Dr. Christian Koch, Director of the GRC Foundation, gave a lecture and presentation to participants of the NATO Regional Cooperation course at the NATO Defence College in Rome, Italy. The title focused on “The GCC States and the security of the Gulf region.”
Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman, Gulf Research Center participated at the IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain organised by The International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Dr. Abdulaziz Sager participated in the First Gulf Economic Forum organized by the Union of the GCC Chambers in Doha, Qatar. He presented a paper in the first session titled: "Gulf Joint Economic Performance: Successes and Challenges" in which he discussed the current situation of the Gulf economy and the challenges and setbacks that it encounters. He also provided an outlook on the solutions that should be considered by the Gulf States to maintain and develop the Gulf economic structure so as to preserve its regional and international status as well as maintain economic prosperity and the citizens' wellbeing that has been achieved over the last few years.
Dr. Christian Koch participated in the dialogue meeting organized by the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) and the East-West Institute on “Iranian-Saudi Perspectives in ISIS: Exploring Root Causes of ISIS and Strategies to Defeat and Prevent the Emergence of Extremist Organization. Dr. Koch chaired the session entitled “Ideology, Propaganda and Messaging: what is the ideological fundament of the ISIS mindset?” The meeting took place in Brussels.
Dr. Christian Koch gave a briefing to the Southern Mediterranean Working Group of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on the “Perceptions of the Gulf on the Iranian Role in the Region.” The briefing too place in front of several members of the European Parliament.
Dr. Christian Koch participated and spoke at the conference of the Frankfurt Peace Academy on “Regional Order, Arms Control, and Disarmament in the Middle East/Gulf.” The event is organized by the Peace Research Institute, Frankfurt, the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation and the Academic Peace Orchestra Middle East. Dr. Koch spoke on “Saudi Arabia’s New Regional Policy: The ‘Salman Doctrine’ and its Implications.”
