Editor’s Note: Jay Nordlinger attended the World Economic Forum on the Middle East last week. It took place by the Dead Sea in Jordan. Below is the second installment of his journal. For the first, go here.

Fairly early in the morning, I have a look at the Dead Sea. Things are dead, all right. Not many people about. There are soldiers on the beach (such as it is), guns slung over their shoulders. There are other military personnel patrolling the sea in rubber boats (dare I say dinghies?). There are military helicopters zipping overhead.

I must say, all this makes me feel more secure, not less. I hear people say — in situations like this — “It scares me, all this military presence around me.” It has the opposite effect on me. During these conferences, the Jordanian government takes no chances, for there are VIPs from around the world. (I do not include myself in this exalted mass, needless to say.)

I think back to when I was in Iraq last fall, on helicopters that had soldiers scanning the terrain with guns. People said, “Was it frightening, to see those soldiers with guns?” I said no: It was reassuring.

‐When I was growing up, I learned that, in the military, you don’t say “gun.” You say “weapon.” And there was a jingle: “This is your weapon, this is your gun [gesture toward crotch]. One is for shooting, one is for fun.” Or something like that.

In any case, I say gun regardless, if it looks like a gun — if it is a gun.

‐I’m reminded that, at this conference in Jordan some years ago, I encountered the touchiest security screening I have ever seen. What I mean is this: I kept beeping as I went through the security “gate.” I had emptied my pockets. No belt. I was all but naked. Finally, a guard suggested that I take off my glasses — that did it. The glasses had caused the beeping.

This year, I waltz through, even belted.

‐I’ve always been impressed by the “Networking Terrace” — by the name: its sheer bluntness. This is a terrace, and you go out there in order to network. Of course, few people do, because it’s hot outside. Those who do venture out, want to smoke, primarily.

‐As usual, the Plenary Hall is manned — manned? — by stewardesses from Royal Jordanian Airlines. And I do mean “stewardesses,” not “flight attendants.” You could not look at these women and say “flight attendants.” They are dressed in the old-school manner, very smartly, in jackets, caps, and skirts. Some of them are Eastern European, or Russian. I wonder what their lives are like.

And many of the janitors in the building are Asian women — possibly from the Philippines, possibly from elsewhere. I wonder what their lives are like, too. I also shudder a little.

Of course, they have left their homelands in search of a better life, suggesting that life in their homelands was very unpromising indeed. Think of uprooting yourself, going halfway around the world to a region very foreign, to be a janitor, with huge uncertainty, or even fear, in your heart.

‐When Queen Rania enters the hall, the entire assemblage stands. I think, “Just like the U.S. press for Obama” (and not, of course, for Bush).

‐King Abdullah gives his welcome address, saying that he hopes the Forum comes up with bold answers: “answers that do not simply help our countries get through the global economic downturn but ensure that the region emerges as a powerhouse: the go-to place for opportunity and wealth-building . . . Answers that not only boost education and research capacity but make our region the house of genius for the 21st century . . .”

The Middle East as “the go-to place for opportunity and wealth-building”? “The house of genius for the 21st century”? A modest allowing for entrepreneurship — some individual elbow room — would be great.

The king touts the Arab Peace Initiative, which says this, basically: Israel must retreat to the ’67 (or ’48) borders, accept Palestinian refugees, and accept also a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Then Arab nations will recognize Israel. The king says, “We have committed. So, now, must Israel. The Arab Peace Initiative has offered Israel a place in the neighborhood and more: acceptance by 57 nations, the one-third of the U.N. members that do not recognize Israel.”

I was struck by that phrase, “a place in the neighborhood”: “The Arab Peace Initiative has offered Israel a place in the neighborhood.” And if Israel finds it prudent to decline the Arab Peace Initiative? No place in the neighborhood? Effacement from the neighborhood? It seems to me that Israelis won for themselves “a place in the neighborhood,” long ago. Maybe the dozens of Arab and Muslim nations that surround Israel should recognize Israel as a neighbor, on its sliver.

