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Wendy Chamberlin: I think this is a spirited way to end a very interesting day. Every one of our panelists throughout the day has made some very valuable contributions. I would like to thank them. They have all been terrific.

I would like to especially thank our corporate sponsors, Dyncorp and the Harbor Group. I would like to thank the State Department INR and all of the people in the US government and the NGOs and throughout the corporations in town who have helped us put this together, given us good advice and support and cooperation. Thank you so much.

The truth is, the Middle East Institute had to underwrite a good piece of this conference and we did it because we thought it was important. We thought the topic was important, we thought the timing of it was important. We especially thought it was important to bring so many participants from the Gulf and to include a European voice at this time so that we get a fuller conversation on an issue that is dominating much of our airwaves and auditoriums around town.

I have one last thank you and this is perhaps the most important one of the day. You have all witnessed the invaluable contribution that Ambassador David Mack makes. He brings his intellect, he brings his heart to it. He is absolutely superb. He is leaving MEI as senior vice president and he has served wonderfully there for over a decade, a period where he was the acting president. David’s contribution has been immeasurable over this period. He has counseled hundreds of young interns who now represent the next generation of leaders and experts in the United States on the Middle East. He has interjected creative ideas and his professional expertise in the design of Middle East Institute programs and conferences. He has been indefatigable in his contacts with the media. He has nurtured the now world famous language program and he has protected our library.

David has invested his heart and his intellect into the Middle East Institute and we are sincerely grateful. But fortunately, and here is the happy news, David is not going very far because he remains with us as one of our scholars. Before we leave today if you could all give a nice round of applause for David.

If I could ask Dr. Mike Ryan to stand up – Dr. Ryan is our new vice president. He comes to us as vice president of the Millennium Challenge Account. Before that he was chief financial officer at EPA and before that he had a long career in both the State Department and the Defense Department and various places throughout the government. We are delighted to have Mike, who is getting back to his first love; he got his PhD in Mideast affairs at Harvard and he has now come back to work on that. We welcome Mike as we say goodbye to David, but we don’t let David get too far. Thank you.