As the one-year mark of the Ukraine conflict draws near, the impacts of the conflict are widening around the globe. Because Israel has had long-running relationships with both Ukraine and Russia, it initially attempted to position itself as a mediator in the conflict. However, as the conflict has escalated, new factors, such as Iranian military support to Russia and a new government in Israel, have altered Israel's approach to managing this crisis.
Join us as we attempt to untangle the impacts of the conflict—not just on Russia and Ukraine, but on Israel and the broader geopolitical landscape as well.
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Anna Borshchevskaya (The Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Dr. Ali Vaez (International Crisis Group)
Dr. Ilai Saltzman (UMD)
This event is for young professionals between the ages of 21 and 39.
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Time: 7-9pm ET
Location: 2300 H St NW
RSVP link to share with friends: ipf.li/feb22dc
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IPF Atid is the young professionals network of Israel Policy Forum, an organization dedicated to advancing support for a viable two-state solution that safeguards Israeli security. It is a community comprised of informed and empowered young professionals working to advance a more pragmatic, nuanced conversation addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute's Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East, focusing on Russia's policy toward the Middle East. In addition, she is a contributor to Oxford Analytica. She was previously with the Atlantic Council and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. A former analyst for a U.S. military contractor in Afghanistan, she has also served as communications director at the American Islamic Congress and was a fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy. Her analysis is published widely in publications such as Foreign Affairs, The Hill, The New Criterion, and Middle East Quarterly, as well as peer-reviewed journals. She is the author of the 2021 book, Putin's War in Syria: Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America's Absence (I.B. Tauris, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing). Until recently, she conducted translation and analysis for the U.S. Army's Foreign Military Studies Office and its flagship publication, Operational Environment Watch, and wrote a foreign affairs column for Forbes. She is the author of the February 2016 Institute monograph, Russia in the Middle East. She holds a doctorate from George Mason University.
Ali Vaez is Crisis Group’s Iran Project Director and Senior Adviser to the President. He led Crisis Group’s efforts in helping to bridge the gaps between Iran and the P5+1 that led to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Previously, he served as a Senior Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and was the Iran Project Director at the Federation of American Scientists. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Trained as a scientist, Vaez has more than a decade of experience in journalism. He has written widely on Iranian affairs and is a regular contributor to mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs. He is a frequent guest on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and NPR. Vaez was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University from 2008 to 2010 and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Geneva and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Dr. Ilai Saltzman is the Israel Institute Visiting Assistant Professor of Israel Studies. He previously served as a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College where he taught classes in International Relations, Israeli foreign and security policy as well as US foreign policy. In the past, he had also taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s International Relations Department and the Rothberg International School (RIS), and Tel-Aviv University’s Political Science Department. Dr. Saltzman was a postdoctoral research fellow at the International Security Program (ISP), Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (2010-2011). He is the author of Securitizing Balance of Power Theory: A Polymorphic Reconceptualization (2012). Dr. Saltzman published articles in academic journals such as Foreign Policy Analysis, Orbis, Contemporary Security Policy, International Studies Review, Israel Studies, International Politics, Israel Affairs, the Journal of Political Science Education, The Journal of Psychohistory, and Political Science Quarterly. His current research project focuses on Israeli Professional Military Education (PME). Dr. Saltzman earned his Ph.D. in International Relations in 2010 from the University of Haifa, his Master’s degree in International Relations (magna cum laude), and his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and General Studies, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
