“This is only the third time that an IAC meeting is being held in the Middle East and Bahrain was fortunate enough to be the venue,” Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak in his opening remarks said.
The Deputy Premier said that the rich experience being brought in by the participants, with most of them are former world leaders, will contribute with new impetus to decision making in the Middle East in general and the Arabian Gulf countries. “We are keen to see the three days of panel discussions and weigh the impact,” he said.
Delivering his keynote address at the meeting, Former Prime Minister of Jordan, Dr Abdel Salam Majali delving into the Arab Spring, said that the outbursts made it clear that functioning monarchies are the way forward.
Bahrain, he said, remains a vanguard of the reform movement in the region, has been transforming into a constitutional monarchy over the decade.
In his address the former Prime Minister of Jordan also spoke of the imbedded reasons for the surge in rebelliousness in the Arab world that resulted in the Arab Spring. “However, it is a spring that has not blossomed yet.
“The intervention of many international players, to ensure that their interests in this region aren’t endangered, helped turn it into an autumn of fury.”
Turning to peace and how to achieve it, he urged the meeting to continue on the stand adopted by IAC on nuclear disarmament. The Middle East, he said, must lobby for a nuclear-free region.
“All countries planning to have or already possessing nuclear armaments must, with no exception get rid of them under the watchful eye of international bodies responsible for such matter,” he asserted.
The Middle East peace initiative calls for a fresh lease of life for the current peace process. “Violence and a further deterioration of the situation will stir up yet more religious extremism and hopelessness,” he said on the issue.
He laid bare the historic perspective of the Israeli Palestine issue as well as the factors that have supported it.
The former PM also pointed to the failure of policies that led to the unrest in the Middle East, in terms of a number of ‘time bombs’ that blipped on the radar for over a decade.
He outlined the centralization of power in most Arab countries, leading to rural areas losing the ability to manage their affairs, as the first bomb. The second, he said, was the unemployment.
Tunisia and Egypt, he said, succeeded in creating enrolment in universities without creating the value chain of jobs for the graduates.
The third, he said, was the inability of economies to achieve sustainable economic growth. He blamed the rising defence spend for this. Financial malpractices, also added fuel to the fire, he said.
With the participation of a number of heads of state and global political leaders, this InterAction Council will benefit us all what with the wealth of expertise related to international relations, security, and political and economic development.
It is my hope that this is the first of many such opportunities for Bahrain to participate in a critical exchange of ideas borne of our collective experiences.”