Conflict Resolution

KEY PEOPLE

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy is actively involved in the formulation of coherent policy analysis, proposals, and consultations with decision makers with the aim of advancing regional conflict resolution efforts.

The Baker Institute is one of several think tanks that are an integral part of the Iraq Study Group, a congressionally mandated, bipartisan effort to take a fresh look at the current and prospective situation on the ground in Iraq, its impact on the surrounding region, and the consequences for U.S. interests. The group is being led by James A. Baker, III, the 61st Secretary of State and honorary chair of the Baker Institute, and former U.S. Congressman Lee H. Hamilton, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Historically, the Baker Institute has been involved in the Caucasus on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In 1999, representatives from the institute and the United States Institute of Peace collaborated on a second-track diplomacy mission on which they met with the top leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and provided specific recommendations on how negotiations could move forward.

In the Middle East, the Baker Institute is very active in Middle East conflict resolution work.

On the Israeli-Palestinian project, there is a strategic, technical, and operational requirement to assist in rebuilding a confidential political dialogue between top Israeli and Palestinian decision makers; to develop with them a workable strategy of coordination and cooperation; to assist in promoting a related action program; and to develop legitimate public support.

The institute, in cooperation with Israeli and Palestinian experts who have full access to Israeli and Palestinian leaders, will take upon itself the aforementioned tasks to develop a strategy on a track two dialogue. The aim is to enable both sides to move from the present dangerous stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian relations to stabilization and progress toward negotiations and a political settlement.

Acting under the aegis of the Baker Institute, the Israeli-Palestinian Working Group is focused on humanitarian and economic assistance in the Palestinian territories while preparing the groundwork for future moves on the Roadmap for Peace.

Advanced recommendations on how to implement the Middle East Roadmap will be developed by Israelis, Palestinians, neighboring Arab states, and representatives of the international community at ongoing private workshops hosted by the Baker Institute.

Under the aegis of the Baker Institute, the Israeli-Palestinian Working Group includes a small group of specialists whose aim is to advance the framework for state building and peace. The Working Group continues to engage in workshops and meetings on policy analysis and proposals.

The principal issue under consideration is how to move toward a two-state solution and concomitantly prepare the groundwork for future moves on the Roadmap for Peace.

Workshops have been held in Houston at the Baker Institute, at Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, and in Israel. The institute is continuing to work with the parties, and Baker Institute Director Edward P. Djerejian chaired post-disengagement working sessions in the region in August and November 2005. The most recent workshop was held February 8–9, 2006, at the institute following Hamas’ success in the January 25 Palestinian elections.

The “Trilateral Action Plan for Roadmap Phase I Implementation” policy report published by the Baker Institute in December 2005 is based on recommendations made by the Israeli-Palestinian Working Group, and follows an initial policy report that the institute published, “Creating A Roadmap Implementation Process Under United States Leadership,” in February 2005. A Baker Institute Policy Report on the way forward to reach final status negotiations between Israel and Palestine is under way.

On Iraq, a delegation of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) co-chaired by James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton visited Baghdad August 31–September 3, 2006, to obtain a firsthand assessment of the situation on the ground in preparation for the ISG's report to the Congress and the Bush administration. They met with U.S. and Iraqi civilian and military officials, Iraqi political and religious leaders, foreign diplomats, the United Nations Secretary-General's representative in Iraq, as well as with members of nongovernmental organizations and the press. In addition to the co-chairs, the members of the bipartisan group on the trip included Edmund Meese, former attorney general; William Perry, former secretary of defense; Robert Gates, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency; Leon Panetta, former White House chief of staff; and former Senator Chuck Robb. Edward Djerejian accompanied the delegation.

Following the trip, Baker and Hamilton held a news conference September 19 in Washington, D.C., in which they stated that the next three months would be “critical” in determining Iraq’s viability. They said that “the government of Iraq must act” and show progress in three key areas: security, national reconciliation, and delivery of basic services to Iraqis.

The purpose of the press conference was to discuss the progress of the group’s work, including the recent trip to Baghdad, and they released a list of participants with whom the group has met, both in Iraq and in the United States. The final report should be ready by the end of the year. It will provide an assessment of the current and prospective situation on the ground in Iraq, its impact on the surrounding region, and the consequences for U.S. interests.

PUBLICATIONS
2008: Video Briefing Transcript: Prospects for Peace in the Middle East
Feb 26 2008

Edward P. Djerejian
2007: Final Status: Jerusalem and Refugees
Dec 19 2007

Sari Nusseibeh; Final Status: Jerusalem and Return
Oct 25 2007

Sari Nusseibeh; Preemptive and Preventive War: A Preliminary Taxonomy
Mar 01 2007

Joe Barnes, Richard Stoll; When You Have Not Decided Where to Go, No Wind Can Take You There: A Strategy to Achieve a Comprehensive Israeli-Arab Peace
Feb 01 2007

Yair Hirschfeld; Statement of the Co-Chairs of the Iraq Study Group
Jan 11 2007

James A. Baker, III, Lee H. Hamilton
2006: The Iraq Study Group Report
Dec 06 2006

James A. Baker, III, Lee H. Hamilton, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Vernon E. Jordan, Edwin Meese III, Sandra Day O'Connor, Leon E. Panetta, William J. Perry, Charles S. Robb, Alan K. Simpson; From Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution
Nov 01 2006

Edward P. Djerejian; Humanitarian Conditions in the Palestinian Territories: Short- and Long-Term Perspectives on a Developing Crisis
Jun 01 2006

Mohammed El-Samhouri; On the Role of Commercial Projects in U.S.-R.F. Proliferation Cooperation
May 01 2006

Rose Gottemoeller
2005: Trilateral Action Plan for Road Map Phase I Implementation
Dec 01 2005; Radical Islam in Southeast Asia and Its Challenge to U.S. Policy
Oct 01 2005

Fred R. von der Mehden; The War on Terrorism After Iraq
Oct 01 2005

Gavin M. Dillingham, Richard J. Stoll, Joe Barnes, Megan Clark; Energy Security: Implications for U.S.-China-Middle East Relations
Jul 18 2005

Amy Myers Jaffe, Kenneth B. Medlock III, Steven W. Lewis, Steven Matthews, Mamoun Fandy, Susan Ossman; China's New Energy Focus: Strategic Partnership with Saudi Arabia
Jul 18 2005

EVENTS

Document Actions

Conflict Resolution