Sedona forum to cause traffic problems this weekend in Sedona

Expect traffic delays Friday due to Sedona Forum

U.S. and world leaders will be in the Sedona area Friday, April 24, attending the annual Sedona Forum, hosted by the McCain Institute.

Sedona residents should expect increased traffic from official government vehicles on State Route 89A via Cottonwood and State Route 179 via Interstate 17 escorting visiting dignitaries as well as a possible increase in chartered aircraft flying into the Sedona Airport and traveling through West Sedona to Enchantment Resort.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will participate in a conversation with U.S. Senator John McCain [R-Ariz.]. Blair served as prime ministers from 1997 through 2007.

Also in attendance will be

• Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States
• Falah Mustafa Bakir, Foreign Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq
• U.S. Sen. Cory Booker [D-N.J.]
• Bill Burns, former Deputy Secretary of State [2011-2014]
• U.S. Sen. Bob Corker [R-Tenn.]
• Shane Doan, captain of the Arizona Coyotes hockey team
• Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey
• Larry Fitzgerald, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals
• U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp [D-N.D.]
• Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, a health technology and medical laboratory services company
• Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE and a McCain Institute board member
• Mikhail Kasyanov, former Prime Minister of Russia [2000-2004]
• Demi Moore, actress and co-founder of Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children
• Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors
• Gen. David Petraeus, former director of the CIA
• U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon [R-District 5]
• U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-R.I.]
• U.S. and international policy experts and officials, civil society, women’s rights and democracy activists

This year’s forum will focus on the strategy of the United States and the world’s democratic community in navigating an unprecedented range of global crises. From the violence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the civil unrest in the Middle East to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe to an increasingly assertive China, the democratic nations of the world face extraordinary challenges – economically, politically, militarily and ideologically.

However, the event is not open to the public and local media was not invited to cover the event as in previous years.

No local officials are expected to attend the event.