Sixteen years ago, I was invited to join the Middle East Peace Process working group on Arms Control and Security Cooperation by the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). For three years, we met every six months and discussed critical military issues in the region from terrorism to nuclear security. Representatives from all the key nations in the MENA region attended, but no terrorist organisations were invited.
The workshops were taken very seriously as we heard privileged information from the IDF about their military operations in Lebanon in 2002 and 2006 and from the US Center for Strategic Studies (CSIS) about Iran’s nuclear capabilities. In the margins, the forum also used military diplomacy to reduce tensions between Israel and its near neighbours, including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey after they cancelled joint naval exercises.
For some reason, the US State Department withdrew funding during the Arab Spring and the group was closed down. It is now very hard to find any of its reports posted on the internet as the IGCC has shifted its focus to US-China relations. This is a great pity as the Middle East totters on the edge of catastrophe.
The world is a very different place in 2024, but the international community still needs mechanisms such as this former working group more than ever to defuse tensions. Israel also needs keep its Allies on side because, as we were told by the CSIS, it is likely that the Arabian Gulf will turn into the front line in the event of an Iranian conflict with Israel and the US.
Rupert Wieloch 