Panel Discussions - Monday, September 21, 2009

Foreign Ministers, International Officials Meet on Mideast at IPI

On September 20 and 21, IPI convened two ministerial working dinners in its Trygve Lie Center for Peace, Security & Development on the situation in the Middle East.

The first was co-chaired by IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen and the Foreign Minister of Spain, Miguel Moratinos, and the second by Mr. Rød-Larsen and the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, David Miliband.

The goal of these annual dinners at the opening of the General Assembly, held under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution, is to present IPI’s research and polling data on the Middle East and to provide an informal and confidential forum for foreign ministers from the Middle East and Europe to discuss developments in the region.

This year’s dialogue featured an eminent group including the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority; the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, France, Jordan, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom; the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, a Deputy Secretary of State from the United States and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Portugal; the Secretaries General of the Arab League and of the Palestinian Liberation Organization; the European Union’s Special Representative for the Middle East; and others from the highest levels of government, the United Nations and UN missions.

IPI presented results of a study it has conducted in the Palestinian Territories focusing on the peace process and the role of international actors, as well as the domestic political and socio-economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza.

IPI’s presentation was followed by a discussion on moving the peace process forward.