Government officials, think-tank representatives and scholars gathered for a conference on relations between the United States and the Arab world Tuesday in Copley Formal Lounge.

The conference, entitled “Bridging the Gap: A Forum on the Crisis in U.S.-Arab Relations,” featured several speakers, including Washington Post columnist David Ignatius and Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Ignatius, who has visited the Middle East numerous times, including 10 trips to Iraq in recent years, presented a hopeful outlook on future relations between the Western world and Arab nations. He said that he generally felt comfortable traveling through war-torn territories and added that his task as a journalist is to “bridge the gap” between Americans and Arab citizens by allowing people to tell their own stories.

“We [journalists] were carrying an invisible white flag while traveling in the Middle East because we didn’t represent any government,” Ignatius said.

He did acknowledge a change in Arab attitudes toward journalists since the war in Iraq, however.

“Unlike before, it is getting very risky to travel in Iraq. Journalists have to be embedded,” he said, referring to the U.S. military program of hosting embedded journalists while deployed on duty.

Ignatius called for greater freedom for private media in the iddle East. American and Arab countries should make a collective effort for objective and reliable journalism, he said.

Clawson, however, was more skeptical of the future direction of U.S. relations with the Arab world. He lamented the lack of clarity and open communication between the two worlds and called for “a clear presentation of policy” on both sides.

Clawson said the need for “open societies” is of greater importance to the United States than simply making friends and allies. Open societies in the Arab world would allow for greater expression of speech and prevent any bottling up of radical ideas, which can result in violent opposition, he said.

Clawson also called for increased discourse between the Western and Arab worlds, and said Arab and American leaders need to reduce rhetoric and hostile attitudes in order to promote understanding and avoid conflict.

“In addition to presenting policies, it is vital to have a good understanding of the policy on both sides,” he said.

The conference also featured John Zogby, a prominent pollster and president and CEO of Zogby International a global polling firm, as well as Gerald Feierstein, director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs.

The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies sponsored the conference.