Middle East: Difficult Negotiations Ahead

In mid-September, Israelis and Palestinians resumed negotiations aimed at ending the Middle East conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas both said the commencement of their direct talks at the beginning of September had gone well. To that end, prospects look good that the two sides will come to an agreement capable of promoting peace in the region. 

Wanted: Progress toward a peaceful neighborhood

The meeting that took place in 1995 was an ambitious one: At the invitation of the Bertelsmann Stiftung, parties to the Middle East's various conflicts sat down together to map out a peaceful future for the region and to develop a strategy for creating a trans-Mediterranean partnership. Held in an idyllic town in the foothills of the Taunus Mountains near Frankfurt, the meeting 15 years ago was the initial event in what has since become known as the Kronberg Talks.

The EU and the Gulf states: Resolving crises together

Choose your traveling companion carefully before you set out. Those were the words -- a proverb well-known to Arabs -- that German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg used to conclude his opening remarks at the Bertelsmann Stiftung's 12th Kronberg Talks, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an event co-organized with the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and Saudi Arabia's Institute of Diplomatic Studies.  As would become apparent over the course of the two-day meeting, the attendees had indeed taken the saying to heart. The first segment of the gathering was open to the public, a fact that was in and of itself worthy of note in the Saudi capital. Above all, however, the talks were marked by an openness that was much appreciated by the some 50 policymakers, diplomats, business leaders and academic specialists from Germany and Europe. In Riyadh, Europeans and Arabs set off together as willing companions on their common journey.

Bound to Cooperate - Europe and the Middle East

What interests does Europe pursue in the Middle East? How could interregional relations best be organized?

1st edition, 2000

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