The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting

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3 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting University of Cambridge, 6-9 July 2011 With the support of :

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5 Welcome Remarks Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman, Gulf Research Center 5 About the Gulf Research Meeting 7 The 2011 GRM Program 10 Opening Ceremony 14 Dr. Abdulaziz Sager HRH Prince Turki Bin Faisal Al-Saud Prof. Bahgat Korany H.E. Dr. Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani List of Workshops / Directors 30 Workshop Descriptions 37 The 2012 Gulf Research Meeting 135 GRM Sponsors 138 Gulf Research Center 143

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7 Welcome Remarks Establishing the Gulf Research Meeting as a permanent date on the calendar as far as Gulf studies are concerned The second annual Gulf Research Meeting (GRM) built further on the success of the first Gulf Research Meeting which took place in July For the 2011 meeting, the Gulf Research Centre Cambridge (GRCC) selected sixteen workshops out of numerous proposals in addition to almost 250 full participants and more than 50 listening participants. The response to both the Call for Workshops and the subsequent Call for Papers was tremendous. GRC is pleased that the GRM is receiving an increased response from scholars and other interested persons from the Gulf region. One of the key goals of the meeting is to encourage young scholars to engage in debate and take part in research collaboration on identified issues of importance to the Gulf region. With the events that have impacted the Middle East in 2011, a proper understanding of the issues that define the region is more urgent than ever. This year s highly successful second Gulf Research Meeting provided an academic environment to foster Gulf studies and to promote scholarly and academic exchange among scholars working with the Gulf region i.e. the countries of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Included in this volume are the summaries of each of the sessions written by our workshop directors, along with additional information about the event. We hope that you will find this summary useful both as a source of reference to the discussions that took place and as a pointer to the range and scope of ideas and issues covered. The Gulf Research Meeting has created a platform where scholars from around the world can meet to discuss, explore and share the knowledge of this region. The GRM is unparalleled in both its scope and value as far as scholarly research is concerned. We will continue to strive to develop the meeting and establish it as a permanent fixture on the academic calendar. We look forward to your active participation in the future. Dr. Abdulaziz Sager Chairman Gulf Research Center Gulf Research Meeting July

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9 At the Gulf Research Center (GRC), one of the most important goals remains the spread of scholarly research and knowledge relating to the Gulf throughout the international community. In a bid to foster greater understanding of the GCC and the challenges the region faces, and to strengthen the links between scholars from different regions, we decided to create the Gulf Research Meeting (GRM). Led by the commitment of the GRC s founder and chairman, Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, the GRM is unparalleled in both its scope and value as far as scholarly and policy-oriented research about the critical Gulf region is concerned. A flagship event that is hosted annually at the University of Cambridge during the beginning of July, the GRM brings together hundreds of specialists, policy practitioners, and GCC Secretary-General H.E. Maj. Gen. Dr. Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani speaking at the Opening Session of the 2011 Gulf Research Meeting aspiring academics from the Arab region and the rest of the world to discuss and debate the key challenges and changes facing the GCC and enhance their knowledge about this unique part of the world. Advancing Knowledge At a time when the Gulf region continues to gain in strategic relevance and importance, it is more urgent then ever to expand knowledge about this critical part of the world and to become more familiar with the issues that are defining its overall development. Of equal importance is the promotion of scholarly and balanced research about the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), its adjacent neighbors that constitute the wider Gulf region Gulf Research Meeting July

10 (Iran, Iraq and Yemen) and their relations to one another as well as with the wider external environment. Through parallel workshops dedicated to specific topics in the fields of politics, economics, energy, security and the wider social sciences, the Gulf Research Meeting addresses the existing shortcomings, to provide correct and insightful information about the region and to promote mutual understanding between the Gulf and the rest of the world. Dr. Abdullah Baabood, Director GRC-Cambridge, greeting H.H. Shaikh Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan at the GRM Opening Session Producing Output Committed to a high-level academic standard, the GRM s objectives are also to produce policy input and generate solutions to many of the region s pressing challenges. Each year, workshops are selected on both their ability to contribute to the development of literature on the Gulf and their relevance to issues of present and common concern. In this manner, and through the intensive debates that are part of the individual meetings, concrete ideas and initiatives are created that can then be disseminated to a wider audience through generated publications, whether as short policy briefs, extended essays or more broader edited books. Such discussions also lead to additional collaborative efforts among the participants and their institutions beyond the framework of the GRM. Prof. Dame Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, giving the Opening Address at the 2010 Gulf Research Meeting 10

11 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Creating Networks Through its workshops and constant interaction among participants, the GRM also promotes widespread research efforts among different institutions from within the Gulf and other parts of the region to heighten awareness of Gulf-specific issues. At the core lies the partnership between Gulf Research Centre Cambridge and the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge. Universally recognized as one the world s leading educational HRH Prince Turki Bin Faisal Al-Saud participating in the discussion at the 2011 GRM institutions, the University of Cambridge Opening Session has provided a strong commitment to foster cooperation and promote exchanges such as the Gulf Research Meeting. Such collaboration opens the door to promote further work and link into a worldwide network of leading individuals and research initiatives. Beyond the University of Cambridge, the GRM brings together institutions from throughout the world thereby creating additional opportunities for networking and cooperation. Particular importance and emphasis is given to encourage young scholars, in particular from the GCC countries - including those studying abroad - to engage in the debate and take part in research collaboration. In this way, GRM provides a path to the future generation and the role they will play in shaping the region s development. Prof. Bahgat Korany, Professor of International Relations and Political Economy at the American University in Cairo, addressing the 2011 GRM Opening Session The Gulf Research Meeting is a ground-breaking and progressive project that the GRC is proud to be at the forefront of. Gulf Research Meeting July

12 The 2011 GRM Program Tuesday, July 5, :30-19:00 Arrival of Participants and Registration Wednesday, July 6, :30-15:30 Arrival of Participants and Registration 15:30 Workshop Directors Briefing 16:30 16:45 Opening addresses: Dr. Abdullah Baabood, Director of the Gulf Research Centre Cambridge Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman of the Gulf Research Center Panel discussion on the Arab Spring and Changes in the Region HRH Prince Turki Bin Faisal Al-Saud, H.E. Dr. Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani, Prof. Bahgat Korany Moderator: Prof. Yasir Suleiman 18:45 Reception 19:30 Gala Dinner, Queens College, Fitzpatrick Hall 12

