Middle East & North Africa

As the last tanks withdrew behind a newly completed fence, crowds of Palestinians celebrated. A 21 year-old Palestinian student told a New York Times reporter that, finally able to move freely, he and his friends had “seen places we've never seen before, that we've heard about for years.” 

For Mathias Mossberg, the head of the Middle East Program at the EastWest Institute, the withdrawal from Gaza represented an opportunity for positive change. A former Swedish ambassador, Mossberg began work with EWI in 2003 and began two projects. In the Private Sector Initiative, Mossberg’s team successfully interested a powerful group of financiers from Chicago to invest in a Gaza industrial property that provided 500 local jobs. EWI’s hope was that once convinced of its value, Israelis and Palestinians would transfer the asset safely. A second program encouraged frank talk between Israelis and Palestinians.

“The dialogues project was built on the motto of EWI, to bring together people who would not ordinarily speak,” says Mossberg. He remembers that, during the talks, there was a growing sense that a traditional two-state solution would not work for Israel. “So we started to think outside the box, engaging well-connected people on both sides.”

What emerged from EWI’s dialogues was a new vision of a peaceful Israel in which Palestinians and Israelis lived together side by side, as citizens of two superimposed states. Mossberg wrote about “parallel states” for Foreign Affairs and The Guardian and, after leaving EWI, continued to study the idea with the support of the Swedish government.

Mossberg himself concedes that this dual system of government is far-fetched, although he points out that all so-called realistic peace plans have failed. Recently, he presented the results of his academic study in Israel. He says the reception was enthusiastic, even among some Israeli settlers. He particularly remembers one young Palestinian woman from Ramallah who lit up at the thought.

“She said, ‘Wow, that would mean I could go see the coast,’” Mossberg recounts. “And this was so interesting because on the one hand it shows you the tragedy that people can’t go 30 miles to the coast, but on the other shows that a young person confronted with new ideas sees the possibilities and not the obstacles.”

The five years since Israel withdrew from Gaza have, of course, not lived up to Sharon’s hopes. Hamas radicalized the territory. Rocket launches, retaliations, a tight embargo and accusations of war atrocities have made a lasting peace seem all the more elusive. The industrial park EWI sought to protect was destroyed in border fighting.

But still, something has survived from EWI’s intervention in the Middle East: the tentative connections made between Israelis and Palestinians in the dialogues, and some of their ideas. Ideas that may not bring peace tomorrow, but that can offer new hope to a new generation.

Under the auspices of EWI’s Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention and its work on women, peace and security, the delegation, two-thirds of them women, took part in high-level meetings in Brussels’ most prominent institutions. The Afghan delegation’s goal was to promote their role in international political bodies and to engage in discussions on peace and security with regard to the future of Afghanistan.

The release of this report coincides with the 5^th Anniversary of the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention, which mobilizes members in parliaments across the globe to find pioneering ways to prevent and end conflicts. For more information on the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention, please visit: www.parliamentariansforconflictprevention.net

Other reports in this series:

> Women, Peace and Security, 2012

> Forging New Ties, 2011

> A New Voice for Afghan Women, 2011

On April 14-16, 2012, the EastWest Institute, in partnership with the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) of the National Assembly of Pakistan, arranged for the first official delegation of Pakistani women parliamentarians to visit Afghanistan. This ground-breaking visit is described in the publication Women, Peace and Security, released today in anticipation of the institute's annual awards dinner honoring two of the parliamentarians who took part in this dialogue. On September 27th, EWI will present its distinguished leadership award to Dr. Fehmida Mirza, the first woman speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, and Ms. Shinkai Karokhail, a renowned women’s rights activist and member of the Afghan Parliament.

Over the course of their visit, the parliamentarians discussed issues related to reconciliation with the Taliban and regional economic cooperation with Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Masoom Stanikzai, Advisor to the President on Internal Security and Head of the Secretariat for Afghanistan's High Peace Council; Zalmai Rassoul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan; Haji Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, the Speaker of the Lower House; and members of the Wolesi Jirga Commission on Women’s Affairs, Civil Society and Human Rights.

In the meeting with President Karzai, the Afghan leader declared: “This initiative is of immense importance to both countries and a great sign of a better future.” He called for more contacts between women parliamentarians in both countries, saying that such visits are “instrumental in strengthening of trust-building between the two nations.”

Click here to read more coverage of the Kabul visit.

Southwest Asia's future depends on increased cooperation among countries in the region to confront diverse military and human security problems, and the Euro-Atlantic community can play a supporting role, according to an EastWest Institute discussion paper.

This region has few effective regional security organizations and none that attempt to bridge the main divides, the paper finds. It calls on the states of the region to commit on their own terms to the long-term goal of bridging serious geopolitical fault lines.

This goal, according to the report, holds out the promise of embedding the most serious and intractable conflicts in a wider regional vision to create new incentives and mechanisms for reducing tensions. The experience of Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe shows that bridging fault lines is not only possible but essential in times of high tension, military confrontation and military build-up.

"Russia, Turkey, the United States and the EU need to have a clearer, common plan for long term security in and around Iran, the Persian Gulf, Pakistan, and Afghanistan," said EWI Professorial Fellow Greg Austin. "This paper offers one element of that missing 'shared vision.'"

