CCAS is honored to welcome Wadah Khanfar, Director General of the Al Jazeera Network, as the Keynote Speaker at its 2010 annual symposium, “Information Evolution in the Arab World.” Ranked as one of the most “Powerful People in the World” by Forbes Magazine, named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (Davos), recognized as the third most influential Arab in the world by Arabian Business, and named one of the most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Wadah Khanfar has turned Al Jazeera from a single channel into a media network with multiple properties, including Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Documentary, Al Jazeera Sport, the Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Center, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies, Al Jazeera Mubasher (Live), and Al Jazeera Mobile. Khanfar started his career with Al Jazeera in 1997 working as an analyst correspondent in South Africa. In 2001 and 2002 he was a war correspondent in Afghanistan, and during the war in Iraq, he reported from Kurdish-controlled territory in the north. He was later appointed Chief of the Baghdad Bureau. Khanfar became Managing Director of the Al Jazeera Channel in 2003 and Director General of the Al Jazeera Network in 2006. One of his first mandates as managing director was to launch the Al Jazeera Code of Ethics and Al Jazeera’s Code of Conduct at the First Al Jazeera International Forum. Khanfar has addressed leading political and media think tanks, including the Middle East Institute, the New America Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the George Washington University. He has appeared on the Charlie Rose Show, NPR’s Diane Rhem Show, and presented at the Paley Center for Media. In 2009 Khanfar met with senior officials and advisors at the White House, State Department, and the Pentagon.
Khanfar’s lecture will take place Tuesday, March 23 at 11:00 am in the Lohrfink Auditorium in the Rafik B. Hariri Building on the campus of Georgetown University.