ME Round Table

ROUND TABLE SUMMARY

"What are the missing elements in diplomatic efforts in the Middle East?"

2012

Author: Leda Betti

What are the missing elements in diplomatic efforts in the Middle East?

Summary: Published by the Global Diplomatic Forum

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The report is available at www.gdforum.org

We would like to thank Leda Betti for the excellent work she has done on creating this report. We would also like to thank whole heartedly our distinguished Chair and speakers.

Summary

Individuating the gaps and silences of current regional and foreign politics in the Middle East. With this theme in mind,UK and European specialists have gathered at the House of Commons on 4 December 2012 for the round table “What are the missing elements in the diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.”

Speaking in front of an audience of diplomats, foreign policy experts, and students with an interest in the region, the specialists engaged in an open and frank discussion on the three areas of the Middle East that are currently at the centre of concerted peace efforts by the international community, namely Iran, Syria and Israel-Palestine.

Speakers:

Andrew Wilson - Sky News Presenter

Geoffrey Van Orden- Member of European Parliament, Conservative Party

Chris Doyle - Director of The Council of Arab-British Understanding

Daniel Levy , Director of the ME & NA Programme, European Council

Marietje Schaake , Member of European Parliament

Thomas Docherty , Member of UK Parliament, Labour Party

Ivan Volodin , Head of Foreign Policy, The Russian Embassy, London

Iran

There is broad agreement on the fact that the issue of nuclear proliferation in Iran is a major contributor to tension in the region, and that the country should not be allowed to acquire weapons of mass destruction. To this end, most speakers stressed the importance of active engagement with Iran. Different opinions exist on what form this active engagement should take, with some speakers suggesting to limit the means of action to diplomacy (Ivan Volodin , Head of Foreign Policy, The Russian Embassy, and London ) and others taking a stronger, more uncompromising view (Geoffrey Van Orden- Member of European Parliament, Conservative Party ).

On the meaning and effectiveness of recent economic sanctions to Iran, opinions ranged from finding them a useful deterrent (Geoffrey Van Orden), to claiming that they are ineffective (Thomas Docherty , Member of UK Parliament, Labour Party and Chris Doyle - Director of The Council of Arab-British Understanding), or pointing out that they have been more damaging than good (Ivan Volodin ). The Member of the European Parliament (Marietje Schaake) stressed the need of EU engagement with regional actors such as Turkey and the Arab League.

Syria

Opinions in this case were more fragmented. Disagreement existed on the question of the Russian veto in the United Nation Security Council, with the Russian representative clearly defending his country’s stance, and others blaming the current paralysis of decision-making on Russia, in different degrees.

The range of positions therefore varies dramatically between non- interventionists, and speakers who stressed the necessity of military action. The role of the European Union in the Syrian question has also been subject toscrutiny, with the European Council on Foreign Relations representative pointing out the lack of decisive options that Europe is facing at the moment, while Geoffrey Van Orden suggested that the EU involvement in several crises in the region reflects its ambitions in foreign policy.

A certain degree of consensus exists on the fact that military intervention in Syria would require more sophisticated technology than it did in Libya.

Israel-Palestine

This is a peace process with abloody and lengthy history. Such point has been made by the speakers throughout the discussion, with several of them claiming that the peace process through a two-state solutions is dead, and that stronger diplomatic leadership is needed to come out of this paralysis.However, opinions on what leadership might entail here varied greatly, and in accordance with the speakers’ interpretations of what causes the conflict.

Geoffrey Van Order would like to see the pressure that Israel had to withstand rebalanced by the EU applying more leverage on the Palestinians, while the Director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, Chris Doyle believed that the ‘divide and rule’ policy conducted by the governments of Sharon and Netanyahu has opposed reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, and contributed to further instability.

Whereas Ivan Volodin was mildly optimistic on the chances of conducting successful negotiations, Daniel Levymaintained that Israel had no interest in a two-state solution, since Israeli public opinion experiences impunity all the time. Since Obama’s second term suggest continuity and a focus on domestic issues, he argued, a permanent solution to Israel-Palestine relations might be hard to establish.

Next Steps - The Middle East and North Africa Programme

Following the Middle East Round Table at the House of Commons, ideas will be extracted from the Round Table and other ideas by our researchers will be analysed to produce a Consultation’s Report examining scenarios for different resolutions for the different conflicts.

The report is to be assessed by a panel of experts in a group discussion sessions in February before publishing it and making accessible to key global stakeholders.

“The missing elements in diplomatic efforts in the Middle East Summary”

House of Commons – 04 December 2012

Published by the Global Diplomatic Forum

The report is available at www.gdforum.org

We would like to thank Leda Betti for the excellent work she has done on creating this report. We would also like to thank the team who worked on the planning, production and delivery of a very successful Round Table.

Email: [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0) 207 096 93932