| Sumario: | The interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have fundamentally altered the balance of power in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the social, political, and economic challenges facing the region have continued to increase. The conflict over Iran’s nuclear program and the escalating violence in Iraq have lent a new urgency to the search for regional stability. Actors from within the Persian Gulf region hold a key to finding it. The 132nd Bergedorf Round Table in Dubai therefore placed its greatest emphasis on regional approaches. Politicians and analysts from the Gulf region, the United States, and Europe analyzed possible paths toward political stability in the Persian Gulf, with the roles of economic growth and political reforms, as well as the connection between democratization and stabilization placed at the center of the discussions. Participants explored the relationships between modernization and identity, secularism and religion, traditional and Western ideas, and reform and external assistance. One focus of the conference was on security policy challenges. Participants forcefully debated the U. S.-led intervention in Iraq and the role of regional and external actors such as the United States, Europe, India, and China. The Iranian government’s policies under President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian nuclear program were highlighted in particular detail.
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