13 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Thursday, July 7, :00 Individual Workshops Commence 13:15-14:30 Lunch, King s College 15:00 Afternoon Workshop Sessions 19:30 GRM Dinner, King s College Friday, July 8, :30 Individual Workshops Commence 13:15-14:30 Lunch, King s College 15:00 Afternoon Workshop Sessions Saturday, July 9, :00-13:00 Individual Workshops Continue (Optional) 13:00 Lunch, Crowne Plaza Gulf Research Meeting July

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16 Welcome Remarks Dr. Abdulaziz Sager Chairman, Gulf Research Center It is my great pleasure once again to welcome all participants to the opening session of the Gulf Research Meeting held here at the University of Cambridge. Last year, we began the idea of an annual academic gathering that focused on the Gulf region i.e., the countries of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen and to bring together scholars, specialists, policy practitioners and students to advance the field of Gulf studies and to contribute with their work and expertise to the further development of the field. Chairman of the Gulf Research Center, Dr. Abdulaziz Sager The first annual Gulf Research Meeting proved to be a great success and the response we received in the weeks and months that followed was tremendous and very encouraging. But I am glad to be able to say this second meeting has surpassed all of our expectations from last year. We received an even more enthusiastic response to our call for workshops and the subsequent call for papers. In the end, this year s GRM will have 17 workshops, covering the disciplines of international relations, politics, economics, education, health and urban planning just to name a few. This is already five more workshops than last year. In total, we have close to 400 people gathered here for what is sure to be an exciting few days of intense and serious discussion. That number represents a more than 100 percent increase from last year and it is thanks to all of you who have responded to our various calls that we have been confirmed in our belief that such an annual meeting is both needed and wanted. Thank you for all of your support. Let me at the outset specifically thank some very special guests who have joined us for this occasion including HRH Prince Turki bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chairman of the King Faisal 16

17 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting The Opening Session of the 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Center for Research and Islamic Studies and former Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the United Kingdom and United States; H.E. Maj. Gen. Dr. Abdul Latef Bin Rashid Al-Zayani, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council; as well as all the other distinguished guests and dignitaries. This meeting and everything that is involved would of course not been possible without the strong support from our sponsors. Thus, a very special thanks has to be extended to them: Emaar, KAB Holding, The Zubair Corporation, Bank Muscat, the Khaled Juffali Company, Bank Dhofar, the Kuwait Program at the Chair for Middle East and Mediterranean Studies (Chaire Moyen- Orient Méditerranée) at Sciences Po Paris; the Kuwait Program for Global Governance at the London School of Economics and Political Science and last but certainly not least, the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Doha, Qatar. Finally, an equally important thank you needs to be given to the University of Cambridge for their continued support for both the Gulf Research Meeting and for the GRC Cambridge office hosted by the Centre of Islamic Studies. We have held discussions during the days here on expanding the activities of GRC Cambridge and we are now looking forward to seeing those plans implemented. Prof. Yasir Suleiman, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Professor of Modern Arabic Studies Gulf Research Meeting July

18 and the Director of the Centre of Islamic Studies, continues to be the driving force behind our cooperation and we highly appreciate all of his efforts. Given that it is the mandate of the Gulf Research Meeting to identify issues of importance to the Gulf region and provide a basis for academic and empirical research into those fields, it is great to see that participation in this meeting has once again come in from throughout the world including an increasingly strong contingent from the Gulf Region itself, which is a very welcome development. In addition to the full participants, this year we also received a tremendous interest from those who simply wanted to attend one or the other workshops and who wanted to inform themselves about specific developments in the Gulf region. In fact, we received listening participant requests until the very last minute. Thus, what can be said with certainty is that we have fulfilled our promise from last year which was to work hard, build on the success of the first Gulf Research Meeting, and bring an even larger group together for this year s event. Allow me to end my introductory remarks by also alerting you to the fact that the Call for Proposals for the 2012 Gulf Research Meeting is now out and we look forward to receiving a rich array of proposals. The 2012 meeting will take place from July 11 to 14 here at the University of Cambridge. I of course encourage you to pass the call around to interested colleagues and to disseminate it as widely as possible. A flyer is included in the information package that you all have and further information is available on the event website. Thank you again for all of your support, welcome to Cambridge and please enjoy the coming days to the fullest. 18

19 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Remarks by HRH Prince Turki Bin Faisal Al-Saud Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, thank you very much for your invitation; Your Excellency Abdul Latif Al-Zayani, thank you for being with us on the panel. Distinguished guests, it is quite a privilege to be sitting among you, as it is to be addressing such a distinguished audience. It is nice to be back in Cambridge. I have a brother who graduated from Cambridge, so there is a family link to the city. I would also like to congratulate those present here, not only those of you who are attending the university but also just for being in the city of Cambridge. Dr. Suleiman invited, I think, a comment if HRH Prince Turki Bin Faisal Al-Saud, Chairman, not directly, then indirectly on what to call King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies what is happening in the Arab world today. He mentioned several descriptions and names. I have not reached a conclusion. But I will hopefully say that we do not call it in coming years the bloodbath in the Arab world. Because certainly it has aspects of that, in my view, more than it has of spring flowers or new growth. From the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, looking at the events that have happened in the Arab World, I am reminded of previous such tsunamis as the events have been described in the Arab world too these days. The first of course was the military coup d etats that followed the Second World War and the establishment of the state of Israel and Palestine. Those spread from Egypt to other countries first Syria of course, then Egypt, then Iraq, etc. The second wave that we went through was the wave of so-called Arab Socialism. All of us remember those days with countries espousing that doctrine as a means of trying to either uplift their capabilities, both human and Gulf Research Meeting July

20 The Opening Session of the 2011 Gulf Research Meeting economic, or to face the challenges of meeting outside threats, either from Israel or from the West or the East. Within those waves and tsunamis and various events that took place in the area, the Kingdom remained a calm and developing country with ambitions fairly established to raise the livelihood of the people but also to maintain a stability and security of the people so that that livelihood can be guaranteed and not threatened by bloodbaths or by other such events. Those of you who do not know the history of Saudi Arabia will not know that, for hundreds of years, the Arabian peninsula was a sea of conflict and poverty and disease. So for us to have been able to achieve a certain level of stability is a prize not to be forsaken lightly nor to be threatened by emotion or by ambition over-ambition. And so the story of the Kingdom vis-à-vis what is happening in the Arab world is that, first of all, as the Secretary-General of the GCC has already mentioned, the issue of non-interference in the affairs of others is a principal policy of the Kingdom, and it follows it very strictly. Yesterday, there was a press conference between our foreign minister and the British foreign secretary 20

