Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference

Madrid, 2-4 December 2011

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax) held the meeting “Madrid + 20 - Lessons Learned” on 2-4 December 2011 at the Palacio de Viana in Madrid. The meeting, which was held under the sponsorship of the European Union and the support of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, involved the participation of key experts and former officials from the Middle East, Europe and the USA. Participants included Hanan Ashrawi, Marwan Muasher, Shlomo Ben Ami, Felipe González, Daniel Kurtzer, Mustafa Barghouti, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Thomas Pickering, as well as a number of young activists and experts from the region who provided a fresh outlook. The purpose of the meeting was to carry out  a serene reflection on the process and attempt to draw useful lessons.

On this same occasion, a roundtable, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Defense, was held at the Gutiérrez Mellado Institute on 2 December 2011. The meeting, titled “The Madrid Peace Conference: The Middle East Twenty Years Later (1991-2011)”, aimed at reflecting on the peace process and possible ways ahead. The speakers at the roundtable were Hesham Youssef, former Chief of Cabinet of the former Secretary General of the Arab League, and Shlomo Ben Ami, former Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs. The meeting also involved representatives of Spain’s major think tanks as well as Spanish officials.