Following the 911 tragedy in New York, the American Chemical Society through the guidance of Dr. Zafra Lerman, developed a plan which they hoped would help to prevent further terrorist attacks on the United States.  The plan involved bringing scientists from Middle Eastern Countries together in a conference type setting in order that they might develop scientific collaborations to solve problem unique to their geography.  It was hoped that as the scientists worked together and formed common bonds that they would be in a position to influence their governments to form diplomatic relationships with one another and with the United States and thus begin the process of working toward world peace.  The plan included not only bringing scientists together but also Nobel Laureates who were in a position to bring prestige to the proposed conferences and also influence governments to send their scientists to the conferences to work with Nobel Laureates.  The initial conference was held in Malta in 2003 and was supported by the American Chemical Society, The British Royal Society of Chemistry, and the German Chemical Society, The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and others. The first conference was held in Malta brought together scientists from 14 Middle East countries (Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates), creating a nucleus of scientists who are not typically able to attend the same meeting. Many are in positions to influence policy in their home countries.  Thus the beginning of the Malta Conferences and since that time there has been 8 other conferences.  In order to support the Malta Conferences and to increase the scope and depth of them, the Malta Conference Foundation (MCF) was created in 2011 and Dr. Zafra Lerman serves as the President of MCF.  This Presentation will discuss the collaborations and activities which have resulted from these conferences and the impact the Malta Conferences are having on world peace and diplomacy and the leadership roles that American Scientists have assumed in this process.

History of the Malta Conferences:  Building bridges for Peace in the Middle East

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