Luncheon Briefings in Washington DC and New York City to Preview International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security

• Club of Madrid Brings Together Global Leaders in First International Gathering of Its Kind

Washington DC and New York, NY (March 2, 2005). Exactly one year after the March 11th terrorist bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, the Club of Madrid is convening the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security to be held on March 8-10, 2005 in Madrid.

The summit -the first international gathering of its kind- aims to build a common agenda on how terrorism can most effectively be confronted by the community of democratic nations.

In advance of this historic summit, two briefings have been conducted in the United States to discuss the main themes to be addressed at the summit and to brief the media on summit objectives.

New York City Briefing
Council on Foreign Relations, March 1st

On Tuesday, March 1, the Club of Madrid joined the Council on Foreign Relations in hosting a luncheon briefing in New York to present the main themes of the Madrid Summit.

Participants included:

• Kim Campbell, Secretary-General of the Club of Madrid and former Prime Minister of Canada. Ms. Campbell delivered a brief overview of the Summit’s aims and objectives and then opened the floor to questions and comments at the end of the program
• David Cohen, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence, New York City Police Department
• James Hoge, Editor in Chief of Foreign Affairs

Washington DC Briefing
National Press Club, March 2nd

On Wednesday, March 2, the Club of Madrid hosted a luncheon discussion at the National Press Club in Washington to present and discuss the main themes of the Madrid Summit.

Participants included:

• Kim Campbell, Secretary-General of the Club of Madrid and former Prime Minister of Canada. Ms. Campbell delivered a brief overview of the Summit’s aims and objectives
• Frances Fragos Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
• Ana Palacio, Former Foreign Minister of Spain
• Richard Ben-Veniste, Commissioner, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States

Prior to the Washington DC luncheon briefing, media participated in an informal discussion about the Summit’s working group proposals with two leading experts in the field , Dr. Louise Richardson, Executive Dean, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University and Brian Jenkins, Senior Advisor, RAND Corporation, followed by commentary from Moisés Naím, Editor and Publisher, Foreign Policy Magazine.

The Madrid Summit (www.safe-democracy.org), a non-partisan event, will bring together over 400 government leaders, policy makers and practitioners to commemorate the victims of the Madrid bombings and to develop a common strategy to confront terrorism in all its forms through democratic means. In preparation for the Summit, over fifteen working groups - made up of nearly 200 leading experts on terrorism and democracy - have been debating four key facets of this challenge: 1) causes and underlying factors of terrorism, 2) confronting terrorism, 3) a democratic response to terrorism, and 4) civil society’s role. During the three days of the Summit, participants will discuss and debate ways to develop a comprehensive democratic response to the threat of terrorism. Alongside the meeting, an on-line forum will be hosted by OpenDemocracy.net to allow citizens around the world to have their say.

One of the key outputs to emerge from these rich and intensive discussions will be the Madrid Agenda to be adopted by the Club of Madrid at the end of the Summit. This document will outline principles and propose effective strategies to address one of the greatest challenges of our time: how to confront terrorism while safeguarding democratic values and principles.

Club of Madrid

The Club of Madrid is an independent organization dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world by drawing on the unique experience and resources of its Members - democratic former heads of state and government. In partnership with other organizations and governments that share its democracy-promotion goals, the Club of Madrid provides peer to peer counsel, strategic support and technical advice to leaders and institutions working towards democratic transition and consolidation.

For more information about the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, go to: www.safe-democracy.org. To read more about the Club of Madrid, please refer to www.clubmadrid.org .