Rome Med - Mediterranean Dialogues

The Rome Med – Mediterranean Dialogue is an annual high-level conference on Mediterranean geopolitics promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies). It took place for the first time in 2015 and has since then been hosted every year in Rome, Italy. The aim of the conference is primarily to rethink traditional approaches to the Mediterranean area complementing analyses of current challenges with new ideas and suggestions to draft a new 'positive agenda', addressing shared challenges at the regional and international level.

The list of attendees includes Heads of States, Governments and International Organizations, think tanks and academics, Ministers, Members of Parliament as well as leaders in Business, Culture and Media.

The conference, held annually in November or December at the Parco dei Principi Hotel in Rome, is preceded by "Towards MED", a series of preparatory events in other countries of the world about relevant themes concerning the Mediterranean region.

In 2020, MED was listed again as the 3rd best think tank conference globally. The 7th edition of the conference will be held from 2 to 4 December 2021.

Purpose

The conference aims to bring together think tanks, academic institutions, NGOs as well as international organizations, government officials, and decision-makers from across the globe.

The focal point of the conference is the discussion of current issues and challenges of the broader Mediterranean region as to gather all relevant international stake-holders and actors. Since its creation in 2015, MED has become a prominent venue for diplomacy and policy debate on the Middle East and North Africa regions' stability, prosperity and peace.

Pillars of MED

The four characteristic pillars of the Rome MED Dialogues are: prosperity, migration, security, culture, and civil society. In the context of every edition, the themes and topics touched on as part of these pillars change as to reflect the ongoing issues in need of being addressed and faced by the MENA community. As part of the 2020 edition, the following were emphasized: prioritization of a green and sustainable economic recovery; the need for regional cooperation between countries of origin and transit for sustainable migration management; moving towards a more holistic and broader context of human security; the need to include women and youth; and the protection of human rights as a founding principle of intraregional and international relations.

Activities

Rome Conference

The structure of the conference is laid across 3 days, involving in part dialogues as well closed-door forum amongst experts taking place typically in December. Over its previous editions, MED has been characterized by the participation of high-level officials from all relevant countries in the area. In the past, the Italian President Sergio Mattarella has opened and assisted to the conference alongside the Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio. Further memorable attendances were some of the following:Josep Borrell, the High-Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union as well as the Commissioner for Economic Affairs for the European Commission, Paolo Gentiloni.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has also attended alongside Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani as well as NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Additionally, the 2019 edition saw the participation of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen.

Other usual guests of the conference are Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, UAE's Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

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