After retiring from government in 1999, Arad lectured at Haifa University and in 2000 he joined the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC Herzliya), which became his academic home. At IDC, he established the Institute for Policy and Strategy and founded the Annual Herzliya Conference Series on the Balance of Israel's National Security. Modeled after prestigious international policy conferences and gatherings such as the World Economic Forum (Davos), the Munich Conference on Security Policy (Verkunde), the Trilateral Commission meetings, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) conferences, the Herzliya Conference soon became the principal policy event in Israel.