21 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting who is visiting Saudi Arabia today and our foreign minister reiterated that principle quite clearly. However, reiterating a principle of non-interference does not allow us as human beings, before we are Muslims and Arabs, not to be sad and cry out for the loss of life that is taking place in certain parts of the Arab world. And to hope that the peoples of those countries where that loss of life is taking place will be able to achieve stability and security again as has happened in Bahrain. And I take this opportunity to congratulate us in the rest of the Arab world for hopefully what is going to be a successful overcoming of the challenges that have faced Bahrain and to lament the loss of life that took place in Bahrain before this event of coming together is taking place. Definitely, the people of Bahrain deserve all the applause that they can get. Another aspect of the so-called, and I say so-called because as I said I have not reached a definitive name for it, Arab Spring. is that it has shown differences in values between the Kingdom and other countries, mostly in the West. When events in Tunis took place and the president of Tunis was thrown out, and his plane was seeking refuge in a country where leaders of those countries had feted and hosted that same Tunisian leader many times over and used the most sublime, if not more than that, descriptions for him, but then refused entry to his plane, for him and his family, the Kingdom as the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, where all Muslims have a right to come at any time, opened its gates for him to reach there. There is no intent or purpose in indicating whether that allowance for President Ben Ali to come to the Kingdom to be either construed as support for him or as denigration for what happened in Tunis. But nonetheless, as a country of refuge throughout its history, for thousands of years when pilgrims from all over the world have sought refuge in the holy temples of Saudi Arabia, he and his family were definitely welcomed to come there. And when events in Egypt took place, again King Abdullah unhesitatingly and publicly hoped for a calmer and more unnecessarily obtrusive removal of President Mubarak and called on world leaders like Mr. Obama and Mr. Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Cameron in the United Kingdom not to voice their hasty calls for Mr. Mubarak to leave his post. Not because he has any specific love for President Mubarak, or that he has any specific objection to the wishes of the Egyptian people, but when people began to call for his removal from the outside, first of all, it contravened the principle of non-interference in the affairs of other states and secondly, the people of Egypt had Gulf Research Meeting July

22 not yet expressed their wish. And having worked with President Mubarak for 30 years, closely, on the most important issues that affect the Arab and Muslim world from Palestine to Iraq to the liberation of Kuwait, to Yemen, etc. etc. it was not for King Abdullah simply to say, Go, Mr. Mubarak. It was for the Egyptian people to do that and when they did that there was no hesitation for King Abdullah to offer his friendship and to extend his hand of support to the Egyptian people and to send his foreign minister more than three times to Egypt to talk with Egyptian leaders, the new ones, about how best Saudi Arabia can support Egypt. And you have seen all the reports of the economic aid package that the Kingdom offered to Egypt, without any strings attached by the way, unlike the offer that was made by the IMF or by President Obama who you will remember gave conditions for giving aid to Arab countries, such as you have to adopt democracy etc. All these reflect differences in values. Naturally for me, as a Saudi, I am inclined to support the Saudi view of these values I hope you do not mind my saying that. But nonetheless, I think there is room for all of us here to learn from what has happened in the Arab world. And I will close by another difference, if you like in definitions and not necessarily in values. When western politicians have promised their own people more money, more benefits, a better life, they call it politics. But they hardly deliver on their promises. Look at the mess that the West is in right now. Our leaders have promised and delivered our people a better life and a higher standard of living, the removal of disease and, hopefully, eventually, in the near future, poverty without any undue false hubris about our accomplishments because we know that there are still some things that we have to deliver to our people and that we are still at the beginning of our road to that development. But western pundits and politicians call our leaders delivered promises handouts and bribes, and that is a reflection of the difference between what we do and what others say that we do. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. 22

23 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Remarks by Prof. Bahgat Korany American University of Cairo (AUC) Prof. Bahgat Korany, American University of Cairo (AUC) 25th, where is Egypt and the rest of the Arab world could be going? What is called the Arab Spring has obviously caused its tsunami of protests. As many as 17 Arab countries, some are in civil war Libya and Yemen, some are trying to adapt Bahrain, Syria, Morocco and two have fallen down, Tunisia and Egypt. And when my friend Dr. Abdulaziz asked me to talk about Egypt, I remember that my Tunisian friends usually get cross and say, we have started the whole thing and everybody talks about Egypt. My answer to that it is true, Tunisia is the birthplace, the trigger of the Arab Spring. But Egypt with its 84 million people is the landscape and the prize. Where Egypt will go, I think, the region will go. And hence perhaps I raise three or four points about after the revolt, revolution, uprising. My students of AUC like to call it revolution; if I do not use the term revolution, they feel insulted. So, after what happened on January Perhaps, I raise four points. Usually at the Gulf Research Center we have lots of food for thought, and I thought that I will give thought for food with the four points. One, the element of governance. You have the collapse of a regime and in Egypt now you have at least a problem of duality of authority. You have a cabinet that is supposed to manage the country (taseer al aghmal), but the real power is in the 19 members of the military council, and there is a problem sometimes of improvisation, inconsistency, and lack of coordination. So that is a first problem that Egypt in that revolutionary situation has to solve. The second point is the rebuilding of social capital, rebuilding trust between government and people that has been at a very low level and continues to be; hence the first issue is to try to regain the trust. And it seems to me, one important aspect in this respect is fair and speedy trials for the symbols of corruption that have been there in the Gulf Research Meeting July

24 country until now. Challenge number three is the economy. After the revolution, there has been another revolution, the revolution of rising expectations people are expecting too much. With the high level of expectations, you have a low level of productivity. You have the sit-ins, the strikes, flight of capital and, at the same time, people are expecting more money. Egypt is a poor country, 40 percent of the Egyptian people live below two dollars a day and people cannot wait; they think that they have waited too long. So that is, I think, a very important and serious challenge how to put the economy back on track and quickly. The fourth challenge, and most important, what we call, we political scientists, SSR Security Sector Reform. The police have a very bad reputation and I would say rightly so. But you need the police to establish a minimum of daily life. In many parts of Egypt, the streets are sometimes insecure. Lots of thugs have been released or escaped away from prisons. The police force is demoralized, hence the importance of Security Sector Reform. I think I will just limit myself to these four challenges, I think they are important for any case of transition. Again in political science, we have a huge literature on transition to democracy and we have nice jargon for it. We talk about transitology, and now we are talking also about consolidation of democracy, consolidology. Egypt is not yet in either case. Egypt reminds me very much of the 24

