<h3 class="post-title subpt">On 16-18 February, Kofi Annan, Lakhdar Brahimi and Ernesto Zedillo attended the annual Munich Security Conference for panel discussions and bilateral meetings on conflict resolution in the Middle East and wider global issues including democracy and globalisation.</h3><div class="quoteblock"><div class="quotetext"></div></div><p><a href="https://theelders.org/kofi-annan"><strong>Kofi Annan</strong></a>, <a href="https://theelders.org/lakhdar-brahimi"><strong>Lakhdar Brahimi</strong></a> and <a href="http://theelders.org/ernesto-zedillo"><strong>Ernesto Zedillo</strong></a> attended the annual <a href="https://www.securityconference.de/en/activities/munich-security-confere…; target="_blank"><strong>Munich Security Conference</strong></a> from 16-18 February 2018.</p>
<p>This was the third time that Elders attended the Conference, during which they took the opportunity to address conflicts and tensions in the Middle East and wider issues facing the world today.</p>
<p><strong>Kofi Annan</strong>’s first formal engagement was a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kofiannanofficial/videos/10155919360946043/&qu…; target="_blank"><strong>speech</strong></a> to over 1,000 students at the Technische Universität on “<em>Has information technology become a threat to democracy?</em>”</p>
<p>The three Elders proceeded to meet with <strong>António Guterres</strong>, Secretary-General of the United Nations, <strong>Jeffrey Feltman</strong>, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, together with <strong>Staffan de Mistura</strong>, UN Special Envoy for Syria.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">At <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MSC2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#…;, <a href="https://twitter.com/KofiAnnan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KofiAnnan</a&gt; &amp; Lakhdar Brahimi hold talks with <a href="https://twitter.com/antonioguterres?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@antonioguterr…; and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sy…; Envoy Staffan de Mistura. <a href="https://t.co/K8QfQCccdm">pic.twitter.com/K8QfQCccdm</a></p&gt;
— The Elders (@TheElders) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheElders/status/964455194967838720?ref_src=twsrc%5… 16, 2018</a></blockquote>
<p>The Elders also held discussions with <strong>Sheikh Khaled Al Jarrah Al-Sabah</strong>, Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence on regional security issues.</p>
<p align="center"><img src="/sites/default/files/migrated3/elders-khaled-al-jarrah-al-sabah-munich-security-conference-650px.jpg"/></p>
<p>During the Conference, <strong>Kofi Annan</strong> also held a ‘fireside chat’ with <strong>Eric Schmidt</strong>, former CEO of Google on <a href="https://www.securityconference.de/en/media-search/s_video/fireside-chat…; target="_blank"><strong>Technology’s Impact on Democracy</strong></a>. This built on an announcement that the <a href="http://www.kofiannanfoundation.org/&quot; target="_blank"><strong>Kofi Annan Foundation</strong></a> would launch a new initiative on <a href="http://www.kofiannanfoundation.org/supporting-democracy-and-elections-w…; target="_blank"><strong>Technology and Democracy</strong></a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SocialMedia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etf…; is only a tool...the failure of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ArabSpring?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw…; showed that technology without political leadership is not enough. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MSC2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#…;
— Kofi Annan (@KofiAnnan) <a href="https://twitter.com/KofiAnnan/status/964533893172023296?ref_src=twsrc%5… 16, 2018</a></blockquote>
<p><strong>Ernesto Zedillo</strong> also gave introductory remarks at an event on <a href="https://www.securityconference.de/en/media-search/s_video/fireside-chat…; target="_blank"><strong>The Global Economic Order</strong></a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Globalisation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5E…; was not destroyed by the 2008 financial crisis but it was weakened; to defend it against protectionism, we must "speak truth to power" - particularly the United States: Ernesto Zedillo. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MSC2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#…; <a href="https://t.co/oEQiDV1sJk">pic.twitter.com/oEQiDV1sJk</a></p&gt;
— The Elders (@TheElders) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheElders/status/964559378056646658?ref_src=twsrc%5… 16, 2018</a></blockquote>
<p>Concluding the delegation to the Munich Security Conference, <strong>Lakhdar Brahimi</strong> and <strong>Ernesto Zedillo</strong> met with <strong>Mohammad Zarif</strong>, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, to encourage improved regional relations and to reiterate support for the implementation of the <a href="https://medium.com/@ObamaWhiteHouse/joint-comprehensive-plan-of-action-…; target="_blank"><strong>Iran Nuclear Deal</strong></a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good discussions with <a href="https://twitter.com/JZarif?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JZarif</a&gt; at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/msc2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#…; on regional security issues. Ernesto Zedillo &amp; Lakhdar Brahimi reiterated <a href="https://twitter.com/TheElders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheElders</a>&#039; call for full implentation of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JCPOA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JC…; nuclear deal. <a href="https://t.co/W1CNvjE8X6">pic.twitter.com/W1CNvjE8X6</a></p&gt;
— The Elders (@TheElders) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheElders/status/965206339663400960?ref_src=twsrc%5… 18, 2018</a></blockquote>