On July 29^th, 2021, the first edition of the Journal MENA in FOCUS was launched in an invitation-based event, held in Bucharest. As the ongoing pandemic challenged our activity in the past year, we gladly hosted this live event in Bucharest, even though submitted to the constraints of the current epidemiological measures.

The Journal MENA in Focus is concentrated on relevant international affairs issues, notably covering a broad spectrum of topics related to the MENA region while working with experts from the region. Thus, it explores their perspectives upon current regional matters and lets aside the usual paradigm generated by other international scholars and practitioners.

On this occasion, we organized a debate on the international security system, focusing mainly on the developments in the Middle East and North Africa, in the presence of representatives of the political, diplomatic, academic, and civil society environments, thus enhancing their mutual understanding of the current events.

As the event unfolded, the following speakers brought their contribution to the debate:

• Flavius CABA-MARIA, President of MEPEI, Co-Founder of MENA in FOCUS;
• Liviu MUREȘAN, Executive President EURISC Foundation, Co-Founder of MENA in FOCUS (also acting as moderator of the entire discussion);
• Alexandru GEORGESCU, Senior Analyst for BRI and Critical Infrastructures, EURISC Foundation, Editor-in-Chief of MENA in FOCUS;
• Adrian SEVERIN, Former Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania;
• Teodor MELEȘCANU, Former Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania;
• E. Mr. Amb. Viorel ISTICIOAIA-BUDURA, Former Ambassador of Romania to various Asian countries, Member of the Board of Diplomatic Advisors of MENA in FOCUS.

For the presentation of the Journal, the event was divided into several parts:

• an introduction regarding the objective and the content of the Journal;
• a presentation of the main events and aspects from the MENA region to be highlighted and closely followed, possibly approached and developed in the future number of the Journal;
• a brief description of former and future projects of MEPEI;
• interventions from the guest speakers;
• remarks of the audience regarding the aspects presented.

Moreover, the entire event was structured in such a way as to allow for the interaction of the participants, especially before and after the actual presentation of the Journal. We took into account the undergoing health situation and the fact that participants had been deprived of social interaction during the past year, therefore, under the given restrictions, we managed to provide a safe environment for engaging in discussions.