American-Arab Relations Through Media
International Conference organized by AMI, Rabat, December 19-20, 2005Leading journalists from the United States, the Middle East, and Morocco gathered in Rabat to discuss the impact of the media on contemporary American-Arab/Moroccan relations. Participants included leading figures of the international media such as: Michael Slackman (The New York Times), Christopher Dickey (Newsweek), Jane Arraf (CNN/CFR), Raghida Dergham (Al Hayat), Mohammed Alami (Aljazeera), Abdelhay Lamouden (Mohamed V University); Driss Aissaoui (Maroc Soir), and ALI Bouzerda (RTM). The conference was opened by the minister of communication, Mr. Nabil Benabdallah. participants explored the key issues of Morocco-US relations, fundamentalism, and the coverage of democratic reforms in American, Moroccan, and Arab media.
This conference built on the ongoing dialogue between the US and Morocco to help broaden the space of exchange to one that engages the Middle East as a whole and thus addresses larger issues such as: What role does Morocco play as peace-maker in the Middle East and North Africa? Is Morocco a model for American-Arab relations? In what ways have the events of September 11 and the Iraqi war led the US to reconsider its political and economic priorities in North Africa and the Middle East? The conference attracted a distinguished audience made up of government officials, parliamentarians, academic and religious scholars, NGO leaders, and active members of the civil society.