Excellencies, distinguished guests, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to this, MEI’s 61st Annual Conference Banquet. I want to particularly welcome representatives of our corporate members who have sponsored our conference. You can see the full listing at the back of our conference program. Let me also thank you again for your loyalty and continued support for MEI.

And, I also want to extend a special welcome to our new president Wendy Chamberlin, who joined the MEI team in March and has brought a lot of new energy and ideas that are already visible for this conference. This is her first Annual Conference and as you can see from the program, it’s a terrific one.

This year we have made a determined effort to expand the dialogue to include important voices from the region itself and from Europe. We are not alone in trying to understand and improve our relations with the people and governments of the Middle East. So it makes sense that we should listen to other viewpoints, especially from people who experience first hand the threats and challenges that affect our future policies.

I think you will find our speakers thought-provoking and our panels timely -- reflecting the harsh realities and tough choices for the US and the region at large.

We are delighted to welcome someone who has lived and reported on the realities of the Middle East, most recently the harsh realities of Iraq before, during and after the US-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein from power.

John Burns is currently the New York Times Bureau Chief in London but he spent nearly five years in Iraq reporting and analyzing the impact of Saddam’s regime and later the US invasion, the continued occupation and the growing sectarian violence that has cost so many Iraqi and American lives.

John is no stranger to conflict, even beyond Iraq’s borders.

He has worked for more than 30 years at posts in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe, making him the longest-serving correspondent in the history of the New York Times.

He has won two Pulitzer Prizes – the first in 1993 for his courageous reporting on the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and again in 1997 for his insightful coverage of Afghanistan under the Taliban.

He has won numerous other journalism awards, including the George Polk award in 1978 for his reports from Africa. He also has an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Colby College – which might have come in handy during his brush with the authorities while reporting in China in the 1980s.

If you detect an English accent, it’s real. John came to the New York Times via Canada, where his family had emigrated from Nottingham England. After studies at McGill University he entered the world of journalism at the Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto. We’re fortunate that he moved on to the Times and through three decades has provided us with a wealth of insight and analysis that inform our views of the world beyond our borders.

Tonight he will share his experiences and thoughts on covering conflicts in the Middle East that have a direct impact on our future.

Please join me in welcoming New York Times Correspondent Par Excellence, John Burns.