Dr. Koch participated in the discussion of the Tawila Middle East Group on the topic of "Saudi Arabia and Iran: Ideological-Political Power Struggle and Crucial Test for the Middle East." The lead speaker was Omid Nouripour, Foreign Policy Spokesperson for the Green Party in the German Parliament where is a member since 2006.
Dr. Christian Koch, Director of the GRC Foundation held a meeting with Thomas Schneider, Head of the Middle East Division at the German Federal Foreign Office and Veronika Beutin, Deputy Head of the Division for Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. The meeting was held at the Foreign Office in Berlin.
Dr. Koch also attended a book presentation on Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf Region: Fifty Years of Transformation by Dr. Frauke Heard-Bey held in Berlin and attended by the UAE Ambassador to Germany.
As a member of the Council of Councils (http://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/), the Gulf Research Center participated in the 9th Regional Conference held in Berlin, Germany. The conference was held under the theme of “Regional Security in a Turbulent World” and featured discussions on European Regional Security, Migration Challenges, Terrorism, the U.S. Elections, Implication of BREXIT for the EU and the World, and Populism as a Challenge for Political Stability and Globalization. In addition to taking part in the entire meeting, Dr. Christian Koch, Director of the Gulf Research Center Foundation, also spoke on the session of “Migration as a Challenge for Regional Security.” Both Dr. Koch and Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman of the GRC, provided short written policy documents to the session of the conference. The Council of Council brings together leading foreign policy institutes from around the world in a common conversation on issues of global governance and multilateral cooperation. The Council of Councils draws on the best thinking from around the world to find common ground on shared threats, build support for innovative ideas, and introduce remedies into the public debate and policymaking processes of member countries. The membership of the Council of Councils includes leading institutions from twenty-five countries, roughly tracking the composition of the Group of Twenty (G20).
Dr. Christian Koch participated and spoke in the conference on "Iranian-Saudi Perspectives on the Post-Oil Economy" held in Leuven, Belgium on October 26 and 27, 2016. The meeting was organized by the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) and the East-West Institute (EWI) and brought together a number of experts including from Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Dr. Christian Koch, Director of the GRC Foundation, met with Adnan Tabatabei, CEO of the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) to discuss cooperation and potential project.
He also participated in a discussion with Dr. Ralf Brauskiepe, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Defense on “Germany’s military-security engagement with the Middle East” held at the German-Arab Friendship Society.
Dr. Christian Koch, Director of the GRC Foundation, participated in a private discussion with Maj. General Ahmed Assiri, Official Spokesman of the Saudi-led Coalition Forces in Yemen and Special Advisor to the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia held in the offices of the Körber Foundation in Berlin, Germany. The discussion included several members of the German Parliament and the German Foreign Office.
Dr. Koch also attended the National Day Celebration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the evening at a reception hosted by the Saudi Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Dr. Awwad S. Alawwad.
