The Gulf and the Mashreq: The State of the Debate

Addressing vulnerability and promoting security
Feb 17, 2014 | Sean Cleary, Executive Vice Chair, FutureWorld Foundation

Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel-Palestine are the four areas of greatest immediate importance.  The tragedy that the region now confronts is that the different conflicts feed off one another and engender new, divergent narratives and sources of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, Iranians, Emiratis, Saudis and Bahrainis, Egyptians and Qataris, Turks, Iraqis and Kurds, and between Sunni and Shia, and adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood and salafists. The history of the world is replete with such experiences, and their occurrence has always destroyed human capital, rent the fabric of society, and prompted and sustained conflict. We are at a crossroads, with big power relationships that have shaped recent history being transformed, and new influences emerging. How the people of the Gulf and the Mashreq region engage, both within their own communities, and between the societies that define the larger landscape, will determine the outcomes.  We shall all be accountable to our children, and their children, for the consequences.

print button Print
Related Articles:

Popular Articles

Poverty as a Wicked Problem

The belief that poverty can be prevented by identifying and dealing with its causes, and the...  Read More

Is Mars Ours?

Jun 13, 2021 | The New Yorker, Adam Mann

NASA and China having landed mobile rovers on the surface of Mars has raised the question of...  Read More

Think Local and Act Global - A Conversation with GGF 2030 fellow Cara Stauß

Nov 15, 2018 | Global Policy,

World affairs, diplomacy and trade are no longer solely the domain of nation-states, as cities...  Read More

Global Extreme Poverty

According to household surveys, 44 percent of the global population lived in absolute...  Read More

Popular Videos

A Message from Alan Doss, President of the Kofi Annan Foundation

Highlights from the G20 Think Tank Summit GLOBAL SOLUTIONS in Berlin

Happy Birthday Kofi Annan!

T20 Summit GLOBAL SOLUTIONS – Sean Cleary

Global Trends, Risks and Rewards — Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going?