Academic Peace Orchestra Middle East

• The project "Academic Peace Orchestra Middle East" has been coordinated at PRIF from 2010 to 2016. Since August 2016, it is pursued as a private initiative: www.academicpeaceorchestra.com 

The Academic Peace Orchestra Middle East is a classical Track-II initiative: The Orchestra consists of some 70 experts – mainly from the Middle East/Gulf, one of the most conflict-ridden areas of the world. The Orchestra is meeting regularly in working groups (“Chamber Orchestra Units”) on specific topics in the context of a nine part conference cycle from 2011-2014. The main goal of this initiative is to shape the “Middle East Conference 2012” on the establishment of a zone free of weapon of mass destruction and their delivery vehicles agreed upon by the international community in May 2010.

For this reason, these experts develop ideas, concepts, and background information in a series of some 40 “Policy Briefs” which are the results of intense discussions within the “Chamber Orchestra Units”. They will be released under the series title “Policy Brief for the Middle East Conference on a WMD/DV Free Zone” and will be sent to high-ranking decision makers in the Middle East/Gulf, diplomats and (inter)national media. In this framework, the broader normative “Cooperative Security Concept” – will be further developed, embedded, and institutionalized in the region. The concept also served as the basis for the earlier project “Missile Defense Research”. At the same time, the Orchestra meetings serve as venues for confidence-building among the experts. The networking activities of PRIF’s project group are documented by the Atlas on Track-II research activities in or about the Middle East/Gulf region.

The Academic Peace Orchestra Middle East online.

Creating New Momentum for Disarmament and Nonproliferation in the Middle East/Gulf

Building on past achievements the Academic Peace Orchestra Middle East is currently focusing on the Ambassador Laajava centered project “Creating New Momentum for Disarmament and Nonproliferation in the Middle East/Gulf” with the Frankfurt Kick-off Conference in early December 2015 and the Follow-up Berlin Conference in May 2016. The project is sponsored by the foreign ministries in Berlin and Berne. The two conferences which aim at overcoming the current stalemate by initiating a new conference process are designed and organized by the project group which includes the project director Bernd W. Kubbig as well as the research assistants Lisa Weis and Sophia Wenzel.