Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir

Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations, journalist, and author, hosts leaders from around the world in conversations that probe critical global issues and explore the policies designed to address them.

H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United Nations
Wednesday, February 20, 6:30-7:45 p.m.

Prince Zeid is Jordan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, a post he held previously from 2000 to 2007. From 2007 to 2010, he was Jordan's ambassador to the United States of America. Currently, Prince Zeid is Jordan's "sherpa" on nuclear security.

From September 16, 2010 to March 7, 2012, Prince Zeid was the chairman of the Country-Specific Configuration (of the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission) for Liberia. From 2002 to 2005, he was the first president of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. He also served as chairman of the Working Group on the Crime of Aggression at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute in Kampala. While at the U.N., Prince Zeid chaired the Consultative Committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) from 2004 to 2007, and from 2004 to 2006, he was the advisor to the secretary-general on sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. peacekeeping personnel.

In 1989, Prince Zeid received his commission as an officer in the Jordanian Desert Police (the successor to the Arab Legion) and saw service with them until 1994. Prince Zeid holds a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University (Christ's College). Prince Zeid is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation. He also was a member of the World Bank's Advisory Council for the World Development Report 2011.

H.E. Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi
Ambassador of Qatar to the United States and Mexico
Wednesday, March 13, 6:30-7:45 p.m.

Ambassador Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi was appointed ambassador to the United States in February 2012. He served in the Qatari Armed Forces starting in 1980, originally commissioned as lieutenant and retiring as a major general in 2001. He has been the head of the Government Committee for Borders Demarcation from 1996 to present, and the Working Team of the U.N. Security Council from 2006 to 2007. He headed the Permanent Committee for Organizing Conferences from 2004 to 2011. As part of his extensive diplomatic experience, he has served as Qatar's ambassador to France and the European Union. He was awarded the National Order of Merit in 1999, as well as the Order of Honor of the French Republic in 2009. Since 2003, Ambassador Al-Rumaihi has been assistant foreign minister for Follow Up Affairs. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Georgetown University-Qatar.