In 1996 the International Affairs Institute (IAI) begun a study aimed at concretely determining which measures of conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy can be implemented to set up the area of peace and stability to which the parties to the Barcellona Declaration have committed themselves. The project lasted till the first half of 1998 and was funded by the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). 

Published results:

In 2000 the International Affairs Institute (IAI) launched a project aimed at creating a first nucleus of capabilities in conflict prevention in the Euro-Mediterranean framework, with a view to contribute to the development of a conflict prevention ‘culture’ in and about the Euro-Med area, and to the preparation of the appropriate conditions for actual preventive actions in the region. The project consisted of two interacting processes:

Between 2004 and 2006, the IAI and the Regional Centre on Conflict Prevention (RCCP) have been cooperating in a multi-annual project on conflict prevention in the Euro-Med region.
The general goals of the project were:

In recent years, IAI has been developing its relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in view of broadening its traditional focus on the Mediterranean and the Levant to this strategic area.

In 1994 the Institute contributed to set up the Mediterranean Study Commission (MeSCo), a network of Mediterranean people and institutions dealing with international and security affairs. After the inaugural meeting organised by the IAI in Rome in 1994, the Egyptian Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (CPSS) organised the second meeting in Alexandria in 1995. The third meeting, organised by the Portuguese Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IEEI), was held in Sesimbra in June 1996.

In July 2001, the IAI initiated a project aimed at examining and promoting on a regular basis a common transatlantic perspective on security cooperation in the Middle East and the Mediterranean areas. It is characterized by the participation of opinion leaders, scholars and other stakeholders from the United States, Europe and Middle East-North Africa triangle.