Mahmoud Karem

Early life

Mahmoud Karem was born in Egypt and entered English school Cairo in Heliopolis from 1955 to 1967.

Education

After finishing high school, Mahmoud Karem entered The American University in Cairo in 1967. He got his bachelor's degree of arts (B.A.), Political Science and Government in 1971. In 1981, he traveled to the United States of America to obtain his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Government and international studies GINT from University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Career

Dr. Karem Founded the Department for Disarmament and Peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992. He remained Director of that newly established Department as Assistant Foreign Minister, till August 1999. In September 1999 he was appointed as Ambassador to Japan till 2003.

Dr. Mahmoud Karem served as the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, Head of Mission of Egypt to the European Communities, and Permanent Representative of Egypt to NATO from 2005 till 2010. He was an active contributor to the Mediterranean NAC +7 Dialogue in NATO since 2005. Member of the Advisory Board of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Disarmament Matters for six years ending 2009, as well as member of the International Commission formed by the Director General of the IAEA on the “Nuclear Fuel Cycle”, and was appointed by the Secretary General to numerous Group of Experts^] in the United Nations on various peace, security, and non proliferation issues.

Dr. Karem served in the Egyptian mission to the United Nations in New York from 1977, was elected rapporteur of the UNDC in 1981, was Deputy Head of Mission to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from 1988-1992, and headed important negotiations on several items and treaties including the CWC, the resolution on the Application of Agency Safeguards in the Middle East on the agenda of several General Conferences of the IAEA in Vienna.

He was selected as Visiting Professor on International Relation at Takushoku University, Japan, 2002, where he lectured students and the local community on numerous topics such as “Japan and Egypt, Energy Security, the Middle East Peace Process…etc.” He has been a steady lecturer and visiting professor in the Political Science Department of the American University in Egypt (AUC), from 1984, Misr International University (MIU), and the Institute of Diplomatic Studies where he lectured visiting diplomats from Africa, CIS and Egyptian young diplomats also from 1984 until today. At present Dr. Karem is teaching at the British University in Egypt.

In late spring 2010 after concluding his tour as Ambassador to the EU, Ambassador Karem was elected by acclamation as Secretary General of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights (NCHR). He was re-elected to the same position in April 2011 after the revolution in Egypt. In September 2012 he was re-elected for the third time by the newly formed Human Rights Council. During his tenure Ambassador Karem rebuilt the entire institution after it was burnt and demolished in January 2011. He prepared and presented the credentials of his Human Rights National Institution NCHR to the UN Geneva based OHCHR in the UN reclassification process, achieving an “A” status for his Council twice. He repeatedly argued that such an excellent status bestowed on the Council for Human Rights by the UN is due to its role and mission and the dedication of its researchers working under difficult circumstances. He resigned his position December 2012.

Dr Karem's latest publication was released December 2012 entitled: "The Conference for a ME Zone Free from Weapons of Mass Destruction." His chapter dealt with “The role of the League of the Arab States in preparing a WMD free zone Draft Treaty”. The book was published by the Geneva Centre for Security studies, and the Arab Institute for strategic studies in Jordan. The same publishers published an additional contribution by the author in November 2014. The title of the Chapter was:" The 2010 NPT ME Conference: A historical recount of its stalled Diplomatic Unfolding; and Final Outcome.”

Ambassador Karem is also an elected Board member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA) till 2016. In 2013 he was also elected as a Board Member of the NATO Defense College Foundation in Rome and in that capacity attended the Foundation's conferences on Afghanistan in Rome in March 2013 where he delivered a speech on “Egypt in transition”. He was also elected as Commissioner, Board Member, Egyptian National Council for Human Rights in September 2013, and later elected Chairman of the International Committee of the Council.

In 2014, he successfully managed and headed the Presidential Campaign of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Awards

Ambassador Karem was elected in Belgium as “Best Ambassador in Belgium and the EU in 2007”, and his Book published by Greenwood/Praeger in 1988 in the US, on the "Establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East: Problems and Prospects", was selected in 1988 as best book in the field of International Relations in the United States by "CHOICE" international. Dr Karem has published extensively and appeared before numerous conferences, symposiums, and international meetings. He is a widely acknowledged and highly respected expert on security, disarmament and non-proliferation matters. In June 2009 he was decorated by HRH the King of Belgium, Albert II in a special audience the decoration of the "Order of the Crown", the highest decoration awarded to non Belgian citizens, in recognition of his meritorious services.

Ambassador Karem also received an Egyptian Presidential decoration of the third order in 1979 from President Sadat for his role in negotiating and building peace in the Middle East (the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty). In 1999 he also received the highest medal of excellence and recognition from the Egyptian Ministry of Defense (Corps of Engineers), for listing the problem of “Landmines in the Western Desert” on the national agenda and for importing direly needed detection and landmine clearing equipment.

He now holds the title of Advisor to the President of the British University in Egypt (BUE) for international relations, and Head of the Centre for Middle East and Egypt studies at the University.

Sample of his Publications:

· Karem, Mahmoud. A Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East, Problems & Prospects. New York: Greenwood/Praeger, 1988. Print. The Book won the Best Book award in the Field of International Relations for books published in the USA in the year 1988-1989, by CHOICE.

· Karem, Mahmoud. "Egypt as a Case Study." Afghanistan to 2014 and Beyond. Rome: NATO Defense College Foundation, 2013. 107-12. Print.

· United Nations, Report of The UN Secretary General's Advisory Board On Disarmament Matters. Warsaw, Poland: United Nations, 2008. Print.

