The
influential International Peace Institute (IPI) has caught the attention of the
non-profit news organization, ProPublica, which earlier this week published a report on the think tank’s
decision to open up an office in the capital Manama, at the expense
of the Bahraini government. The think tank, the headquarters of which are housed
in a 1st Ave. building, across the street from U.N. headquarters in New York,
has long been linked to Turtle Bay. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon serves as an honorary chair of the organization.

At
its heart, the ProPublica piece raises two key questions: Is it right for a
think tank to lend its name to a country that is politically repressive and bars
foreign human rights advocates and journalists from bearing witness?  Is it a potential conflict of interest to
have a senior U.N. official solicit money from a government whose fate he or
she may be influencing at the United Nations?

The
official in question is IPI’s chief officer, Terje Roed Larsen, a former Norwegian diplomat who negotiated the
Oslo Accords, serves as a $1 a-year advisor to Ban, and accompanies the secretary
general on his most important Middle East travels, including recent trips to Tehran
and Gaza.  

The
Security Council has also enlisted Larsen’s services (according him the rank of
undersecretary general) in implementing the 2004 Resolution 1559, which
required Syrian forces withdrawal from Lebanon and the disarming of all armed
groups in that country, including Hezbollah. In that job, Larsen produces
biannual reports detailing violations by Syria and Hezbollah of the resolution.

But
Larsen also has another day job which pays the bills. In 2005, Larsen was
appointed executive director of IPI, which now pays him a $495,000 salary. That
role placed Larsen in the position of simultaneously serving the United Nations
in its impartial mission — while soliciting funds for his non-profit from many
governments, including the United States, Norway, and the European Union, that
pursue their own more narrow national interests at the United Nations.

Under
Larsen’s leadership, the organization has done well, tapping into a stream of
new funding from oil-rich Gulf states, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia,  two bitter rivals of Syria with ambitions for
a larger political role in the Middle East and at the United Nations in the
wake of the Arab Spring.  

Prince
Turki Al-Faisal — a former Saudi
intelligence chief and one-time Saudi ambassador to the United States — is the
chair of the IPI’s international advisory council, whose members include a host
of royals, including Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani,
as well as senior officials from Russia, the European Union, and other Western capitals.

By
most accounts, IPI has become the go-to non-profit for the U.N. international
diplomatic community, offering a regular menu of public events featuring top
U.N. officials, foreign dignitaries, academics, and journalists. (Full
disclosure: I once participated as an unpaid panelist in a discussion on
reporting of U.N. peacekeeping.)

But
its outreach to governments has also grown more ambitious, and it has played a
kind of fixer role for some of its wealthier donors.

For
instance, Larsen helped arrange for a Saudi Arabian initiative to underwrite a
U.N. counterterrorism center.  IPI also helped
the government of Qatar develop a plan for the establishment of a program — called
HOPEFOR — “to improve
the use of military assets in disaster relief” and “help build a “global
network of civilian and military practitioners.”

In
Bahrain, Larsen’s dual-role as U.N. official and non-profit impresario has
contributed to some confusion.

While
the U.N. has played a rather timid role in pressing Bahrain to respect free
expression, Ban has issued statements scolding the monarchy for cracking down
violently on dissent and urging the government to lift protest restrictions.
ProPublica cited a Bahrain press account from 2011 indicating that Larsen had
extolled the climate of “freedom, democracy and institutional development.”

In
a telephone interview with Turtle Bay
from Jakarta, Indonesia, Larsen said that his views had been mischaracterized
by the Bahraini press and that he intentionally avoided interviews with
reporters on his trips there. He said the articles do not cite actual quotes of
his remarks.

Larsen
said that Bahrain will serve as the institution’s regional hub, and that its
main initial focus will be the humanitarian crisis in Syria. His initial
intention, he said, was to base the office in Damascus but that conditions were
too violent to allow it. “We are an institute which is studying regional
conflicts and we are in countries where there are conflicts,” he said. “We
don’t go to Switzerland or Sweden because there are no violent conflicts.”

Larsen
dismissed the possibility that his dual roles might pose a conflict of
interest, noting that his work for the U.N. Security Council was focused on “narrow
events in Lebanon,” and that he plays no mediation role for the U.N. secretary
general that could potentially give rise to a conflict.

“This
is not an issue,” he said. “It has nothing to do with Bahrain. IPI is focusing
on the humanitarian situation in Syria, the displaced and the refugees in
neighboring countries.”

Larsen’s
likened his venture into Bahrain as part of wider migration by Western think
tanks and universities into the Persian Gulf.  Blue-chip outfits like the Brookings Institution
and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, have set up satellite
operations in nearby Qatar.

The
intellectual capital of the Middle East, it seems, is being erected with
funding from oil rich sheikdoms in the heart of the Persian Gulf. Bahrain now
will become a member of that club, while burnishing its reputation as host to
international humanitarians.

That,
according to human rights advocates, should give outside institutions like IPI
grounds for pause. “Bahraini authorities can’t cover up their terrible human
rights record by paying for brand name institutions to set up shop there,” said
Philippe Bolopion, the U.N. representative
for Human Rights Watch . “Any independent think tank choosing Bahrain as a home
should be aware that free exchange of ideas is almost impossible when many
journalists or human rights advocates are barred from even entering the
country.”

Follow me on Twitter @columlynch