JEDDAH, 13 December 2006 — A move to restructure relations between Western and Islamic countries saw some innovative confidence-building proposals being floated in Brussels in order to deconstruct terror and build trust between the societies which are currently at odds over many issues. Forty leaders from Western and Islamic countries met at the European Parliament at the invitation of the Strategic Foresight Group (SFG) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) for the Third International Roundtable on Constructing Peace, Deconstructing Terror. The initiative was endorsed by the Arab League and supported by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.

The proposals at the two-day roundtable on Nov. 26-27, included 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 Arabic culture and language in Europe.

Graham Watson, leader of the ALDE group, Dr. Wolfgang Gerhardt, president of the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, Sundeep Waslekar, president of SFG, opened the inaugural session. Siim Kallas, first vice president of the European Commission, welcomed the participants on behalf of Europe and emphasized the importance of good governance. Ambassador Hesham Youssef, special envoy of the secretary-general of Arab League, and Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former Danish premier and president of the European Socialist Parties, delivered keynote addresses.

Youssef appealed for a partnership between Europe and the Arab world to address critical problems in the Middle East, especially given the repercussions they have for Europe. In response, Rasmussen argued that it was necessary for all parties to move away from the blame game and seek common approaches to global problems. He suggested that it was natural to have differences but it was important to recognize these differences and address them in order to find acceptable solutions.

Conference on Peace

The roundtable emphasized the need to find an urgent, fair and sustainable solution to the Palestinian problem. The problem stirs strong emotions around the world as an indication of injustice and the neglect of Arab concerns by Western powers. It is at times used by groups committing acts of terror who might otherwise be constructively engaged in ameliorating the situation of the Palestinian people. Whichever way it is looked at, there is an absolute urgency to find a sustainable solution to the problem.

The roundtable recommended an inclusive semi-permanent conference or uninterrupted long-term talks that take place despite disruptions and violence in the short run. Eventually they may move in the direction of creating a conference on security and cooperation in the Middle East to address not only the Palestinian conflict, but also other aspects of security and cooperation in the region.

The semi-permanent conference may begin as a forum for dialogue between states that have a stake in the peace and security of the region. An important element must be to provide a place at the table, for representatives of the Palestinian Authority, as well as for small states in the region. This would be following the successful example of the rules used by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).

Also, following the CSCE example, it would be useful to engage at multiple levels — at the level of senior officials appointed by the states and other interested institutions — on a semi-permanent basis for talks on certain days every week or every month. For instance, Cabinet ministers could meet from time to time and the heads of government initially once a year. In addition, expert committees may be convened as and when required.

WIDE Initiative

While the Inclusive Semi Permanent Conference on the Middle East Peace can address regional issues, it is necessary to have a mechanism — Western-Islamic Dialogue and Engagement (WIDE) — to address wider security and cooperation issues between the Western and Islamic countries. The roundtable proposed the establishment of a contact group of respected leaders from the Western and Islamic countries to deliberate over an agreed period of time, ideas for institutional cooperation between Western and Islamic countries and to communicate a common understanding reached through such discussion to the international community for support and implementation. The contact group would explore common ground on critical conceptual issues. It is particularly necessary to develop a common global ethic. While the world economy is integrating, the fabric of core human values is eroding. Such a disjunction between economy and human values is not sustainable.

The roundtable also recommended large scale student exchanges between Western and Islamic countries. Even in the era of the Internet, it is necessary to encourage personal interface. It should also be possible to use technology in an imaginative way in order to promote cultural coexistence, engaging students and youth of various regions in the world. While educational exchanges have been proposed earlier, they have faced barriers such as visas for students from Islamic countries intending to study in Europe and North America. The contact group can use its political capital to lessen such entry barriers.

The roundtable also recommended very strongly, in order to promote understanding and coexistence, the establishment of centers of Arabic culture and language at universities in Europe, including media cooperation between Western and Islamic countries and other countries facing the threat of terrorism and extremism. The WIDE Initiative Contact Group may seek input from experts as and when needed. It may also consult government leaders informally to examine the feasibility of specific ideas of institutional cooperation. In addition to the contact group, it would be necessary to have a group of stakeholder countries and institutions.

Study Group on Civilization

The roundtable welcomed the idea of a study group on the Islamic and European Renaissance to explore the mutual dependence and interface between Western and Islamic civilization. An independent study group will re-examine some of the critical historical issues from the perspective of examining inter-dependence and mutual cooperation in the development of humanity. The outcome of such an examination should be publicized.

AIR Initiative

The roundtable discussed the concept of an Arab Islamic Renaissance (AIR) Initiative to provide an alternative vision of society to the Arab world. Discussion on this subject was partially conducted in the full house and mostly in informal small break-out groups. The main conclusions were the following:

— The initiative should be essentially an internal Arab endeavor, with SFG playing a facilitating role. The initiative should primarily aim to build a scientific temperament, human resource capacity, employment for youth, and a new and modern outlook in the Arab societies.

— The initiative should explore specific ideas such as modern Houses of Wisdom, large-scale translation of scientific books and literature into Arabic, establishment of institutes of technology and social development, and others.

— The initiative should primarily use the current capacity and existing institutions in the region and examine how they could be expanded to cover the entire Middle East. In this context, various programs of the Islamic Development Bank and Qatar Foundation were mentioned as examples.

The roundtable also emphasized the need to have internal dialogue and education within societies to understand their respective cultures. The Third International Roundtable is part of a process initiated by SFG, 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 in order to dissuade young people from supporting terror and extremism.