· Karem, Mahmoud. “ The Traditional Role of the League of Arab States in a Zone Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Historical Recount. Geneva: Geneva Centre for Security Policy, 2012. 43-63. Prints.

· Karem, Mahmoud. “The 2010 NPT ME Conference: A historical synopsis of its stalled Diplomatic Unfolding; and Final Outcome. Geneva: Geneva, Centre for Security Policy, 2014, and the Arab Institute for Security Studies, Amman, Jordan.

· Paper presented before the Mediterranean Gulf Forum, meeting in Sardinia, 2014, Terrorism: Root causes in an Incubating Global Environment.

· Paper presented to the NATO Defense College Foundation in Rome, International Conference on Game Changers in a changing world. NDC Publications, 2013, Egypt 3 years after, and Two Revolutions.

· Paper presented to the Egyptian American Dialogue forum, Washington, DC. October 2014, Egypt – US relations at a Crossroads.

· “Preventing Regional Nuclear Weapon Proliferation: The Case for the Establishment of a Zone free from Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East,” Statement delivered before (Paper presented at the annual meeting symposium of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, D.C., February 19 (1991).

· “The Role of Diplomacy,” IEEE Spectrum (September) 56 (1991).

· “The Middle East Peace Talks: History May Never repeat itself,” The ASA Newsletter 29 (April 3): 1+(1992).

· “A Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East: A Historical Overview of the Patterns of Involvement of the United Nations,” pp. 55–68 in Tariq Rauf (ed.), Regional Approaches to Curbing Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East and South Asia (Aurora Papers; no. 16). Ottawa: The Canadian Centre for Global Security (1992).

· “The Middle East,” pp. 117–41 in Jayantha Dhanapala (ed.), Regional Approaches to Disarmament: Security and Stability. Alder shot: Dartmouth Publishing Co. Ltd. (1993).

· “Middle East,” (Section II, Chapter 6), pp. 86–88 in Serge Sur (ed.), Nuclear Deterrence: Problems and Perspectives in the 1990s. New York: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), United Nations Publications (1993).

· “Controle des Armaments et Securite Regionale,” pp. 63–76 in Ghassan Salame (ed.), Proche-Orient: Les Exigences de la Paix. Paris: Espace International (1993).

· In Association with Nabil Fahmy. “Projects and Proposed Ideas Regarding Regional Cooperation in the Field of Security, Arms Control and Disarmament (in Arabic), “Al-Siassa Al-Dawlyia 115 (January): 178-86 (1994).

· “Regional Security Concerns,” Unpublished paper presented to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) Conference on Arms and Technology Transfers: Security and Economic Considerations, Geneva, February 14–15 (1994).

· “The Middle East: Existing Status of Regional Efforts and Arrangements,” Unpublished paper presented at the HALKI Seminar of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), September 6–8 (1994).

· “The Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and of Ballistic Missiles,” pp. 39–50 in Chantal de Jonge Oudraat (ed.), Conference of Research Institutes in the Middle East: Proceedings of the Cairo Conference (18–20 April 1993). New York: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), United Nations Publications (1994).

· “The 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference: A Third World Perspective,” Unpublished paper presented to L’Institut Francais Des Relations Internationales (IFRI), June (1995).

· “The Arms Control Process in the Middle East: The Record to Date,” Unpublished paper presented to the Carnegie Endowment/ The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) HALKI Seminar on Searching for a Security Framework, September 12 (1995).

· “A Vision of the Middle East: The Middle East in the 21st Century, Priorities for Regional Co-operation,” Unpublished paper presented to the Carnegie Endowment/ the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) HALKI Seminar on Searching for a Security Framework, September 12 (1995).

· “The Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Concept of Making the Middle East Region a Free Zone” (in Arabic), Unpublished paper presented to the Center for Strategic Studies of the Armed Forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt

· “The Future of the Conference on Disarmament and its Agenda,” Papers presented from the Electronic Conference co-hosted by the Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Geneva, January 12–23 (1998).

· Karem, Mahmoud. "Political Lessons from the Afghanistan Experience." Al Ahram Weekly [Cairo] 25 Mar. 2013, 46130th ed.: n. pag. Print.

· Karem, Mahmoud. "Cairo and Washington." Al Ahram Weekly [Cairo] 11 July 2013, 1156th ed.: n. pag. Print.

· Karem, Mahmoud. "Geneva Turns Its Eye on Egypt." Al Ahram Weekly [Cairo] 25 July 2013, 1158th ed.: n. pag. Print.

· Karem, Mahmoud. "Missed Opportunities to Rid the Middle East of WMD." Open Democracy. N.p., 24 June 2013. Web. <https://www.opendemocracy.net/mahmoud-karem/missed-opportunities-to-rid-middle-east-of-wmd>.

· Karem, Mahmoud. "The US Must Explain Its Postponement of a Crucial NPT Conference." Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and Open Democracy. N.p., 5 Jan. 2013. Web. <http://www.acronym.org.uk/news/201301/us-must-explain-its-postponement-crucial-npt-conference>.

· Karem, Mahmoud. "Nuclear Issues in West Asia and Egyptian Perspective." Merging Trends in West Asia: Regional and Global Implications. New Delhi: Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, 2013. N. pag. Print.

· Karem, Mahmoud. "Egypt at War against Terrorism." Al Ahram Weekly [Cairo] 15 Aug. 2013, 1160th ed.: n. pag. Print.

· Karem, Mahmoud. “The Middle East: Strategic Developments and Deterrence Measures.” Bahrain. 30 October.2013, Derasat.