Ismail Serageldin joined key Western, Arab and Muslim leaders for the second meeting of the High Level Group of the Alliance of Civilizations. The meeting focused mainly on the current cartoon crisis. The High Level Group members urged the international community to resist overreaction and violence and to turn to dialogue. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan launched the Alliance of Civilizations initiative to overcome prejudice and misperceptions between cultures and civilizations - especially Islam and the West. The group met for the first time in November 2005 in Palma de Mallorca.