[applause] secretary albright: i would like to thank frank doney one of the finest diplomats the u.s. has had. thank you, frank. we are lucky that after a long and english diplomatic career frank has chosen tuesday involved in the public policy debate. it is his vision that has shaped this into a distinctive and compelling project. i say it is distinctive for a few reasons. first, while it will be housed at the atlantic council center we are engaging with a wide range of think tanks and involving l diverse range of foreign policy practitioners and civil society leaders. we have established working groups led by experts from brookings, the simpson center, the u.s. institute of peace, and an independent researcher. two of them, geneva auto -- abdo and chris howard are here today. their subjects include countering violent extremism refugees recovery, and reconciliation. politics and state society relations, and economic recovery and revitalization. we are fully covering many of the issues we see as root causes of disruptions and looking at ways to deal with the issues. in the coming mont

hadley during the project , alongside the energy and diplomatic savvy of frank doney and a network of supporters that spans the globe, i think there is a real opportunity for impact. you will certainly give it our best try. it is now my pleasure to invite the cochairs to the stage to kickoff the event. one is an executive vice president of the board of the atlantic council. the other is an honorary director of the atlantic council , both friends of the organization. since leaving office, both secretary albright and advisor stephen hadley have been engaged in the issues of the middle east. steve is the chair of an organization deeply engaged with trying to mitigate conflict in the region at national and local levels. he is chair of the middle east board, one of a many -- the many bipartisan operations. as chair of the national democratic institute and partners for the new beginning and organization that seeks to build understanding between the u.s. and muslim world, secretary albright has been a champion for both political and economic development in the region. her 2007 book "the migh

i would also like to thank the hariri center's director and my very dear friend, ambassador frank richard doney, with has been one of the finest diplomates the united states has had. thank you, frank. we're all lucky that after a long and distinguished diplomatic career, frank has chosen to stay involved in the public policy debate and it's really his vision that has helped shape this into a distinctive and compelling project. and i say that it is sdingtsive distinctive for a few reasons. first, while it will be housed here at the atlantic council's hariri center, we are engaging with a wide range of think tanks and involving a diverse range of academic experts, foreign policy practitioners and civil society leaders. we've established five working groups led by experts from brookings, the stimson center, the united states institute of peace as well as an independent researcher and i would note that two of our working group conveners geneive abdo and chris schroeder are here with us today. these working groups have already begun to explore their topics and i'll just list what they include. secur

i would also like to thank the hariri center's director and my very dear friend, ambassador frank richard doney, with has been one of the finest diplomates the united states has had. thank you, frank. we're all lucky that after a long and distinguished diplomatic career frank has chosen to stay involved in the public policy debate and it's really his vision that has helped shape this into a distinctive and compelling project. and i say that it is sdingtsive for a few reasons. first, while it will be housed here at the atlantic council's hariri center, we are engaging with a wide range of think tanks and involving a diverse range of academic experts, foreign policy practitioners and civil society leaders. we've established five working groups led by experts from brookings, the stimson center the united states institute of peace as well as an independent researcher and i would note that two of our working group conveners are here with us today. these working groups have already begun to explore their topics and i'll just list what they include. security and public order religion, identity and cou