LETTER TO HENRY ROWEN FROM ROBERT J. PRANGER RE GIOVANNI ANGELLI FOUNDATION OF ITALY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83B00140R000100070021-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 30, 2007
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: August 20, 1981
• Content Type: LETTER

American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
August 20, 1981
Mr. Henry Rowen
Chairman
National Intelligence Council
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
[phone]
NFAG y~3 ~3-gye
The purpose of this letter is to invite you to participate in a
} conference to be jointly sponsored October 21-22 by the Giovanni Angelli
Foundation of Italy and the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
The focus of the conference will be the Mediterranean, Middle East, and
Southwest Asia, and the potential for European-American cooperation within
this important area. The approach is spelled out in greater detail in the
attached.
Former Assistant Secretary of State Hal Saunders will chair the
conference. In addition to about sixteen American participants, four to
six of the participants will come from Italy for these sessions.
The conference will begin at 6:30 pm, October 21 with a working dinner
at the American Enterprise Institute and continue through the working day
October 22. Brief papers will be presented at the outset of each session
as a basis for discussion, but the focus will be on an exchange over the
issues with opportunity for the Italian participants to draw out the
American participants on each side. The emphasis will be very much on
intensive conversation within a relatively small group, so each participant
will have an opportunity to play a role in the development of our thoughts.
On behalf of the Angelli Foundation and the American Enterprise
Institute, I very much hope you will be able to join us in this project.
Could you please telephone your response to Randa Murphy at (202),862-5946
by October 1.
Sincerely,
Robert J. Pranger
Director of International Programs
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U.S. Policy Perceptions of the Mediterranean
Middle East, and Southwest Asia
Conference Sponsored Jointly by the
Giovanni Agnelli Foundation of Italy and the
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
in Washington, D.C. -- October 21-22, 1981
Purpose: The overall objective of this conference is to contribute to mutual
Italian-United States understanding by examining present U.S. policy toward
the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Southwest Asia and how it will interact
with the interests of Italy and Europe. Those present will include about six-
teen Americans and four Italians from government, press, research institutes,
and business. Through discussion among the Americans of U.S. interests and
comment by the Italians, the hope will be to further sensitize each side to
the other's concerns and to highlight possibilities for cooperation and mutu-
ally supportive policies. The papers and discussion will be transcribed and
edited for publication in Italian and English by the sponsoring organizations.
Format: The conference will be divided into five sessions, beginning with a
working dinner at 6:30 p.m., October 21 at the American Enterprise Institute
and continuing through four sessions October 22 in the AEI Board Room, includ-
ing luncheon. Translation will be provided. Americans will lead each session,
beginning each with a 10-15 minute paper (8-10 double-spaced pages) and then
continuing with discussion.
Session #1 -- working dinner: "The Mediterranean, Middle East, Southwest
Asia -- Challenges for U.S. Policy in the 1980s"
The purpose is to provide the view of this policy area from Washington as
the new Administration forms its policy and to define the policy problems which
it poses for the United States, including its relations with Europe. American
interests will be defined by the speaker, and one aim of the discussion will be
to illuminate where real European interests may differ.
Paper Author and Discussion Leader: Harold H. Saunders, Resident Fellow,
American Enterprise Institute; Former Assistant Secretary and Deputy As-
sistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs;
Director of Intelligence and Research, Department of State; senior member,
National Security Council Staff in the White House responsible for North
Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
Session #2 -- first morning discussion: "Nature of the Soviet Threat --
Seen from Washington and Europe"
The purpose is to examine exactly what the nature of the Soviet threat to
European, American, and Japanese interests is and is not in this area and to
understand why the threat is viewed differently from Europe and the United
States.
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Paper Author and Discussion Leader: William G. Hyland, now with the
Carnegie Endowment. Former Deputy Assistant to the President for Na-
tional Security Affairs; Director of Intelligence and Research, Depart-
ment of State; Senior Member, National Security Council Staff in the White
House responsible for European and Soviet Affairs; associated with former
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Georgetown Center for Strategic
and International Studies; participant in American Enterprise Institute
U.S. Senate seminar on SALT, 1979.
Session #3 -- second morning discussion: "The Challenge to Security --
Seen from the Area"
The purpose is to examine how the principal nations in the area view the
main threats to their security, what measures they feel are important to pre-
serving their security, and how they see the respective security roles of
Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
Paper Author and Discussion Leader: David D. Newsom, Institute for the
Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University. Former Under Secretary of
State for Political Affairs; Ambassador to Philippines, Indonesia, Libya;
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
Session #4 -- first afternoon discussion: "Opportunities for European-
American Cooperation for Peace"
The purpose is to discuss briefly the present opportunities and inhibi-
tions for cooperation to reduce conflict and strengthen the course toward
peace in the area and then to look forward to potential opportunities for co-
operation or complementary activities.
Paper Author and Discussion Leader: Joseph J. Sisco, private consultant.
Formerly President and Chancellor of American University in Washington,
D.C.; Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Assistant Secretary
of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs, Assistant Secretary of
State for International Organization Affairs. Co-author of a report to
the Trilateral Commission, "The Middle East and the Trilateral Countries"
(1981).
Session #5 -- final discussion: "The Issues in Perspective"
The purpose will be to select key issues raised in the earlier sessions
and to allow time for discussion of them.
Discussion leaders will be selected from among participants to highlight
the Congressional perspective.