The IISS will convene the 5th Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue 12-14 December 2008
Organised annually, the IISS Manama Dialogue provides a forum for the national security establishments of the participating states to exchange views on regional security challenges. It is a unique forum in that it is made up of governmental delegations from over 20 countries, including not only the states of the region and the immediate neighbourhood, but also the outside powers with security interests in the Gulf.
The Manama Dialogue provides opportunities for government leaders to deliver vitally important public statements about the evolving policy approaches to regional security. Crucially, it also facilitates private bilateral and multilateral meetings between participating states in order to advance immediate policy goals. Against this background, senior officials are able to engage with the leading experts in the region in a manner that can help to animate fresh policy thinking.
In 2008, the 5th anniversary meeting will draw together the highest concentration to date of policy-makers involved in regional security, and delegations will once again comprise a measured blend of prime ministers, defence ministers, foreign ministers, national security advisors, and military and intelligence chiefs.
The Manama Dialogue process is maturing into the most important regional security meeting in the Middle East and, in a current cycle hosted by the Kingdom of Bahrain through to 2011, is an excellent anchor for regional security diplomacy.
See the extended summary for the IISS Regional Security Summit
About The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
The IISS is an international membership organisation based in London, and is both a limited company in UK law and a registered charity. It has offices in the US and in Singapore that operate under its name with charitable status in each jurisdiction. Founded in 1958, much of the Institute’s early work focused on nuclear deterrence and arms control, and the Institute was influential in setting the intellectual structures for managing the Cold War. Over the last decade the IISS has become a truly global organisation, with individual and corporate members in over one hundred countries. The Institute’s high-profile publications are universally regarded as providing the best independent, internationally sourced information and commentary on the main strategic events touching on national, regional and global security. The IISS owes no allegiance to any government, or to any political or other organisation. The Institute's conference activities are considered to be at the forefront of public policy development, given that its convening power is such that it can often bring government officials and others together in forum that they could not easily manage for themselves.
