Mr. Ancram was Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office responsible for the peace process during the Major administration. From 2001-2005, he was Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party and he has also served as Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs and Shadow Secretary of State for Defense. When he stood down from the Front Bench, he was appointed by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to the House of Commons Intelligence Select Committee. He maintains a keen interest in international affairs and defense matters and in 2006; he founded an independent foreign affairs think tank, Global Strategy Forum. His main areas of interest are the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan, the future of NATO and the Atlantic Alliance and the geopolitics of energy. A decade ago, he was the British Government Minister who opened dialogue in Northern Ireland with the IRA and he continues to study peace processes and the practice of talking to terrorists - "dancing with wolves", with particular reference to the Middle East peace process. He has recently returned from a number of visits to the Middle East (Syria, Beirut, Damascus and Jerusalem), where he has held a series of meetings with representatives from all sides concerned in the recent tensions.
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