Event: Clear Gold
On the occasion of the publication of
Clear Gold:
Water as a Strategic Resource in the Middle East
The CSIS Middle East Program is pleased to host an event highlighting the importance of water to regional stability.
With a keynote address by
General Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.)
former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command
The real wildcard for political and social unrest in the Middle East over the next twenty years is not war, terrorism or revolution—it is water. Conventional security threats dominate public debate and government thinking, but water is a true game-changer in Middle Eastern politics. “Clear Gold,” a CSIS Middle East Program report, highlights the strategic challenges water shortages pose in the Middle East and how local governments should start addressing the problem.
Conference Schedule
12:00 p.m.
Lunch
12:30 -- 12:45 p.m.
Keynote Address
General Anthony Zinni, USMC (ret.)
12:45 -- 1:00 p.m.
Presentation of Report's Findings
Jon B. Alterman, CSIS
1:00 -- 1:30 p.m.
Q&A Session
General Anthony Zinni is President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of BAE Systems, Inc. From 1997-2000, he was Commander in Chief of United States Central Command, after which he retired from over 30 years in the military. His service has taken him to over 70 countries and includes deployments to the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Western Pacific, Northern Europe, and Korea. He is the recipient of 23 military awards, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; the Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters; the Bronze Star with Combat “V” and Gold Star; and the Purple Heart. He currently holds the Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of ’56 Professorship at Cornell University. General Zinni holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Villanova University; master’s degrees from Salvae Regina College and Central Michigan University; and honorary doctorates from Villanova University, the College of William and Mary, and the Maine Maritime Academy.
Jon B. Alterman is Director and Senior Fellow of the Middle East Program at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS, he served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State and as a Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. He is a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel and served as an expert adviser to the Iraq Study Group (also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission). In addition to policy work, he teaches Middle Eastern studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the George Washington University. Before entering government, he was a scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace and at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. From 1993 to 1997, he was an award-winning teacher at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in history. He also was a legislative aide to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan (D-NY), responsible for foreign policy and defense. He received his A.B. from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
