American Moroccan Institute (AMI)
Founded in New York City in March 2003, the American Moroccan Institute (AMI) is a think tank, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of cultural, academic and economic relations between the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco. Born at a crucial moment in the history of East-West relations, AMI serves as a solid bridge through which a constructive dialogue between different traditions and civilizations is fostered. AMI is inspired by the long history of American-Moroccan diplomatic exchange which the Institute seeks to extend to a wide variety of fields —humanities, social sciences, religion, international affairs, the arts, media, business, and economic development.
AMI board is composed of scholars and researchers, American and Moroccan, affiliated with prestigious institutions, NGO organizations, media networks, and universities such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Fox News Channel, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton University. The directors serving on the board are experts in their respective fields. Each director supervises a research committee that proposes discussion topics and projects, organizes conferences, workshops, and other activities relating to American-Moroccan/North-African interests.
AMI events and activities include: co-sponsoring a panel on the Sahara with the Council on Foreign Relations (May 04); organizing a conference on Moroccan Sufism with Columbia University (April 05); organizing a conference in Morocco on “American-Arab Relations Through Media,” with the participation of the New York Times, Newsweek, NBC, CNN, Aljazeera, Al-Hayat and RTM (December 05); co-sponsoring a conference on Moroccan minorities with Harvard University (April 06); organizing a political Forum at the American Congress with the participation of five members of the US Congress, NDI directors, two Moroccan deputies and one Moroccan ambassador (June 06); hosting a series of panels In Washington on Moroccan democratic reforms at the Middle East Institute, Brookings Institution, National Press Club, Washington Moroccan Club (December 06). In 2007, AMI cosponsored a conference on the religious renovation in the Islamic world with Princeton University (March 07), and another on Clifford Geertz & Morocco with UCLA (December 07). AMI upcoming events include: a media panel on Morocco’s Human Rights hosted by the Correspondent Association at the United Nations (UNCA); a conference on the impact of academia on US foreign policy; and an international conference on Euro-African migration organized in Southern Europe or North Africa.
Speakers at AMI Events include: Robert Malley, Former Advisor to President Bill Clinton; André Azoulay, Counselor to HM the King of Morocco; James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute; Robert Satloff, Executive Director of Washington Institute for Near East Policy; renowned journalist Bernard Kalb; Congressmen/women, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Sam Gejdensen, John Larson, Robert Wexler, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; Ambassador Serge Bergudo; Khalid Zerouli, Senior Governor for Interior Ministry of Morocco; Minister of Communication of Morocco, Nabil Benabdallah; Princeton Lyman , Director for Africa Policy Studies at CFR; Mr. Wayne Bush, Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. Embassy in Morocco; Ahmed Kostas; Director of Religious Affairs; Professors William Zartman of John Hopkins University, Abdelhay Lamoudden of Mohamed V University; Bernard Lugan; John Damis; Fatiha Ayadi; Anna Theofilopoulou from the Department of Political Affairs, United Nations; Chris Dickey of Newsweek, Ali Bouzerda, RTM Senior News Director; Raghida Dergham of Al-Hayat, Mohamed Alami of Aljazeera; Jane Arraf of CNN, and Michael Slackman from the New York Times.