Dr. Steven Spiege from the
University of California discusses the most recent meetings of the
Conference on Regional Security in the Middle East which took place in
Athens. A separate military-to-military meeting also took place in
Turkey. These track-two diplomacy meetings were held in the midst of
four regional crises-the Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, the Gaza
crisis, the Iran nuclear controversy, and the rampant violence in
Iraq-all of which have the potential to spill over into region-wide
conflicts. A record-setting 263 attendees from 35 countries (including
all the Middle East, North African, and Persian Gulf countries)
participated in ten working groups and task forces in Athens, hosted by
the government of Greece. The mil-mil meetings are carried out in
conjunction with the University of California, Institute on Global
Conflict and Cooperation with the cooperation of the U.S. Department of
Defense. The Conference on Regional Security in the Middle East has
been bringing together government and academic experts from throughout
the region together for informal discussions continuously since 1993.
