In his welcome address he said that over 370 delegates from 32 countries were attending the IISS Manama Dialogue 2012.
“Welcome to the Opening Dinner of the 8th IISS Manama Dialogue Regional Security Summit, held under the patronage of HRH the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa. Our ability to convene this international gathering owes much to his vision of a Bahrain fully engaged with the global community. The International Institute for Strategic Studies warmly thanks the authorities of the Kingdom of Bahrain for their support to the Manama Dialogue process. This is not just an annual summit, but a continuous effort by the IISS to promote international co-operation on matters of security and stability in this region. We are delighted to receive here over 370 delegates from 32 countries. Our hope and expectation is that this occasion will be used to advance the quality of international relations between the governments gathered here and to invite a transparent and influential debate on all matters affecting the future of the Gulf and the wider Middle East region. Once government delegations and the influential analysts gathered return to their homes, the IISS, from its headquarters in London, through its offices in Washington, Singapore, New Delhi and Bahrain, and with its members based throughout the world, will work to follow up on the issues discussed. The Institute will remain in close touch with analysts and government leaders focused on this region, animating informal discussions when it can. Through our research and published analysis we shall contribute to a continuous informed public debate on strategic issues affecting the region.
“The IISS launched the Manama Dialogue in 2004, following the successful experience we had in Singapore with the Shangri-La Dialogue, begun in 2002, that has developed into the most significant institution for defence diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific. Our perception was that the model of informal intergovernmental dialogue that we had built in Asia could be nurtured and developed in this region. Our first Dialogue was a great success, and each year built on the success of the previous summit. By 2010, the Manama Dialogue had clearly established itself as an informal intergovernmental summit. During it, hundreds of bilateral were conducted, and each delegation was led by a senior ministerial figure including one Head of State.
“In 2011 we agreed not to convene a Dialogue summit in December of that year, but while we paused, we did not stop, and in fact stepped up the momentum. In February 2012, and again in October 2012 we convened two Manama Dialogue Sherpa meetings here in Bahrain. At each meeting some 45 government officials gathered, drawn from most of the Manama Dialogue participating countries — diplomats, and military leaders — who worked with the IISS to discuss in detail issues that would be raised at this meeting. No Summit can be climbed without the help of sherpas and I want to thank the many officials who contributed to our discussions and helped us to refine our agenda for this Dialogue.
“Our ability to build the Manama Dialogue process has been hugely enhanced by the IISS Middle East office that we have developed in Bahrain.
“Over the year we have strengthened our regional office in Manama that now has sixteen staff members. Most recently, we have appointed two Bahraini research analysts, both young women who have been Crown Prince Scholars, Islam al Tayeb and Wafa al Sayed, as research analysts. The IISS has also based in Bahrain Ms Eneken Tikk-Ringas, from Estonia, one of the leading global experts on cyber-security issues and the law. Earlier, we appointed, connected to this office, Sanjaya Baru, formerly editor of the Business Standard in India and before that a close adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in India, as Director of our programme in Geo-economics and Strategy. Throughout 2012 we held numerous international conferences, seminars and lectures in Bahrain on geo-economic issues ranging from currency wars to trade and security matters. The IISS Middle East office housed here will cover regional issues from the Levant to North Africa, and thematic questions of geo-economics, geo-strategy, demographics and cyber-security amongst others. It will develop further programmes and activities while always supporting the Manama Dialogue process.
“Here, this weekend, we have delegates from Azerbaijan to Yemen, and we gather at a crucial time. Already we have held a vitally important opening session on Syria from a global perspective. The debate just completed with Mustafa Sabbagh of Syria, Chairman Mike Rogers of the US Select Committee of Intelligence in Congress, Wu Sike, China’s Special Envoy to the Middle East and Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru of Turkey, has shown again the value of drawing to the Dialogue the key actors of the moment in the regional security scene. I look forward to hearing more from these individuals and others in the plenary sessions tomorrow. During the weekend we shall be inviting North American, European, and Asian perspectives on regional security priorities and discussing the issues surrounding intervention and mediation of conflict, Syria and regional security, maritime security challenges, counter-terrorism, strategic reassurance and deterrence, and the influence of sectarian politics on regional security. We will conclude with a wide ranging discussion of Middle East security in a global context.
“The IISS has no specific agenda of its own in framing these discussions. Our purpose is to provide a congenial atmosphere in which quiet but effective diplomacy can take place to advance intelligent public policy goals in the interests of peace and prosperity. During the Summit our research staffs is taking the opportunity to provide briefings to government delegations on regional security issues covered in our publications. Certainly the points raised here will inform our future analysis of regional issues.
“Throughout this summit, I hope that we can promote together the spirit of intellectual provocation, reasoned debate, and practical diplomatic co-operation that rightly characterises the best gatherings of this kind.
“Against that background we are delighted that a champion of these principles is with us tonight. There is no better person to help us re-launch the Manama Dialogue Summit series than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Bahrain.”