Identifying, assessing, protecting, developing and creating Social Capital

An economic solution of a political conflict – a Railway from Alexandria to Latakia

Since 1947, hundreds of legal and diplomatic initiatives by UN Secretaries General and US Presidents, by NGOs and IGOs tried to bring Peace to the Middle East. The opportunity cost for maintaining the conflicts – see our recent UN study – eat all the resources needed to rebuild destroyed regions, to deliver clean energy and water, to enhance trade and labour, to provide healthcare and education.

In a recent Policy Paper of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the occasion of the UN Hearing on Financing for Development, the OIC wrote „that the enormous resources spend on military arsenals and waging regional wars have succeeded in crowding out investments for sustainable development’s support.“

When the Basel Institute of Commons and Economics has been invited to contribute to the Global Online Stakeholder Consultation for the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport, we decided to offer an All-in-one-solution for the 163,2 million inhabitants of the six countries involved: a Railway connecting Alexandria along the coastline crossing Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan with Latakia in Syria.

You can download the concept note here.Mediterranean_Peace_Railway_Initiative