Greece in now linked to his methods and scholarly approaches).
Other teaching positions include: The School of National Security of the Ministry of Interior; The Hellenic Higher Joint Command War College; The Hellenic National Defence School; The Hellenic Navy War Academy, The Hellenic Air Force Academy, and The NATO School in Oberammergau-Germany.
He has worked with Professors Amikam Nachmani (Bar Ilan Univ./Israel) and David Menashri (Tel Aviv Univ./Israel. The themes included Middle East geopolitical issues, security and geopolitics in the S.E. Mediterranean, Israel and the Palestinian Intifada, geopolitics of Islamist Movement, Mystical Islamic Orders in Turkey, Islamic banking. He was a guest speaker for Professor Efraim Imbar’s academic conference at the BESA Center of Strategic Studies, Bar Ilan University.
Dr. Mazis participated also in five high level seminars at the “China Institute of International Strategic Studies/CIISS” in Beijing (China) and in Athens (Greece). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London, U.K. In 2003 he was invited to participate in the “International Visitors Leadership Programme” as a guest of the U.S. Department of State.
Elena Stavrou
Dr. Elena Stavrou has a Ph.D. in War and Mediterranean Studies from King’s College London and is doing post-doctoral research on Cyprus-Greece and relations with Israel, in the new geopolitical and energy context. Currently she is advisor to Nicos Anastasiades, a Cypriot politician who is the political leader of the center-right political party DISY.
Dr. Stavrou is also a lecturer at Fredrick University Nicosia, Cyprus, teaching Political Communication, Political Science, European Union and Cyprus, The History of Cyprus in the 20th century, and The Complete History of Cyprus. In 2007 she was appointed a researcher by the President of Greece, Carolos Papoulias, at the Historical and Diplomatic Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry, Athens, Greece. In 2001-2006 she worked as a research assistant on the Cyprus Problem, U.S. Foreign Policy regarding the Middle East, and assisted Professor Efraim Krash authoring his books on Middle East issues.
Among her papers and publications are: Cyprus in the new geopolitical and energy framework and relations with Israel, Cyprus in the new geopolitical framework, The exploitation of the hydrocarbons and the external-and internal threats for Cyprus, Iran-Israel-An imminent war?
Dr. Giorgos Kenatas
Dr. Giorgos Kenatas holds a Ph.D in Political Science and MA in International Relations. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nicosia and program coordinator for the Department of European Studies and International Relations. His areas of teaching and concentration are: Theory of International Politics, Political Theory, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Organized Violence in World Politics, Conflict Analysis, Mediating Agencies of Europeanization, European Politics, Cyprus Politics, Theory of International politics, Nationalism and International Relations, Causes of, and Responses to, Terrorism in the 21st Century, Current European Issues, European Governance and Institutions.
His doctoral dissertation was, “After the Statecentric Tradition: Toward an Open System Approach to the Organized Violence Problematique.” He has edited written and translated over 16 books or chapters such as The Turko-Cypriot Disputes in the EU Context, The ESDP and Cyprus’ Security and Defense Policy, published 6 Journal articles, and 7 Bulletins and Reports and presented at over 26 conferences on topics such as: Conflict Resolution in Cyprus and the Middle East (Israel, 2005), Power Vision and Order in World Politics and The morphogenesis of the world of organized violence, (Denmark, 2007), Searching for Means of Communication Between Greek and Turkish Cypriots Until a Solution to the Cyprus Problem is Reached (Nicosia, Cyprus, 2003), EU-Turkey Relations and the Future of the EU-Turkey Relationship. (London and Cyprus, 2007)
Eliezer (Moodi) Sanberg
Moodi Sanberg is the World Chairman of Keren Hayesod, Eliezer (Moodi) Sandberg, was born in Haifa in 1962. After graduating from the Leo Baeck High School, he studied law at Tel Aviv University. He performed his army service as a military prosecutor, achieving the rank of lieutenant.
Mr. Sandberg was elected to the Knesset at 1992 as a member of the Tsomet party. He held various posts in the government, serving as Minister of National Infrastructure, Member of the Economic Cabinet, Minister of Science and Technology, Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Science and Technology, and Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Sport. During his 14-year tenure in Israel’s parliament, he served on many important committees. He held a number of major positions, including that of Deputy Chairman of the Knesset and Chairman of the Subcommittee for the Corporations Law Bill. Mr. Sanberg is currently serving as the world chairman of "Keren Hayesod" - the State of Israel largest national foundation.
Athos Kyranides
Born in Nicosia in 1963. Widower with 2 daughters. Graduated from the Kykkos Males Gymnasium, the Greek Artillery School and the London School of Economics with First Prizes for best performance. Qualified as Chartered Accountant in London with KPMG where he worked for 5 years. In 1991 he was repatriated and recruited by Bank of Cyprus where he set up and managed 3 new companies; the first factoring company in Cyprus (1992), the first factoring company in Greece (1995) and the first venture capital company in Cyprus (2000). In 2003 he left the Bank of Cyprus Group and set up his own management consultancy practice specializing in strategic management and business reengineering, working with clients in Cyprus and abroad. He has served as director in the boards of many public and private companies as well as non-profit organizations. In 2011 he instigated the set up of Thoukidides Think Tank, the first and biggest multidisciplinary think tank in Cyprus which he is managing to date.
(Other speakers and presenters bios will be available shortly)