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, now celebrating its 50th anniversary, is the primary source of accurate, objective information on international strategic issues for politicians, foreign affairs analysts, business, economists, the military, the media, academics and the informed public. The Institute is independent, owing no allegiance to any governments or any political or other organisations. The IISS stresses rigorous research with a forward-looking policy orientation and places particular emphasis on bringing new perspectives to the strategic debate.
IISS publications include the authoritative annual The Military Balance, an inventory of the world’s armed forces; the online Armed Conflict Database; Strategic Survey, an annual retrospective of the year’s political and military trends; the Adelphi Paper monograph series which provides in-depth analysis of general strategic issues; Survival, an international relations journal; Strategic Comments, containing short briefings on breaking strategic issues; and occasional Dossiers providing facts and information on key military and strategic issues.
The IISS while based in London is international in scope, character and perspective and enjoys unique convening power. It brings together annually defence ministers, foreign ministers and national security advisers in various formats privately, and more publicly, to discuss and shape international security policy. It holds influential events each year in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia and frequently engages leaders from Latin America and Africa. The IISS is truly a global organisation.
