(Left) OCP Chair Mostafa Terrab, German Marshall Fund Pres. Craig Kennedy open conference in Rabat on issues facing Atlantic region
**See below for Conference Participants, Panels, Video, and Transcripts**
The German Marshall Fund, OCP Foundation of Morocco (Washington, DC, Oct. 1, 2012) — The Atlantic Dialogues, a high-level gathering of international public- and private-sector leaders from 45 countries, concluded its inaugural conference in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday, after three days of engaging discussions and interactive panels that explored key cross-regional issues defining the new Atlantic community.
Organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and the OCP Foundation of Morocco, the Atlantic Dialogues are the centerpiece of an expanded partnership and major international initiative to promote cooperation on challenges facing countries of the greater Atlantic basin. The Sept. 28-30 meeting in Rabat brought together more than 300 governmental, business, think tank, and media participants from North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and Asia, to tackle critical topics including security, economics, social media, elections, migration, and energy.
“This is the first of what we hope will be an annual meeting of the Atlantic community, a community brought together by common challenges and opportunities and not divided by North and South,” said GMF President Craig Kennedy.
“The next growth area is Africa, and yet, policies and business strategies conceived in the North consider Africa as a problem, not as an opportunity,” said Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of OCP Group.
“The North Atlantic alliance was the product of warfare and the consequences of warfare, and the competition with the Soviet Union,” said Thomas Shannon, US Ambassador to Brazil. “The southern Atlantic and the new Atlantic is really a product of opportunity, and I think in that sense my colleagues in Washington are very prepared to rethink the Atlantic.”
“You see the vibrancy of economic development in Africa over the last several years,” said Jose Humberto de Brito-Cruz, Senior Advisor at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations. “We believe all countries like Brazil and China, Portugal, [and] the United States, for that matter, have the possibility of helping and working with African countries to deal with very concrete problems.”
On-the-record proceedings of the conference were webcast live from via the Atlantic Dialogues website and by satellite through the Eurovision Network. See below for participants, panel topics, and available video and transcripts.
FRIDAY, Sept. 28
Opening Address (click for video) [PDF]
- Craig Kennedy, President, German Marshall Fund of the US
- Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO, OCP Group
Changing Mental Maps: Rediscovering the Atlantic (click for video) [PDF]
- Moderator: David Ignatius, Columnist and Associate Editor, The Washington Post
- Luis Amado, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Portugal
- José Humberto de Brito-Cruz, Senior Advisor, Policy Planning Unit, Ministry of Foreign Relations, Brazil
- Aziz Mekouar, Former Ambassador to the United States, Morocco
- Thomas Shannon, US Ambassador to Brazil
The Rise of Brazil
- Moderator: Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Council of the Americas
- Flávio Castelo Branco, Executive Manager, CNI
- Luis Lampreia, Partner, Lampreia Consultores Internacionais, Brazil
- Andres Rozental, Founding President, Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, Mexico
- Lyal White, Director of the Centre for Dynamic Markets, Gordon Institute for Business Science,University of Pretoria
The Lawless Ocean
- Moderator: Gale Mattox,Professor of Political Science, Georgetown University
- Chris McLaughlin, Vice President of External Affairs, Inmarsat
- John Richardson,Senior Resident Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
- Anne-François de Saint Salvy, Former Maritime Prefect for the Atlantic, France
SATURDAY, Sept. 29
Unleashing the Potential of the iGeneration (click for video) [PDF]
- Moderator: Robin Wright, Distinguished Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
- Rahma Bourqia, Former President, University Hassan II, Mohammedia, Casablanca
- Henry Wallice Charles, International Youth Development Specialist and Policy and Strategy Advisor, Genesis Consulting
- Muhammed Jah, CEO, QCell, The Gambia
- Yves Leterme, Deputy Secretary General, OECD
- Farah Pandith, Special Representative to Muslim Communities, US Department of State
Atlantic Corridors in the Global Economy (click for video) [PDF]
- Moderator: Bruce Stokes, Director, Pew Global Attitudes Project
- Alejandro Jara, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization
- Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, US Department of the Treasury
- Vital Martins Moreira, Member, European Parliament
- Jean-Michel Severino, CEO, Investisseur et Partenaires
Anxieties Without Borders: The New Atlantic Security Environment (click for video) [PDF]
- Moderator: Nik Gowing, Main Presenter, BBC World TV
- Artis Pabriks, Minister of Defence, Latvia
- Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana, Ambassador to U.S., Mexico
- General Carter F. Ham, Commander, US Africa Command
Whose World Is It? [PDF]
- Moderator: Lisa Mullins, Host, The World
- Assia Bensaleh Alaoui, Ambassador at Large
- Renato Galvao Flôres, Professor, Fundação Getúlio Vargas
- Charles A. Kupchan, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
- João Vale de Almeida, Ambassador to US, European Union
Cities as Global Actors in an Urban Century (click for video) [PDF]
- Moderator: John Yearwood, World Editor, Miami Herald
- Graça Fonseca, Deputy Mayor, Lisbon
- Aart De Geus, Chairman, Bertelsmann Stiftung
- Norberto Pontiroli, Advisor on International Relations, City of Buenos Aires
- Harry van Dorenmalen, Chairman for Europe and Country General Manager, IBM NL
The US Elections 2012 [PDF]
- Moderator: Laura Blumenfeld, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States
- Peter Beinart, Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
- Grover Norquist, Founder and President, Americans for Tax Reform
- Hilary Rosen, Managing Director, SKDKnickerbocker
- Dov Zakheim, Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies
SUNDAY, Sept. 30
Asian Actors in the Wider Atlantic(click for video) [PDF]
- Moderator: Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Columnist, Financial Times
- Roberto Abdenur, President and CEO, Centro Brasileiro de Relacoes Internationcionais
- Rajendra Abhyankar, Chairman, Kunzru Center for Defense Studies and Research
- Tatiana Lacerda Prazeres, Secretary of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazil
- Shi Yinhong, Professor of International Relations and Director, Center on American Studies, Renmin University of China
Bridging the Atlantic: Opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean in a Shrinking World (click for video) [PDF]
- Moderator: Ana Maria Salazar, Journalist/Commentator, Grupo Salazar
- Len Ishmael, Director General, Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
- Craig Kelly, Senior Non-Resident Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
- Christian Leffler, Managing Director for the Americas, European External Action Service
- Luis Rubio, President, Center for Research on Development Mexico
The Road Ahead for Africa
- Moderator: Vladimir Duthiers, Correspondent, CNN
- Zohra Dawood, Executive Director, Open Society Foundation for South Africa
- Colonel Birame Diop, Director, Partners Senegal: Center for Change and Conflict Management
- Victor Borges,President, Foundation for Development and International Exchanges
- Cyriaque Nikuze Sendashonga, Global Director, Policy and Program Group International Union for Conservation of Nature
Closing Remarks
- Mohammed Belmahi, Chairman, OCP Foundation
- Craig Kennedy, President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
For more information about the conference, go to www.AtlanticDialogues.org.
