Lebanon And Syria: Taking Stock And Moving Forward

The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, in collaboration with the Konrad Adenaeur Stiftung (KAS), would like to invite you to two roundtables on the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon entitled
Lebanon and Syria: Taking Stock and Moving Forward TIME AND VENUEFriday 6 December 20139:00 to 17:00Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hamra
First Roundtable: Impact of Regional Developments on Lebanon’s Political Stability
10:00-13:00
In light of the recent rapprochement between the Unites States and Iran and Russia’s support to Syria, the first roundtable aims to examine how these geopolitical factors affect Syria, and consequently, Lebanon. More precisely, will these alignments bring an end to violence in Syria? If not, what are the necessary conditions that need to be in place for the bloodshed to end? What will Syria’s political landscape look like if a ceasefire is enacted? The answers to these questions have implications for Lebanon. Hence, the second theme of this roundtable revolves around questions such as: How will regional dynamics impact Lebanon’s political stability? How will the political parties perceive these changes? What should we expect in the short term?
MODERATOR AND DISCUSSANTMr. Sami AtallahExecutive Director of the Lebanese Center for Policy StudiesSPEAKERSDr. Yazid SayeghSenior Associate at the Carnegie Middle East CenterDr. Talal AtrissiProfessor of Sociology at the Lebanese UniversityMr. Michael YoungOpinion Editor of the Daily Star Newspaper
13:00-14:00Light lunch
Second Roundtable: The Impact of the Syrian Conflict on the Lebanese Economy
14:00-17:00
The Syrian crisis has affected Lebanon’s economy in at least two ways: First, the political instability reverberating from Syria reduced investment, tourism, and increased unemployment, among others; Second, the presence of an unprecedented number of Syrian refugees has exacerbated the already poor infrastructure in the country as well as distorted the labor market further. In light of these challenges, the Lebanese government is setting up a fund for donors’ money to help alleviate the problem. The second roundtable aims to open the debate on how to deal with the socio-economic crisis facing both Lebanese and Syrians. More precisely, who ought to be the beneficiaries of the fund? What should the distribution criteria be? What type of services should it pay for? Should it subsidize consumption or enhance investment? What other policies should the government adopt to address the larger economic impact on Lebanon?
MODERATOR AND DISCUSSANTDr. Mary KawarSenior Employment Specialist at the ILOSPEAKERSMr. Samir El DaherAdvisor to the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and DevelopmentDr. Kamal HamdanExecutive Director of the Consultation and Research Institute
The working languages of the roundtable are Arabic and English, with simultaneous translation.
RSVP by Monday 2 December 2013 by calling LCPS at +961 1 799301/2.Places are limited.

Printer-friendly version

Add to my Calendar Lebanon And Syria: Taking Stock And Moving Forward The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, in collaboration with the Konrad Adenaeur Stiftung (KAS), would like to invite you to two roundtables on the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon entitled Lebanon and Syria: Taking Stock and Moving Forward TIME AND VENUEFriday 6 December 20139:00 to 17:00Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hamra First Roundtable: Impact of Regional Developments on Lebanon’s Political Stability 10:00-13:00 In light of the recent rapprochement between the Unites States and Iran and Russia’s support to Syria, the first roundtable aims to examine how these geopolitical factors affect Syria, and consequently, Lebanon. More precisely, will these alignments bring an end to violence in Syria? If not, what are the necessary conditions that need to be in place for the bloodshed to end? What will Syria’s political landscape look like if a ceasefire is enacted? The answers to these questions have implications for Lebanon. Hence, the second theme of this roundtable revolves around questions such as: How will regional dynamics impact Lebanon’s political stability? How will the political parties perceive these changes? What should we expect in the short term? MODERATOR AND DISCUSSANTMr. Sami AtallahExecutive Director of the Lebanese Center for Policy StudiesSPEAKERSDr. Yazid SayeghSenior Associate at the Carnegie Middle East CenterDr. Talal AtrissiProfessor of Sociology at the Lebanese UniversityMr. Michael YoungOpinion Editor of the Daily Star Newspaper 13:00-14:00Light lunch Second Roundtable: The Impact of the Syrian Conflict on the Lebanese Economy 14:00-17:00 The Syrian crisis has affected Lebanon’s economy in at least two ways: First, the political instability reverberating from Syria reduced investment, tourism, and increased unemployment, among others; Second, the presence of an unprecedented number of Syrian refugees has exacerbated the already poor infrastructure in the country as well as distorted the labor market further. In light of these challenges, the Lebanese government is setting up a fund for donors’ money to help alleviate the problem. The second roundtable aims to open the debate on how to deal with the socio-economic crisis facing both Lebanese and Syrians. More precisely, who ought to be the beneficiaries of the fund? What should the distribution criteria be? What type of services should it pay for? Should it subsidize consumption or enhance investment? What other policies should the government adopt to address the larger economic impact on Lebanon? MODERATOR AND DISCUSSANTDr. Mary KawarSenior Employment Specialist at the ILOSPEAKERSMr. Samir El DaherAdvisor to the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and DevelopmentDr. Kamal HamdanExecutive Director of the Consultation and Research Institute The working languages of the roundtable are Arabic and English, with simultaneous translation. RSVP by Monday 2 December 2013 by calling LCPS at +961 1 799301/2.Places are limited. Organizer 2013-12-06 02:00:00 2013-12-06 02:00:00 [email protected] Asia/Beirut public