Qatar hosts the US-Islamic World Forum

The State of Qatar hosts in the period of 18 to 20 February 2006 the US-Islamic World Forum for the third time. The Forum seeks to serve as both a convening body and a catalyst for positive action. Therefore, its focus is not to maintain dialogue for dialogue's sake, but on developing actionable programmes for government, civil society, and the private sector.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs will open the forum with a welcome address. The inaugural session will be addressed by a number of participants including foreign ministers of Bahrain and Malaysia.

In a press conference on Friday 17 February 2006, H.E. Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi Assistant Foreign Minister for Follow Up Affairs reviewed the themes and the goals of the forum and its future visions concerning US and Islamic World relations with Peter Singer Director of Project on U.S Policy Towards the Islamic World at Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

H.E. Al Rumaihi stressed that the forum is held at the initiative of H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani the Emir of Qatar in order to build bridges in terms of US and Islamic World relations.

H.E. also stated that the themes of the forum include: Perceptions and Reality: the latest from Public Opinion Polling, the state of U.S. – Muslim World Relations now and in the previous five years starting from 9/11, Youth and Development, the Media Effect, technology, Arts, Politics, Faith and change in the age of Globalization, Youth and the future of U.S Islamic relations and finally the status of minorities in the world.

H.E. highlighted that a large number of leaders and decision makers in politics, arts, culture and thought will attend the forum.

Mr. Singer talked about the tensions in US –Islamic World relations, highlighting the importance of such forum in bringing closer the view points and opinion exchange on many issues concerning both parties in order to build more positive relations.

He noted that the themes of the forum will include other topics dealing with the situation in Iraq and Palestine after the legislative elections and the victory of Hamas in addition to the cartoons issue which offended the Muslims. He said that the forum will push dialogue and relations between U.S. and the Islamic world a step forward.

The first meeting of the Forum was in January 2004. Over 165 leaders from the Untied States and 37 states in the Muslim World convened for three days of discussion and debate. Former US President Bill Clinton and the Emir of Qatar His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani delivered the keynote addresses. The 2005 Forum sought to build upon these foundations, bringing together 160 leaders from the US and 35 Muslim countries, from Senegal to Indonesia. 

The forum is organized by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with U.S. Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

By focusing on creating a diverse set of attendees, the Forums have created a unique meeting space. The Forum is the only venue where a Wall Street banker might end up sitting next to an Islamist leader from Pakistan or where a news editor from Egypt might share dinner with an admiral from the US Navy. While the participants always include an array of notable policymakers and opinion-shapers, others are enthralled by the chance to hear new voices and meet the next generation of leaders.

In addition to dialogue and debate, among the most heartening aspects of the meetings are the various networks and endeavours generated by convening so many dynamic leaders. Past outcomes of the Forum have included the building of schools and other human development initiatives in the region, the formation of a Muslim American foreign policy group, and the initiation of “Track Two” diplomatic talks for certain conflict zones. The meetings also provide the foundation for a range of complementary activities designed to enhance the effectiveness of dialogue. These include a follow-up regional conference series, which would run parallel conferences in other Muslim regions, the assembling of task forces of policymakers and experts, and associated outreach, research, and publications. Collaborative media, education, and youth-centred programmes help expand the impact of such activities.

The theme of the 2006 US-Islamic World Forum, “Leaders Effect Change,” seeks to build on the previous sessions. Past Forums have established that, in a region once characterised by stasis and stability, immense change has taken place in the relationship between the US and the wider Muslim World since September 11. Importantly, this change has mostly taken place in manners and outcomes that few on either side find to be wholly positive. But this status quo, regardless of how one views it, is fleeting. Or, to put it more directly, the status quo is change itself. Deliberate policies, both in foreign policy and internal reform, reflect explicit goals to be “factors of change.” At the same time, powerful external dynamics, such as globalisation and demographics, shake the system. The relationship is and will remain in flux. This state of flux shapes everything from debates about the role of religion in politics to the interplay between arts, popular culture, and perceptions of each other. Both the repercussions of the past and the forces of change lying just over the horizon must be understood.

At the same time, past forums established the mutual responsibilities that American and Muslim World leaders have towards mending the relationship and working on areas of joint concern. This leads to the question of how will leaders react to these forces of change, and what actions will they take to steer them towards more positive ends? It is a fundamental underpinning of the US-Islamic World Forum that true leaders take ownership of problems and work to solve them

Foreign Information Agency of the State of Qatar /17/2/2006