25 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting first stage of a missile, it has been launched but it needs the second stage, that is the navigation system, and I think many of the countries in the region whether it is Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Tunisia I think they are going to face the same problems that Egypt is facing now. So what takes place in Egypt is a sort of map. It tells us what we can expect from the future, and yes, it is very important to think about how we can, not solve, but at least control these problems and put this country back on track. I hope that in the discussion, and certainly by the time we meet next year, the Arab Spring would have blossomed, that we have been really on track and that we will talk much more about achievements and less about challenges. Not only for Egypt, not only for the Gulf, but for the whole region, I say Inshallah, I wish our meeting best of luck, and I thank you. Gulf Research Meeting July

26 Remarks by H.E. Dr. Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Your Royal Highness, Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests: It gives me great pleasure, particularly as I have only been in the appointment for three months, to be here today at this great and historic university, and to be among so many distinguished participants. I want at the outset to express my gratitude to the Gulf Research Center and its chairman, Abdulaziz Bin Sager, for the kind invitation to take part in today s panel, and to speak on the GCC and its approach to developments and challenges in the region. H.E. Maj. Gen. Dr. Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani Ladies and Gentlemen, On the 25th of May, the GCC celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. At a time of considerable regional and international challenges, this historic occasion was a chance to reflect on our organization and its developing role both regionally and globally. Looking back, it is fair to say that the GCC and its member states have evolved into a cohesive and robust system, of which its citizens, neighbors, friends and allies can be pleased. Moreover, looking at the events of these recent months has demonstrated that the GCC can respond effectively and constructively to any challenges that arise, working together to promote the prosperity and well-being of all citizens of the GCC states, without distinction. In my view, the GCC s development over the past thirty years is based on three pillars that continue to guide us going forward: security, prosperity and resilience. Security is the essential foundation for progress and development in all fields, and the basic 26

27 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Dr. Al-Zayani with Prof. Yasir Suleiman guarantee of personal, social and economic rights and freedoms. Here, a secure environment at the individual, national and regional levels includes safety from internal and external threats, as well as preparedness for, and effective response to, both natural and man-made disasters. An important source of security in the GCC is the remarkable cohesion of its people, who enjoy common ties of kinship, culture and shared history, and the strong historical and traditional bonds between rulers and their citizens in the GCC. These ties within and between our countries have been central to developing our concept of GCC collective security the recognition throughout the region that the security of each country fundamentally depends on the security of all. But we recognize that genuine security is built from the grassroots upwards, and that this requires sustained and equitable economic progress and development. Hence, the GCC countries have worked hard to encourage prosperity for all their citizens, promoting economic innovation and investing generously in human development in their citizens education, health and wellbeing. They are ahead of schedule in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Economically, we are moving from being resource economies to genuine knowledge economies, a transition which fits well with the GCC s small, highly educated and dynamic population. It capitalizes on the GCC nationals strength and seeks to put them in command of their economic destiny. This Gulf Research Meeting July

28 process has accelerated over the past few years, event through the recent financial crisis, during which GCC countries adopted some of their most ambitious development programs. We recognize also that the path of development is not always a smooth one, and that it will inevitably encounter challenges, whether internal or external, economic or political. Already, however, the GCC and its member states have demonstrated remarkable unity of purpose and resilience in facing such challenges. Indeed, the desire for greater resilience and the ability to bounce back from adversity has been a key driver of collective security, and is based on the recognition that string and effective cooperation between the GCC countries provides both individual and collective strategic and economic depth. By working effectively together, the GCC countries gain depth, resilience and capacities that would be beyond any country acting alone, while retaining the flexibility to respond quickly and effectively to challenges. So how have these principles been reflected in practice? The commitment of the GCC countries to their collective security has never been in doubt. On the occasion of the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, all GCC states and people stood by their Kuwaiti brothers, taking them in, providing support and allowing the country to overcome the crisis and rebound rapidly following liberation in February The GCC, as an organization, not 28

29 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting only survived that crisis, but emerged stronger, demonstrating its value and showing remarkable resilience. More recently, the GCC partners have demonstrated their full readiness to support Bahrain s moves to establish a national, comprehensive consensus dialogue that will further advance the ambitious reform program of H.M. King Hamad, so as to meet the aspirations of all its people. These efforts have included the recent Royal initiative to establish an independent commission of eminent international persons to examine in full transparency the issues raised by the events earlier this year. In order to assist in creating the environment necessary for the dialogue to succeed, the GCC countries have worked collectively to strengthen Bahrain s economy, and to deter any external interference that seeks to derail its course. Economically, the GCC continues to move forward in promoting development and prosperity for all citizens, in line with its Charter objective of integrating member states in all areas of economic life. The GCC Common Market, launched in 2008, has gone a long way towards achieving GCC Economic Citizenship, allowing all GCC citizens and businesses to move freely, work and invest in any GCC country on an equal footing. In the three years since its inception, the Common Market has already resulted in growth of over 80% in intra-gcc investment, and a 30% increase in labor mobility of GCC nationals seeking work in other GCC countries. In trade, the GCC established in 2003 a Customs Union with the aim of allowing goods to move freely within the GCC. Its establishment has already led to an annual increase in intra-gcc trade of over 20%, much more than had been hoped for. Thanks in part to these developments, the recent financial crisis demonstrated the GCC s strong economic resilience the region was one of the few areas in the world that managed to maintain healthy growth. For 2011, for example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the GCC countries as a group to grow at 8%, in other words, a return to pre-crisis levels. Ladies and Gentlemen, Having been given a superficial insight into the principles that have guided the GCC s development Gulf Research Meeting July

30 over the last three decades, and how they are helping us address current and future challenges, I now want briefly to address how the GCC sees its place in the region and the world, and how it works constructively with international friends and partners. In its relationships, both with its neighbors and with the rest of the world, the GCC believes in comprehensive cooperation. Indeed, the pillars of security, prosperity and resilience can only truly be achieved through such cooperation, within each state, between member states, and between the GCC and its friends and allies. While we strongly believe in cooperation, we also reject any interference in our internal affairs, and strongly adhere to the same principle in dealing with our neighbors. Over the past decade, the GCC as a group has entered into collective trade negotiations and/or strategic dialogues with most of its key partners. Cooperation and strategic dialogue agreements that we have signed with those partners follow a comprehensive cooperation approach. They include coordination, integration and cooperation in almost all key areas. We are engaged in ongoing joint work with our partners in trade, education, culture, energy, the environment, as well as security and political coordination. As part of this comprehensive approach, GCC countries have for decades provided development assistance both in their immediate neighborhood and beyond, and their development agencies are well known for their support of such programs the world over. For example: Approximately $1.65 billion to finance projects in the Gaza Strip through the GCC Program for the Reconstruction of Gaza; Some $15 billion to Egypt in various forms to help meet economic challenges of transition; A leading role in providing humanitarian assistance in Libya; Significant international development aid and humanitarian assistance, including projects throughout Africa, and relief and reconstruction assistance to countries including Turkey, Iran and Pakistan following natural disasters; Assisting Yemen in meeting security and economic challenges, including approx. $3.75 billion in funds between 2007 and

31 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Since recent events began in Yemen earlier this year, the GCC has worked closely with other international partners through the Friends of Yemen group, which sought to encourage Yemen to implement reforms in all areas. Further, in April, five GCC states launched an initiative that aims to bring about a peaceful transfer of power in Yemen. That initiative which was fully supported by the international community is still on the table, signed by the opposition and the ruling party, and awaiting approval by the President in order for it to take effect. Applying its principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of its neighbors, the GCC has respected the wishes of the people of those countries and provided support where it was needed and requested. In Libya, the GCC was a leader in calling for a no-fly zone to protect civilians, a call supported by the Arab League and which resulted in the UN Security Council providing such protection. Distinguished Guests, All this gives me real confidence in the role of the GCC. I have no doubt that through the commitment of its member countries and the active engagement of all its people, the GCC will continue to progress, based on the pillars of security, prosperity and resilience. It will provide further opportunities and development to all its citizens while playing a constructive role both regionally and internationally. Indeed, as I conclude, I can confidently say that while recent events have undoubtedly provided challenges, they have also provided lessons and historic and valuable opportunities. They have strengthened the bonds between the member states and enhanced the role and cohesion of the GCC as an organization. The fact that we have stood firm and united internally, while continuing to extend aid and assistance to our neighbors has proved that the GCC has been built on solid foundations. Now, we must ensure that what we built onto these foundations is not only strong but most importantly flexible enough to overcome the many and major challenges which we will certainly face in the near and distant future. Gulf Research Meeting July

32 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting attracted nearly 40 workshop applications and more than 400 paper abstracts. Due to this overwhelming number, 16 workshops were ultimately selected and held during the meeting. Workshop 1 Impact of Climate Change on the Gulf Region Dr. Mohammed Raouf, Research Fellow, Environment Research Program, Gulf Research Center Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science Workshop 2 The Transformation of Rentier States and the Provision of Public and Common Goods Dr. Tarik Yousef, Dubai School of Government Dr. Eberhard Kienle, CNRS Paris / PACTE IEP de Grenoble, France Workshop 3 Educational Reform, Public Policy, and the Students of the Gulf Region Prof. Dr. Kathryn Bindon, Advisor, President - University of Bahrain Dr. Jason E. Lane, State University of New York, Albany Workshop 4 WTO and Globalization: GCC Impact Prof. Tim Niblock, University of Exeter Prof. Mohamed Ramady, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Workshop 5 Modernization and Socio-Economic Changes in the Gulf Arabic Cities Dr. Belgacem Mokhtar, Assistant Professor of Economic Geography and Planning, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Dr. Montasser I.M. Abdelghani, Assistant Professor of Social and Urban Geography, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 32

33 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 6 India and the Gulf: What Next? Amb. Ranjit Gupta (Retd.), Member of the National Security Advisory Board, India Prof. Abu Backer Bagader, Professor of Sociology, King Abdul Aziz University Workshop 7 Shaping the Gulf National Innovation Systems Dr. Kenneth Wilson, Professor and Director, National Research Foundation, United Arab Emirates Imen Jeridi Bachellerie, MSC, Researcher, Gulf Science and Technology, Gulf Research Center Dr. Eoin O Sullivan, University of Cambridge Workshop 8 Healthcare Challenges in the Gulf Region Dr. Ahmed Alawi, Director, Cambridge Consulting Alliance Ltd, Cambridge Shelley Gregory-Jones, Development Director, PHG Foundation, Cambridge, UK Workshop 9 Potential and Limits of Civil Society in the Gulf Region Prof. Paul Aarts, Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam Dr. Baqer Al-Najjar, Department of Social Sciences, University of Bahrain Workshop 10 Media in the GCC Dr. Abeer Najjar, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Mass Communication, AUS, Sharjah Dr. Khaled Hroub, Director, Media Program Gulf Research Centre, Cambridge Workshop 11 GCC-Iran Relations Prof. Saleh Al-Mani, Professor and Dean of College of Law and Political Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prof. Mahmood Sariolghalam, Professor of International Relations, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran Gulf Research Meeting July

34 Workshop 12 Migration in the Gulf Prof. Philippe Fargues, European University Institute, Robert Schumann Centre for Advanced Studies Prof. Nasra Shah, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University Workshop 13 Human Resource Development in the Gulf Region Dr. Christopher J. Rees, University of Manchester Nasser AlBadri, Director, Royal Court Affairs(RCA), Sultanate of Oman Workshop 14 The Role of Business Women in the Economies and Societies of the Arab Region Dr. Anja Zorob, Assistant Professor, Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin Dr. Beverly Dawn Metcalfe, University of Manchester, UK Workshop 15 The EU and the GCC in the Mediterranean Dr. Tobias Schumacher, Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, Lisbon University Institute Dr. Geoffrey Edwards, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge Workshop 16 Soft Power in the Gulf: The Politics of the Post-Rentier State Dr. Victor Gervais, Associate Fellow, Kuwait Program, Sciences Po Paris 34

