4th Annual Middle East Strategy Forum (MESF 2024)

The Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD) is delighted to announce the 4th annual Middle East Strategy Forum (MESF 2024), to be hosted on November 18, 2024, in downtown Ottawa.

This year’s forum takes place at a pivotal moment, as the Middle East faces an unprecedented escalation of conflicts, causing immense humanitarian suffering and further entangling external powers—particularly the United States and the North Atlantic bloc.

MESF has established itself as the largest and most comprehensive Middle East-focused conference in Canada. The forum will bring together approximately 30 prominent speakers from Canada, the United States, and the Middle East, and convene a diverse in-person audience of 200 participants, including government officials, academics, diplomats, think-tankers, and business leaders.

The event offers deep-dive panels, on-stage interviews with policymakers, and dedicated networking sessions.

Set against the backdrop of the U.S. presidential elections in early November, the first anniversary of the October 7th attacks, the ongoing war in Gaza, and the expansion of Israel’s military operations into Lebanon, the Middle East’s geopolitical landscape is undergoing transformative changes that will shape the years ahead.

Amid such unprecedented shifts in the regional balance of power—where traditional red lines are being erased and new rules and deterrence strategies are emerging—this year’s theme, “Searching for Strategic Equilibrium in the New Middle East {Dis}order,” aims to explore new pathways to halt the region’s dangerous escalation toward an all-out regional war and to offer nuanced diplomatic solutions for achieving sustainable peace and security in the Middle East.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with leading experts and policymakers on the pressing issues shaping the future of the Middle East.

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Host or Publisher Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD)