MANAMA: Every day of every week, regional policymakers are challenged by fresh news that threatens to up-end policy assumptions, says Dr John Chipman, Director IISS.
Dr. Chipman was speaking as Manama Dialogue 2017 kicked off during the dinner held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and the First Deputy Prime Minister.
His Highness Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, the Deputy Prime Minister has represented HRH Crown Prince during the inaugural dinner at the IISS Manama Dialogue 2017 which was attended by hundreds of delegates.
“One of the most alarming trend is the accelerating decay of formal institutions for regional cooperation,” said Chipman, adding that the recent months show settled diplomatic arrangements can be suddenly upended.
“Regionally, Saudi Arabia has shown its teeth. It has started the dispute with Qatar that has rattled regional politics in the Gulf. It has also escalated rhetoric with Iran, it’s prominent regional rival. This proxy war is affecting the region from Yemen to Lebanon to Iraq. The question is whether Saudi Arabia can focus at the same time on the domestic front and maintain this regional momentum,” Emile Hokayem, Senior Fellow for Middle East Security, said.
“The region suffers from one of the highest levels of unemployment, and particularly youth unemployment, in the world. It’s therefore imperative that the next generation of economic reforms manages to generate enough jobs to absorb millions of new entrance into the labour market,” Alia Moubayed, Director of Geo-economics and Strategy, said.