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38 Workshop 1: Impact of Climate Change on the Gulf Region Dr. Mohammed Raouf Research Fellow, Environment Research Program, Gulf Research Center Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science The workshop on the Impact of Climate Change on the Gulf Region sought to add a crucial Gulf voice to the climate change debate. The directors introduced the subject and clarified the various impacts of climate change on the Gulf region, the region s vulnerability to climate change, links between climate change and agriculture, water, energy and biodiversity. The workshop had 11 presentations and two listening participants. In a paper titled The Green Agents of Rentier Monarchies: The Cases of Abu Dhabi and Qatar, Mari Luomi sought to demonstrate the limits of a structural-only explanation and the importance of considering the human factor in explaining why some GCC monarchies were more active than others in responding to the challenges and seizing the opportunities of the climate change issue in the late 2000s. It showed that a more nuanced explanation requires a focus on key policymakers and, in relation to these, the role, relative strength and capacity of relevant institutions. Mohammed Hassani, in his paper Tourism in the Emirate of Fujairah: Challenges and Opportunities in the Light of Climate Change, discussed Fujairah s tourism resources and provided an initial assessment of the possible impacts of changing climate. Fujairah has no known reserves of oil or natural gas; instead, the government of Fujairah aims to develop its economy through tourism. Climate change, therefore, will impact Fujairah s natural and cultural resources and the economic benefits that flow from tourism. Land reclamation is an aspect of human activity that the environmental movement has largely failed to target, but whose impact on both regional ecosystems and regional security may be devastating in certain locations. The paper Land Reclamation in the Gulf: A Dual Environment and Security Threat pointed out that it was necessary to study the holistic implications of land reclamation. 38

39 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Karen Young explored the political process of government investment and policy implementation in renewable energy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In her paper titled The Clean, Dirty and Mean: State-building and the Politics of Clean Energy Investment in the United Arab Emirates, she argued that the conflicts surrounding the renewable energy sector are also reflective of broader conflicts in a process of state building in the UAE. The Sultanate of Oman is vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change, the most significant of which are increased average temperatures, less and more erratic precipitation, sea level rise (SLR) and desertification. The paper Water Security and Climate Change: Choices for Oman by Mushtaque Ahmed highlighted the current knowledge, works being carried out and efforts being made in the water sector. Yemen faces an acute groundwater depletion challenge against the backdrop of future climate change, necessitating comprehensive adaptation planning. Developments in satellite remote sensing, particularly estimates of groundwater storage using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), have dramatically improved water resource assessment. GRACE can complement institutional water management reform by providing better water resources information in combination with socioeconomic data. Scott Moore explored these issues in his paper The Shrivelling State: Scarcity, Climate Change, and the Prospect of State Failure in Yemen. Mahmoud Hozayn Abdalla s paper Alleviation of the Potential Impact of Climate Change on Wheat Productivity Using Arginine under Irrigated Egyptian Agriculture focused on the role of Gulf Research Meeting July

40 arginine (0.0, 2.5 and 5.0 mm) in increasing the tolerance of wheat cultivar (sakha-93) to two late sowing dates in Egypt. Arginine could alleviate the adverse impact of climate change during late sowing of wheat and reduce expected reduction of economic yield in semi-arid region under irrigated agriculture. Akbar Javadi s paper Numerical Modelling of Seawater Intrusion and the Effects on Groundwater Quality Considering the Impact of Sea Level Rise and Climate Change presents the results of an investigation into numerical modelling and control of seawater intrusion. A simulationoptimization method has been developed to identify the optimum depths, locations and rates for the abstraction and recharge rates in ADR. Focusing on The Role of Natural Gas in the GCC States Energy Mix, Laura El-Katiri in her paper discussed the issue in the context of intensifying debate about climate-friendly energy policy options for the region. She argued that supply-sided climate change policies in the GCC context must be seen as being widely synonymous with natural gas policy. In view of world energy needs in future, potential solar photovoltaic capacity, and recent progress in high-tc superconducting cable technology, the Science Council of Japan proposed the Sahara Solar Breeder (SSB) plan at the G8+5 Academies meeting in Rome in March 2009 to provide a paradigm shift and open the real sustainable energy age in the world. Takashi Matsuura discussed the project in the paper Sahara Solar Breeder: Project for the Initiative of Sahara Solar Plan Directed towards Global Clean Energy Superhighway. Nora Alamer s paper Breaking the Camel s Back: Climate Change and Biodiversity in the GCC discussed the importance of marine and terrestrial biodiversity in the Gulf region and the impact of climate change on biodiversity and biodiversity policies. Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Mohamed Raouf Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf Abdel Hamid has a doctorate in environmental sciences from Ain Shams University in Egypt and has undergone and advanced course in environmental management at Augsburg University, Germany. Dr. Raouf, who has been a lecturer of Environmental Accounting 40

41 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting and Economics, has worked on several sustainable development plans and been a consultant for the Egyptian Ministry of Industry, Red Sea Sustainable Tourism Initiative in Egypt, DANIDA and Federation of Egyptian Industries for the Clean Production Seed Project, the National Environmental Action Plan of Egypt, Egypt s CDM Strategy, the Socio-Economic Study of Al-Luhaia Fishing Port project in Yemen, the Badr Petroleum co-budgeting team and Bapetco-Shell Egypt Sustainable Development Team Member. In addition, he was also a part of the project team which prepared the Green Gulf Report (2006). He authored a book titled Economic Instruments as an Environmental Policy Tool: The Case of GCC Countries (Dubai: Gulf Research Center, 2007). Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen is the Kuwait Research Fellow in the Kuwait Programme for Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). His work includes The Logistics and Politics of the British Campaigns in the Middle East (Palgrave, 2010). His latest book, Insecure Gulf: The End of Certainty and the Transition to the Post-Oil Era (Hurst & Co.) was published on May 23, Workshop 1 Papers Alleviation of the Potential Impact of Climate Change on Wheat Productivity Using Arginine under Irrigated Egyptian Agriculture: Case Study Mahmoud Hozayn Abdalla, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt Gulf Research Meeting July

42 Water Security and Climate Change: Choices for Oman Mushtaque Ahmed, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman Breaking the Camel s Back: Climate Change and Biodiversity in the GCC Nora Alamer, Ernst & Young, Manama, Bahrain Sahara Solar Breeder: Project for the Initiative of Sahara Solar Plan Directed Towards Global Clean Energy Superhighway Amine Boudghene Stambouli and Takashi Matsuura, University College London and ENGRID Consulting Limited, London, United Kingdom The Role of Natural Gas in the GCC States Energy Mix Laura El Katiri, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford, United Kingdom Land Reclamation in the Gulf: A Dual Environment and Security Threat Elham Fakhro, International Institute for Strategic Studies Middle East, Manama, Bahrain Numerical Modelling of Seawater Intrusion and the Effects on Groundwater Quality Considering the Impact of Sea Level Rise and Climate Change Akbar Javadi, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom Tourism in the Emirate of Fujairah: Challenges and Opportunities in the Light of Climate Change Mohamed Hassani and Colin Arrowsmith, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia The Green Agents of Rentier Monarchies: The Cases of Abu Dhabi and Qatar Mari Luomi, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom The Shriveling State: Scarcity, Climate Change, and the Prospect of State Failure in Yemen Scott Moore, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom The Clean, Mean and Dirty: State-building and the Politics of Clean Energy Investment in the United Arab Emirates Karen Young, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 42

43 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 2: The Transformation of Rentier States and the Provision of Public and Common Goods Dr. Tarik Yousef Dubai School of Government Dr. Eberhard Kienle CNRS Paris / PACTE IEP de Grenoble, France Over the past decade, the classical rentier economies analyzed during the oil boom of the 1970s and early 1980s and the bust years that followed through the late 1990s have developed into more complex regimes of wealth creation in which rents increasingly coexist with other forms of revenue. Diversification in terms of revenue not only involved an increase in downstream activities that remained dependent on oil and gas, but also extended into other sectors that could be sustained without the continuous flow of hydrocarbons. In some cases, it also involved exploiting opportunities offered by regional and global integration for portfolio and foreign direct investment through government and quasi-government companies. In short, classical rentier economies have turned into economies with rentier elements of variable size and shape. The workshop primarily focused on these economic transformations in the Gulf countries and their effects on welfare policies in the broader sense including the definition and provision of public goods. In the initial call for papers, the directors invited contributions on six interrelated aspects of the subject: 1. The (re)definition of public and common goods in the Gulf countries 2. The provision of public and common goods in the classical rentier economies 3. Public and common goods in today s complex and differentiated rentier economies Provision of public and common goods across political economies The politics of the provision of public and common goods The effects of the provision of public and common goods on polities The papers accepted for presentation concentrated mainly on issues 1 to 4 as shaped and Gulf Research Meeting July

44 influenced by the broader transformation of the political economies of the Gulf in a period marked by the effects of globalization, concerns about the sustainability of hydrocarbon resources and price levels, as well as related attempts at liberal and orthodox economic reforms. Within this general context, some papers paid particular attention to energy prices, subsidies, public sector employment, labor market reform and the definition of citizenship as key factors in the existing welfare regimes. Another important and novel theme was the spatial development of rentierism and its geographical expressions in urban space. Notwithstanding the diversity of approaches in terms of theory and methodology (including the full spectrum of qualitative and quantitative oriented papers), most papers converged towards a common preoccupation that coherently structured debates in the workshop: (i) the recent transformations of classical rentier states in the light of global and regional economic and political changes that over the years tended to add logics and dynamics of production to the dominant ones of distribution and thus complexified economies and politics, (ii) the return to more classical rentier state attitudes and policies in the wake of the Arab Spring, largely motivated by concerns for political stability and regime survival, and (iii) attempts related to these successive but partly contradictory trends that aim at redefining and amending what may be called the old hydrocarbon social contract including innovative measures to produce new types of citizens, incentives and legitimacies. 44

45 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting At the end of the workshop, the directors and participants agreed to try and publish revised versions of the papers in a special issue of a refereed journal or, failing that, in an edited volume. The directors are about to approach development studies journals which may expect a full set of revised papers by December They also recommended a number of papers for advance publication by the Gulf Research Center. Moreover, they agreed to foster continued conversations and discussions among themselves and other specialists and students interested in promoting research on the transformation of the political economies in the Gulf States. Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Tarik Yousef Dr. Tarik M. Yousef is the founding Dean of the Dubai School of Government. He joined the School from Georgetown University, where he held the positions of Associate Professor of Economics in the School of Foreign Service, and Sheikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah Professor of Arab Studies at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. An expert on the economies of the Arab world, he received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University with specialization in development economics and economic history. His current research interests include the study of youth inclusion in the Arab world, the political economy of policy reform and development Gulf Research Meeting July

46 policies in oil-exporting countries. Dr. Yousef s research and policy experience includes working as Economist in the Middle East Department of the International Monetary Fund, Visiting Senior Economist in the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank, and Senior Advisor for the Millennium Project at the United Nations. At present, he is a Senior Fellow in the Wolfensohn Center for Development at the Brookings Institution and Senior Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard University s Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Eberhard Kienle Dr. Eberhard Kienle is the Director of Research at the Institut d Etudes Politiques in Grenoble. Prior to this he was the Program Officer Governance and Civil Society at the Ford Foundation, Cairo and was the Chairman of the Near and Middle East Society. He was also a Senior Lecturer in SOAS. He received his PHD in Politics from the Freie University in Berlin. He is a Board Member for various institutions, including the Bertelsmann Transformation Index and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies. He is also the Co-initiator of the Middle East and Euro-Med political economy network. Workshop 2 Papers Welfare Restructuring in Rentier Arab States Asya El Meehy, Arizona State University, Arizona, United States Rentier Revised? Governance Responses to the Youth Challenge Crystal Ennis, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada 46

47 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Redesigning the Distributional Bargain in the GCC Steffen Hertog, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom The Arab Gulf States and their Future Welfare Policies Martin Hvidt, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark Public Jobs as Private Goods: The Redistributive Foundations of Rentier State Survival Trevor Johnston, University of Michigan, Michigan, United States The New Rentier Citizen: Political Attitudes and the Evolving Social Contract in the UAE Calvert Jones, Yale University, United States and Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, United Arab Emirates Retreat of the Rentier State? Public and Common Goods in Changing Political Economies Eberhard Kienle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Politiques publiques Action politique Territoires (PACTE) Institut d Études Politiques de Grenoble (IEP) The Politics of Energy Reform in the GCC Jim Krane, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom Gasoline Pricing as a Political Tool Ingrid Kruger, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway The Political Management of Rentier Transformations through Naturalization Policy Noora Lori, Johns Hopkins University, United States and Dubai School of Government, United Arab Emirates A Political Economy Model of Growth for Authoritarian Regimes Dilan Ölcer, Sciences Po Paris, Paris, France; co-author Tarek Coury Dubai Geography: From Rentier to Risk Stephen Ramos, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States Inequality, Exclusion, and Dissent: Support for Regimes in Arab Rentier States Tarik Yousef, Dubai School of Government, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Gulf Research Meeting July