Toward the end of his speech, the king really plays to the home crowd. He says, “These Forums are forward-looking events. But today we must also look back. This day, May 15, throughout the world, people commemorate the Nakba, the Catastrophe that began for the Palestinian people 61 years ago. At family tables tonight, there will be elders who can tell of entire lifetimes of sorrow and loss; and newborns, who may be the fourth generation — the fourth generation! — born into conflict and an uncertain future.

“This history has been a catastrophe not only for Palestinians, but for the entire Middle East — I would say the entire world.”

That’s a little rich, don’t you think? As Tzipi Livni pointed out at this meeting last year, the Palestinians did not have to have a “Nakba.” They could have accepted the U.N. partition, just as the Jews did. They could be celebrating their 61st year in their Palestinian state. But they went a different way — a much different way. The Kingdom of Jordan had control of the West Bank until 1967. The Israelis took it when their neighbors had made war against them one too many times. If Jordan felt so strongly about a state for West Bank Arabs . . . If Egypt felt so strongly about a state for Gaza Arabs . . .

Also, what have the Jordanians done to alleviate the suffering of refugees?

But you know all this, ladies and gentlemen. I’m just singin’ old songs — in response to King Abdullah’s old song.

‐I’d like to mention some participants in this meeting — not necessarily famous. There is Mrs. Nathalie Boulanger, a business executive. I mention her only because her name is not so far off from Nadia Boulanger — the famed teacher of (musical) composition. I’m interested in Jared Genser, a young lawyer who founded Freedom Now. This is a group that tries to use the law to help political prisoners.

A couple of Jindals are present — but not Governor Bobby of Louisiana. One of the Jindals is a member of the Indian parliament. A man named Kafka — Nik Kafka — founded Teach a Man to Fish, one of the best names of any non-profit ever. (Kafka isn’t bad either.) Teach a Man to Fish “aims to broaden access to high-quality education for the poor, combining vocational training and entrepreneurship, by supporting institutions working in this field to increase their financial self-sufficiency.”

Do-gooding has a bad name in America, because so many “do-gooders” are jerks, and so many do-gooding organizations baneful. But there are genuine do-gooders, and genuine do-gooding organizations, and I’m amazed and humbled by the amount of effort that some people expend in behalf of others.

Two more names, please: David de Rothschild, who is CEO of Adventure Ecology (environmentalism with fun, sounds like). And Mr. Robert B. Starbuck, another business exec.

You know, if he opened up a coffee shop, he could call it . . . (How sick is he of that?)

‐The World Economic Forum has assembled a group of bright-eyed, go-getting young people, known as Global Changemakers. That is too cutesy a name, maybe, but the group is impressive nonetheless.

I sit next to one of their number at lunch one day. He is from Qatar — and he was educated in American schools. It shows, both in his speech and, I think, his attitude (which is ebullient). We talk for a bit about music. He tells me that he bought a recording called Chill-Out Classical Music, which he prizes. His favorite pieces? The Gymnopédies of Satie.

They are something to chill out to, ’tis true.

‐Speaking of Qatar, there is a funny moment on the stage of the Plenary Hall. WEF chief Klaus Schwab introduces a speaker as the emir of Qatar. When said speaker gets to the microphone, he says, “I’m not the emir,” but the prime minister and foreign minister. “You will get me in trouble back home!” jokes the PM/FM. Klaus smiles, chuckles, and apologizes. He meant to say, “On behalf of the emir of Qatar . . .”

‐Speaking of the Gulf: There is a man you may want to get to know: His name is Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Khalifa, and he is foreign minister of Bahrain. He was educated at St. Edward’s University, in Austin, Texas. And no matter what the nature of his government or his family (same difference?) he talks very much like an American — a liberal democrat. He is perfectly no-nonsense about Iran. And he is perfectly no-nonsense about the problems that ail the Arab world. This is utterly refreshing. He will not let people monkey with the word “democracy,” noting that it cannot mean one man, one vote, one time.

I will have more about him later. Thanks for joining me today, and see you tomorrow for Part III.