The paper provisionally defines the region as including: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and adjacent maritime areas. Though a final grouping could be different, this region stretches across cultural and political divides and lies at the center of global energy supplies, existing military conflicts, and other ongoing tensions.

One way to understand the importance of a regional grouping, the paper argues, is to look to Southeast Asia as a possible model. In the mid-20th century, Southeast Asia was the highly militarized site of several international and domestic conflicts. By 2000, regional organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had helped promote economic growth, international cooperation and increased stability. The region has been fundamentally transformed.

The paper emphasizes that Southwest Asian states must take the lead in a solidified regional framework, but the Euro-Atlantic community can play a significant role by encouraging the development of new organizations through funding and facilitating track-2 dialogues and developing various region-focused programs.

You can also read Greg Austin's column on this work for New Europe. Follow this link and turn to page 5.

The Forum brought together representatives from 34 U.N. Member States. The aim: to establish a foundation of trust among these crucial states and identify the next milestones on the path to global zero.

 In an effort to make the Nuclear Discussion Forum an organic, Member State-led process, participants were asked to select five high-priority topics for discussion and form a core working group. This core working group met before each forum meeting to review the prepared “policy reference points,” raise specific issues to be discussed and suggest a speaker and discussant. Six Member States volunteered to serve in the group alongside EWI and the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan: Austria, Costa Rica, Egypt, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Uruguay.

 This short report is intended to capture a sense of the debate as it proceeded in the Forum, which has gained praise from key international leaders:

 “As a member of the core group, Egypt participated actively in the activities of the Nuclear Discussion Forum, which it sees as a commendable initiative facilitated through the partnership of the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan and the EastWest Institute, and expects the NDF to continue to contribute valuably to raising international public awareness on the merit of the goal of total and comprehensive nuclear disarmament.”

His Excellency Maged Abdelaziz

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations

 “The Nuclear Discussion Forum has provided a major and sustained opportunity for conducting a healthy exercise in the context of international relations: exchanging points of views on issues of great concern that  generate multiple positions. For a peaceful country as Costa Rica, deeply committed to disarmament and a world free of nuclear weapons, the Forum has opened an arena for discussion, not with the aim of convincing fellow countries or forging common proposals, but, rather, of deepening a constructive dialogue that will certainly contribute to our aspirations.”

His Excellency Eduardo Ulibarri

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations

 “The Nuclear Discussion Forum has contributed to the cultivation of an informal disarmament community among officials with relevant responsibilities both in the Permanent Missions and in the Secretariat’s office for Disarmament Affairs. And it has provided a welcome opportunity for all participants to receive briefings from outside experts on specific subjects on the international disarmament and nonproliferation agenda.”

Sergio Duarte

United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs

 “The debate on ridding the world of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and ensuring non-proliferation must continue with purpose among all stakeholders. My delegation was pleased to participate in the very constructive Nuclear Discussion Forum, the report of which aptly underscores the urgency of mobilizing political will to undertake the States’ stated commitments on achieving the vision of global nuclear zero. My commendation to the Mission of Kazakhstan and EastWest Institute for undertaking this highly important effort.”

His Excellency Hasan Kleib

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations

 “Austria has actively participated in the Nuclear Discussion Forum as a member of its Core Working Group. This commendable partnership between the EastWest Institute and the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan has underscored the urgent need for new progress in the field of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, and I hope that the Forum will continue its important functions next year”.

His Excellency Thomas Mayr-Harting

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations

“Participants  agreed that the relationship between the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan will determine the success of reconciliation.  The recent increase in tensions between Afghanistan, the U.S. and Pakistan gives reason for concern,” said Guenter Overfeld, EWI Vice President and Director of Regional Security.

Discussions with the insurgency require that Kabul and the international community make more efforts to work towards a successful transition not only in the military field, but also through strengthening good governance and economic development. A political settlement is particularly urgent, according to participants, given that NATO intends to hand over responsibility for Afghanistan’s security to the government in Kabul by 2014.

To speed up reconciliation, participants repeated their earlier call for an “address,” or standing political office, for the Taliban. With an office, it would be easier to streamline fragmented negotiations efforts and ensure the safety of negotiators.

Participants also discussed how to build intergovernmental trust, recommending the establishment of a Pakistani body committed to working with the Afghan High Peace Jirga and a format for talks between the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan that is more effective than the current trialogue meetings.

“It is difficult to imagine that a final settlement can be achieved without greater clarity on the future of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan,” the report points out.
Still, participants emphasized that “reconciliation must be Afghan led and Afghan owned.” They called on Afghan authorities to deliver better public services, improve governance and emphasize that there will be no return to the Taliban policies of the 1990s.

“Ironically, some of the older Taliban leaders, who are committed to a largely nationalist agenda, may be less militant on these issues than the ‘neo-Taliban,’ the younger generation of Taliban leaders,” participants observed. “It may be easier to strike a deal with the Taliban now, while the old leadership is still in place, than with their successors.

The report also stresses that reconciliation must not jeopardize the Afghan constitution and human rights. “Any return to the Taliban policies of the 1990s, including their attempts to banish female education, would be a recipe for disaster,” it states.

Click here to download the first and second reports from the Abu Dhabi Process

Click here to download the report.

The report is based on concrete recommendations made by more than 70 leading lawmakers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Muslim countries, as well as representatives from Europe and the U.S., convened by EWI and the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention at an international conference hosted by the European Parliament on December 7, 2010.