The World Economic Forum, as you may remember, holds a spring meeting in the Middle East. They have done this since 9/11, when the Middle East and its problems loomed larger than ever. The WEF holds its main meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January. Think of the Middle East conference as a Davos in the sand.

Last year’s conference was in Jordan, by the Dead Sea. And this year the conference has come to Sharm El Sheikh, by the Red Sea. Sharm El Sheikh is in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, of course, and it is one of the world’s premier resorts. This area has been called “the Egyptian Riviera.” But the Sinai has been shaken by terrorism.

About 120 people have been killed by terrorists since October 2004. Last summer, about 65 were killed in Sharm El Sheikh. And just last month, about 20 were killed at Dahab, just north of here.

If anyone was nervous about coming to this conference, it doesn’t show: Attendance is robust and enthusiastic.

I propose to give you a little journal, in several installments. Davos-in-the-Middle-East is filled with the usual princes, presidents, and potentates. Some of them are interesting. Some of them are, indeed, very, very interesting. And you can rest assured we will focus on the most interesting ones (with a couple of exceptions)!

‐ Friends, this installment has not given you much in the way of what the world calls “substance”–but I will be back tomorrow, with some of the vital issues of war and peace, retrogression and modernity. Not that there won’t be some soft items as well. And I’ll see you then, I hope.