A group of 40 leaders from Western and Islamic countries met at the European Parliament, Brussels, on the 26-27th November 2006 at the invitation of the Strategic Foresight Group and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. The initiative was endorsed by the League of Arab States and is supported by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.

During the roundtable, the leaders made several innovative confidence-building proposals between the Western and Islamic countries. They include a call for an Inclusive Semi-Permanent Conference on the Middle East, the creation of a Contact Group on building confidence between Western and Islamic countries and the promotion of Arab culture and language in Europe.

Outcome

• A beginning can be made by developing an informal Contact Group of political leaders with relevant experience and credibility at the highest political level.
  • The core issue for the Contact Group's consideration is peace in the Middle East. The Group can explore engagement with the United States, key political players in the Middle East and Iran in the context of peace.
  • The Contact Group can explore the merits of an Inclusive Semi-Permanent Conference on the Middle East. This requires an in-depth examination of why earlier initiatives have failed. The Alliance of Civilizations of the United Nations has recommended a White Paper on the subject, and it would be useful to examine the findings of the White Paper.
  • Europe has a particularly important role in this context and the European Union should take the initiative to pursue the idea of an Inclusive Semi Permanent Conference on the Middle East.
• A similar process is required to address broader conceptual issues between the Western and Islamic countries, bearing in mind that the Western and Islamic worlds are not homogenous regions. The Contact Group must address certain conceptual issues like the rule of law, terminology, political Islamist movements, core human values and common ground beyond religion.
  • It is important to identify terms and stakeholders of dialogue.
  • It is extremely important to have centres of Arabic language and culture in Europe as well as large scale educational and media exchanges. Restrictions on Visa exchanges and other entry barriers must be removed. Also, it is essential to undertake initiatives in media cooperation.
• A separate research process is required for the examination of historical issues. The process could explore the success of Islamic civilization and its impact on the European civilization, leading to the evolution of a common human civilization.
• The internal dynamics within each country or region affected by terrorism needs to be addressed.
  • There is a need to avoid exclusion, since exclusion leads to a sense of alienation and motivation for violence.
  • A compact of 3Ds consisting of dialogue, development and democracy need to be advocated.
  • A new dynamism has to be instilled in the fields of economics and science and technology that will propel a second Renaissance, particularly in the Arab world.
  • It is necessary to promote the involvement of youth and women in all the above mentioned initiatives.
  • The Islamic and Western societies need to take initiatives to enable their people to know their own culture.
• The roundtable endorsed:
  • The Draft Policy Paper created by the Strategic Foresight Group prepared for the round table as well as the report of the Alexandria Workshop on Global Extremism, Terror and Response Strategies and it.
  • Welcomed the report of the Alliance of Civilizations.

On the sidelines of the roundtable, a decision was taken to create a special purpose vehicle on the Arab Islamic Renaissance.

The Third International Roundtable is part of a process initiated by Strategic Foresight Group, which began in 2004 with the convening of the First International Roundtable on Constructing Peace, Deconstructing Terror in New Delhi. This resulted in a declaration that proposed a distinction between terrorism and acts of terror, and dissociation of religion from terror. The Second International Roundtable, held at the European Parliament in collaboration with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament in June 2005 recommended a policy of Zero Tolerance of Terror and transformation strategies for dissuading young people from supporting terror and extremism.

List of Participants at the Third International Roundtable

Co-Hosts

• Graham Watson (UK), MEP, Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament
• Sundeep Waslekar (India), President, Strategic Foresight Group

Key Supporters

• Dr. Wolfgang Gerhardt (Germany), President of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and former Leader of the Free Democratic Party
• Amb Hesham Youssef (Egypt), Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the League of Arab States

Keynote Addresses

• Siim Kallas (Estonia), First Vice President of the European Commission
• Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (Denmark), MEP, former Prime Minister of Denmark and President of the European Socialist Parties

Participants

• Amb Hussain Bin Ali Bin Abdullatif (Oman), Senior Ambassador and Representative of the Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs
• Prof. Assia Bensaleh Alaoui (Morocco), Ambassador at Large
• The Rt. Hon Lord John Alderdice (UK), President of Liberal International and former Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
• Amb Hamad Al Amer (Bahrain), Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council
• Dr. Majed Al-Kassabi (Saudi Arabia), Director General of Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation
• Dr. Haifa Al Kaylani (UK), Chairperson of Arab International Women's Forum
• Dr. Abdullah Hussain Al-Kubaisi (Qatar), Director of the Office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Al Missned, Consort of the Emir of Qatar
• Sheikh Aflah Hamed Al Rawahy (Oman), Deputy Chairman of the State Council
• Khaled Al-Seif (Saudi Arabia), Chairman of El-Seif Group of Saudi Arabia
• Shukria Barakzai (Afghanistan), MP, Wolusi Jirgha, and Chief Editor of Women's Mirror
• Emma Bonino, (Italy), Minister for International Trade and Europe Affairs
• Prof. Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (The Netherlands), former Deputy Prime Minister
• Harlem Désir (France), MEP, Vice Chairman of Socialist Group in the European Parliament
• Gijs De Vries (the Netherlands), Counter-terrorism Coordinator for the European Union
• Amb Aly Maher El Sayed (Egypt), Director, SMWIPM Institute for Peace Studies at Bibliotheca Alexandrina
• Gareth Evans (Australia), former Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of International Crisis Group
• John Grogan (UK), MP, Chairman, All Party BBC Committee, House of Commons
• Amb Istvan Gyarmati (Hungary), Director of International Centre for Democratic Transitions
• Vidar Helgesen (Norway), former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary General of IDEA
• Dr. Shamil Idriss (United States), Deputy Director of the Alliance of Civilizations, United Nations
• Prof. Kamel Abu Jaber (Jordan), former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• HÃ¥kan Jonsson (Sweden), State Secretary of European Affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office
• Dr. René Klaff, (Germany) Regional Director South Asia, Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung
• Dr. Ashraf Mohsen (Egypt), Deputy Assistant Minister for Combating Terrorism in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Nikolay Paunov (Bulgaria), Counsellor to the Minister of Defence and President of Liberal Politological Institute
• Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter (Germany), President of Horasis: The Global Visions Community
• Dr. Jamal Salah (Jordan), Special Envoy of President of the Islamic Development Bank
• Petco Sertov (Bulgaria), National Security Advisor to Prime Minister
• Par Stenback (Finland), former Foreign Minister
• Istvan Szent-Ivanyi (Hungary), MEP, former Deputy Foreign Minister
• Juli Minoves Triquell (Andorra), Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Jasper Veen (the Netherlands), Secretary General of Liberal International
• Dr. Jürgen Wickert (Germany), Director International Political Dialogue, Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung
• Yasar Yakis (Turkey), MP, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey

Official Observers

• Talal Shubailat, representative of the League of Arab States
• Dr. Abduljalil Lahmanate (Morocco), Education Advisor in the Office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza, First Lady of Qatar.

Host Organisation Representatives

• Niccolo Rinaldi (ALDE)
• Ilmas Futehally (SFG)
• Susanne Hartig (FNS)
• Devika Mistry (SFG)

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