Richard A. Clarke [00:00:02] Thank you, Steve. And for those of you who don't know, Steve, he is more than our emcee. He is more than just a pretty face. As of last week, the Republic of France honored him and made him a member of the Legion of Honor. So congratulations, richly deserved.
Richard A. Clarke [00:00:24] We're celebrating tonight, Aramco's great progress. We're celebrating tonight, its great chairman, we're honored to have him among us, but we're also celebrating our institute. MEI is 75 years old, even older than me. And when human beings get old, you know, we kind of slow down; as MEI gets older, it kind of picks up in speed. There are more activities now than ever, more scholars, more programs, more attendees and more influence. And the reason for that are the people in this room, including especially our board of governors. So if I could ask the Board of Governors to stand. Past and present members of the board, please stand. I want to thank you for all that you do.
Richard A. Clarke [00:01:34] We all serve without compensation, we give of our time, we give of our money. Why? Why do we do that? And when you're celebrating a seventy fifth anniversary like this, it's time to ask, why is MEI here? We're all in the habit of supporting MEI. But why is MEI here? If you could hear that video, the last line, it's all about creating understanding, so that understanding leads to peace and prosperity in the Middle East and between the Middle East and the United States. That's why we do it and we can only do it with your help. Thanks again for coming, thanks again for all you have done, and I know all that you will do. The man who directs this institute every day leads a great staff, a growing staff, a well-respected staff, nonpartisan expert staff. Paul Salem, would you please come up? This is the man who polices us and make sure we're nonpartisan and expert. Dr. Salem.
Paul Salem [00:02:55] Good evening, everybody. It's a great pleasure to have you here, a great honor. Thank you all for coming. And a very special thank you to His Excellency, Mr. Yasser Al-Ramayan for honoring us with with his presence today. Thank you very much. And thank you to Saudi Aramco for its 75 years of partnership and cooperation with our institute. We share a common vision of the future, a future of peace, prosperity and partnership. Our region stands at a crossroads between a future of conflict, extremism and retrenchment, or a future of peace, moderation and progress. Indeed, the Middle East does suffer from ongoing conflicts, but it is also experiencing breakthroughs towards peace, towards regional reconciliation, economic transformation and cultural change. And while U.S. policy has veered wildly over the past 20 years, it is also clear that the U.S. has enduring interests in the region, has enduring friendships and partnerships and a sustainable middle way between the extremes.
Paul Salem [00:04:12] As we at MEI celebrate our 75th anniversary, we look and we have our sights set on the next 75 years. Yes, there will be challenges ahead. But we also know that this is a region with a young and vibrant population, with great potential and economic innovation, cultural production and technical progress, and with great leaders both in the private sector and the public sector who see the future as an opportunity to shape rather than a set of daunting challenges to fear. Whether it's Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia or other proactive plans in several countries, one can see the outlines of a new Middle East, a different Middle East from what we've been accustomed to for much of the 20th century. A Middle East where old enemies find pathways towards cooperation, where governance turns into a tool for progress rather than an obstacle to it, where women are empowered rather than marginalized, and where the young are the agents of their own future rather than victims of it.
Paul Salem [00:05:30] MEI has grown dramatically in the last few years to play its part in helping bring about this brighter future. Our policy center now includes 16 different programs, 30 resident scholars and almost 200 nonresident scholars around the world, all focused on finding positive pathways towards the future. Our Arts and Culture Center features programs and collaboration with leading artists, musicians and writers from the region. Our Education Center publishes one of the leading academic journals on the region, teaches and trains the leaders of tomorrow, and features one of the richest collections of Middle East manuscripts and volumes in the Greater Washington region.
Paul Salem [00:06:24] We can do none of this work without the support of all of you who are with us tonight, without the support of exemplary institutions such as Saudi Aramco, and without the foundation of goodwill, common interests, and common perspectives that we know are shared widely between the people of the US and the people of the region. I particularly want to salute the amazing team at MEI, whom I have the privilege of working with. They have turned adversity into opportunity and they responded to the COVID pandemic by almost doubling their output and their activity. It's truly been a great privilege to work with them.
Paul Salem [00:07:13] I want to thank Chairman Al-Rumayyan and all of you for being with us tonight. I am confident that with your support, we can work together to build on our common interests and values and bring about a future of peace, prosperity and partnership that all of us seek and that our younger generations demand. And with my thanks, I would like to cede the floor to one of MEI's movers and shakers, someone who has helped shape this ambitious goal for MEI, who believes in the strength and depth of relations between the U.S. and its friends in the region. Our vice chair for the board of governors, our co-chair of our International Advisory Council, Ms. Marjorie Adams. Marjorie.
Marjorie Adams [00:08:05] I'm a tall Texan, so I need to make a little adjustment here. I apologize.
Marjorie Adams [00:08:16] Your Excellency, Mr. Chairman, Paul, fellow board members, ladies and gentlemen, welcome. What an incredible evening for us to gather to hear, "Go away, COVID" is my motto, and we certainly feel that back home in my home state. I want to emphasize what our chairman and Paul have highlighted tonight, and I will be very brief. The importance of the Middle East Institute the seventy fifth year of its founding, we are on a new path to do great things together and we mean that with great commitment, with our staff, all of you in this room, and many others located elsewhere and especially abroad. The Middle East is important to us.
Marjorie Adams [00:09:13] I had the privilege of traveling with Paul and other members of MEI and distinguished friends from other think tanks, some of whom are in the room tonight. We chose to go to Saudi Arabia the fourth week of July. And I know that may seem strange to some of you. But we felt it was very important to make the journey and show that we were offering a hand, a listening ear to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I had not been there in a while, and when I got there, I was shocked by the changes going on in the Kingdom. And I mean that in a wonderful way, the role of women, the openness, the enthusiasm for their leadership and where their country was going. I was absolutely astounded by it all. And then Saudi Aramco sent us a plane, flew us to their headquarters in Dhahran, and we spent an incredible day that I know that each of us on that journey will never forget. The leaders we met at Saudi Aramco, the young men and women we talked to. They were so proud. They were so smart, working very hard. So thankful we had made the effort to come to them. And I would say to everyone, take time to reach out to your friends, your allies, because it matters. People to people contact matters, and I am so proud of our team and the work we have put in to reach out to our friends and allies in the Middle East, to Saudi Arabia.
Marjorie Adams [00:11:15] And I want to say thank you to Her Royal Highness Princess Reema and her Saudi Embassy team, who supported us on that journey, and for the one who traveled with us--and I believe he's in the room and I don't want to embarrass him--but I think we all agree, traveling in the middle of summer with very strict COVID restrictions on all of us created a bond of friendship and openness and talking and listening and laughing. And it will be a trip that I will always remember for the rest of my life. Your Excellency, I want to thank you, to you, your colleagues, your country, for your friendship and for allowing us to come visit. Thank you.