The IISS manages and runs many international conferences in all parts of the globe. In doing so, it seeks wherever possible to bring government officials together in a format, on subjects, and in a combination, that they might not be able to manage for themselves. Under the international auspices of the IISS, it is often easier to arrange for discreet contacts to take place between government officials who wish to meet, but to do so unofficially and away from the public eye.

Sometimes these meetings can be organised between just two countries, on a specific subject, in private. At other times they can involve many different countries, with a variety of officials convening both in circumstances where press are present, and more privately. In all cases, the contribution the IISS makes is to spur discussions in an informal manner, help to create new networks of contacts and assist governments to gain a better understanding of the positions of others in an intellectually invigorating environment.

In doing this, the IISS provides some of the oil that eases the friction of international affairs. We call this 'Para- Diplomacy'. These meetings of officials in the presence of the IISS and other analysts that it might bring together are essentially, to use another term,'First Track meetings, with a Second Track component'.

Because of both our private and international character, we are better placed than any other think-tank in the world to plan such events in the foreign policy and security field. We have organised para-diplomatic conferences in Europe, Asia and the Gulf.

Our largest such event is the IISS Asia Security Summit or Shangri-La Dialogue. The success of the Shangri-La Dialogue has encouraged us to organise other large-scale events, including a Regional Security Summit in Bahrain.