Iran Democratic Transition Conference I:

The born of a Revolution within the Revolution

George Washington University

Jack Morton Auditorium, Media and Public Affairs Building
805 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

January 24, 2011
U.S. Capitol Hill
Congressional Visitors Auditorium

The Iran Democratic Transition Conference (IDTC) takes a pragmatic approach to exploring the prospects of political change in Iran and to paving the way for the establishment of a secular, pluralistic, democratic government in Iran. A host of expert Iranian panelists, Iran scholars, and U.S. law makers will discuss policy, strategic, and social issues to establish a shared vision of liberty.

Update: There will be simultaneous interpreters for the entire event.

Topics: Transition to Democracy: Challenges and Opportunities; New Media: Cyber Revolution and Individualism; New Generation: Demands, Abilities and Political Vision; Secularism: Ideology and Alternatives; Sanctions: “Behavior Change” or “Regime Change”?; Oppositions Leadership: In Exile or from Within?; New Constitution: “Reform” or “Regime Change”; Iran and the World: Mutual Commitments; Remembering Neda, The Face of the Iranian Green Movement, on her Birthday.

Speakers: U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), U.S. Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch(D-FL), U.S. Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA), Mohammad Reza HeydariHossein Alizadeh and Abolfazl Islami(Former Islamic Republic of Iran’s Diplomats from Norway, Finland and Japan), Amir A. Fakhravar (Research Fellow at Institute of World Politics, award winning writer and jailed dissident), Kenneth Katzman (Specialist in Iran and Middle East Affairs at the U.S. Congressional Research Service), John Lenczowski (President of IWP), Kambiz Hosseini (TV host, VOA-Parazit), Alireza Noorizadeh (Veteran journalist, London), Caspian Makan (Photographer, Neda’s fiancé, Canada), Mehdi Saharkhiz (Citizen Journalist, Son of Isa Saharkhiz, former head of the press department at the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Education and jailed dissident), Roozbeh Mir-Ebrahimi (Jailed blogger, Journalist, NY), Potkin Azarmehr (Award winning blogger and Iran expert, London), Behnam Nateghi(Journalist and TV host, VOA-NY), Afshin Ellian (Professor of law and philosophy, Islam, and Middle East scholar, Netherlands), Mashaallah Abbaszadeh (former Iran Election Headquarters chief, Canada), Siamak Shojaei (Iran scholar on Economics and sanctions, NY), Solmaz Sharif (Journalist, NY), Ivan Marovic (Serbian Student Leader, Belgrade), Jane Kokan (Award winning documentary filmmaker, Canada) and many more expert speakers.

This conference is sponsored by the Institute of World Politics. It is coordinated by Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS), a pro-western independent student movement with chapters in Iran, United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Iraq, Turkey and Malaysia.

Seating is limited.  For more information, please contact kbridges@iwp.edu.