An Australian Diplomat in the Arab World

Bob Bowker will discuss his recently published memoirs, Tomorrow There will be Apricots: An Australian Diplomat in the Arab World, addressing the challenges, professional and personal, of representing Australia and pursuing Australia's interests in the Middle East. He will provide his reflections on the major issues facing the region, and outline the lessons and insights he gained over 50 years of working in and on the Arab world as an Australian diplomat, official, intelligence analyst, academic and company director.

Bob Bowker's career included liaison with the PLO in Damascus and leading the first Australian official meeting with Yasser Arafat; and responding, as ambassador in Jordan, to the consular consequences of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. He dealt with crises in the live sheep trade. He led responses to consular events in Egypt ranging from bombings to a major bus crash. A long-standing advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he now supports a settlement for the conflict on the basis of a single state providing equality for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Copies of "Tomorrow There will be Apricots: An Australian Diplomat in the Arab World" will be on sale before and after the meeting at Glover Cottages.

REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 4:00PM AEST ON Tuesday, March 14

We will have space for a limited number of participants in-person at the Glover Cottages, tickets to be pre-paid. Once the limit for in-person attendees is reached, tickets will no longer be sold on the website or at the door. In-person attendees will get priority during the Q & A session.

Refreshments will be served from 6pm at Glover Cottages.

This event will also be streamed online via Zoom. Register by clicking the "get tickets" button below. Once you have registered, you will receive a follow-up confirmation email on the day of the event (Tuesday, March 14) containing details of the Zoom link and how to join the event.

The event will start at 6.30pm AEST (Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne time), Tuesday March 14.

For further information please email nswexec@internationalaffairs.org.au