Last week saw a terrific flurry of activity in Pittsburgh surrounding the creation of the new Pittsburgh Middle East Institute. The institute is the product of at least a year and a half of hard work on the part of a small group of Pittsburghers, dedicated to belief in the importance of establishing, strengthening and institutionalizing ties between Pittsburgh and the Middle East. They see a wide range of relationships in business, education and culture.

This is really important. Pittsburgh has had for many years impressive European-oriented programs and relationships, dating back to its establishment and development into a major city largely by immigrants of European origin and their descendants. As one example: The University of Pittsburgh currently hosts one of the European Union's educational "Centers of Excellence." In the past few days Pittsburgh has hosted both the ambassador of Belgium and the ambassador of France to the United States. Europe-based businesses, starting with Bayer, play a very important role in the economy of the city.

But the focus of the United States -- the focus of the world -- is shifting. That does not mean that Europe no longer is important or America's most important partner. But now there is South Asia, East Asia and, to the point in this instance, the Middle East.

The new Pittsburgh Middle East Institute recognizes that important shift and will seek to help our city's businesses, banks, higher-learning and cultural institutions participate in and take advance of that change, to the benefit of Pittsburgh and our Middle Eastern partners.

It is fair to say that the Middle East is the locus for a large number of America's external problems. Think oil and energy. The so-called Middle East problem -- the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians -- is the key unavoidable issue in America's and the West's overall differences with the Islamic world. The Iraq war in all its aspects, from the U.S. invasion itself, to the Abu Ghraib atrocities, to the preponderant question now of how the United States gets out with its honor intact is the third of the primordial issues that center in that region.

Last week's events sought to set the table. The PMEI, in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, invited as a speaker New York Times columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman. Mr. Friedman has reported on events in the Middle East for nearly 30 years. His Tuesday night talk at Heinz Hall -- unfortunately, given that his visit was costly for his hosts -- dwelt largely on global warming and energy, consistent with the promotion of his latest book, rather than on his rich experience in the Middle East.

A seminar the next morning was more productive in terms of presenting to Pittsburgh distinguished figures in Middle Eastern affairs and in creating an opportunity for Pittsburghers in the field of business, banking and education to explore questions of potential fruitful engagement with the Middle East. Guest speakers included John Zogby, whose international polling firm provides clear pictures of Middle Eastern opinion. David Aaron is a veteran of the highest positions in the U. S. government dealing with Middle East policy, particularly the ferociously tricky negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Wendy Chamberlain, a retired American ambassador, is president of the Middle East Institute in Washington, the mother ship and model of Middle East institutes.

Finally, in the United States only a few weeks, Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain, gave her first speech in the United States to PMEI's inaugural conference. She is remarkable. A woman in a position of very great importance to her Arab country, a constitutional monarchy, Ms. Nonoo is Jewish by faith. Bahrain is 81 percent Muslim. She does not go veiled. She speaks eloquent English and has an excellent grasp of business relations. She said she would work seriously with Washington's other Persian Gulf state ambassadors at opening a permanent office in Pittsburgh.

The PMEI is not the first, nor the only, Pittsburgh entity to be involved in the Middle East. Carnegie Mellon University has a growing campus in Qatar. UPMC is seeking to establish 25 cancer centers in the Middle East and Europe over the next decade. Many American businesses are looking with great interest across the Persian Gulf to take advantage of money-making opportunities in Iran once U.S. relations with that country move beyond their current troubled state.

But PMEI is, in terms of future Pittsburgh relations with Middle Eastern countries, the new fort established at the fork of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio. It is going to have to figure out where it will concentrate its initial energies. Given the fast start it is off to, and the hard work its founding committee did to make that happen, there is every reason to believe that good things are ahead -- for Pittsburgh and the United States, in business, education and culture, and for the Middle East. We have a lot to offer.