48 Workshop 3: Educational Reform, Public Policy, and the Students of the Gulf Region Prof. Dr. Kathryn Bindon Advisor, President - University of Bahrain Dr. Jason E. Lane State University of New York, Albany The 15 papers selected for this workshop were considered according to three sub-themes: Educational Pathways, The Urge to Reform and the Practice of Measurement; Foreign Education Providers, Public Policy and International Standards; and Indigenous Education, Nationalization Policies, Impact and Adaptation. The presentations were rich and diverse in terms of both quantitative and qualitative analysis, and the discussion benefited from a broadly comparative framework. The contribution of this workshop to a more informed portrait of education and public policy in the region was significant. Overall, however, the work underscored how little research and analysis has been done in this area and how important measurement, assessment and critical awareness of impact are to the realization of the ambitions of the national strategies of every Gulf state. On many occasions the workshop participants noted that the discussion led to identifying questions that needed to be addressed in addition to the gaps in data or practical knowledge that required attention in public policy. Commitment to educational reform is ubiquitous in the region, but is a relatively recent phenomenon that needs to be adapted to the learning demographics and culture of each nation. While there is a growing body of data and experience relating to the introduction of new practices and institutions, there is a dearth of information on public processes relating to educational reform. Each nation has institutionalized quality assurance policies and procedures, but accessing information as to how this works and what effect it has is challenging. In qualitative terms, it is challenging to get reliable responses that reflect the student voice or the student s sense of value of their learning experience. It is not clear that the paradigm for change in the Gulf is appropriate for the culture or context of national learners. Whether national aspirations are reflected in 48

49 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting public policy and practice rather than in rhetoric is a test that needs to be applied. The importance of international test results (TIMSS, PISA and PIRLS) as catalysts for reform is evident; less clear is the use to which the data captured in these exercises is put, and the extent to which Gulf States are adopting the analytic methods that have been developed to link results to curricular and pedagogic reform. Linking human capital development to the twenty-first century global knowledge/innovation economy is a well articulated public goal; whether policy makers have moved beyond twentieth century notions of workforce development is an area for critical assessment. Models for successful reform at both systems and institutional levels were presented, and suggested options for adaptation and implementation across the Gulf region. Nevertheless, the implementation of reform in many cases reflected diverse approaches, differing national sources of content and governance, and short-term relationships rather than strategic, long-term institutional partnerships. In everything from the number of international curricula authorized in each state to the funding of branch campuses or the acquisition of curricula, the breadth of the models in the Gulf region invites comparative analysis just as it demands practical and pragmatic critical assessment. This in turn suggests some of the issues to be addressed in developing the new competencies Gulf graduates will require if they are to participate fully in their society, as well as questions relating to adaptation of methodologies to build an effective research culture. Gulf Research Meeting July

50 Questions of cultural context, adaptation for success and the importance of testing the assumptions that underpin many of the reform programs of the region further emphasized the importance of building a practice of both theoretical and applied research for education in the Gulf. Such work, moreover, is of equal importance to those many institutions in the developed world that have opted to work as partner institutions, franchises, branch or international campuses. Globalization will bring the translation of reputation, learning principles, academic standards and core values in the Gulf States under scrutiny as policy makers, students and academic staff struggle to reconcile goals and objectives with intentions and outcomes. The potential for contradiction is evident not only in forms of institutions and differing approaches to governance, but also in the tensions that exist around the values of liberal arts core learning and the social, cultural and political dynamic of the region. Workshop Director Profiles Professor Kathryn Bindon Professor Kathryn Bindon is the Advisor to the President on Quality Assurance and External Programs at the University of Bahrain. She was also the founding member of the Royal University for Women in Bahrain, as well as serving as President of Okanagan University College (OUC) in British Columbia and as a Principal and Professor of History at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College of 50

51 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Memorial University of Newfoundland (SWGC). Professor Bindon received her PHD from the Queen s University in Kingston, Ontario, and specializes in Higher Education in the GCC. She has attended numerous conferences, events and symposiums and has had several of her works have been published in various academic journals. Dr. Jason E. Lane Dr. Jason Lane is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies at the State University of New York. Dr. Lane is also a Research Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Since receiving his Doctorate in Philosophy from the Pennsylvania State University in 2003, Dr. Lane has held various positions in academia, including Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership in the University of North Dakota, and as a research associate in the College of Education in Pennsylvania State University. His specialties include Higher Education, Teaching, and Education in the GCC. Workshop 3 Papers Educational Partnership between Colleges of Applied Sciences in Oman and New Zealand: Challenges and Impact on Students Munira Al-Wahaibi and Badriya Al-Ghafri, Modern College of Business and Science, Oman, Sohar College of Applied Sciences, Oman Public Policy, University Governance and Transnational Linkages and Student Experiences: American-Associated Universities in the Middle East Rasmus Bertelsen, United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Harvard Kennedy School of Government Perceptions of Quality in Quality Assurance: Policy Contexts for Cross-Border Higher Education in the Gulf Christine Farrugia, State University of New York, Albany, United States Distributed Leadership an International Cross-Cultural Perspective Matthew Glen, Abu Dhabi Education Council, United Arab Emirates Contemporary Analysis of Higher Education Trends in the Republic of Yemen Aswan Hamza, University of Aden, Yemen Gulf Research Meeting July

52 Higher Education in Qatar: The Role of International Partnerships Eunsook Park, Independent Researcher, Paris, France Assessment Testing Can Be Used to Inform Policy Decisions: The Case of Jordan Harry Patrinos, The World Bank, Washington, United States A Liberal Arts Education in Qatar: How to Square the Circle Anh-Hao Phan, New York University, United States Towards Understanding Higher Education Policy in the UAE through a Systems Thinking Approach Martin Prince, The British University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates A Foreign Concept: Imported Education Systems and Student Academic Integrity in the Arabian Gulf Paul MacLeod, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, Doha, Qatar U.S. Accreditation of Universities in the Gulf Cooperation Council Darbi Roberts, Columbia University, New York, United States Impact of Educational Reform on Science and Mathematics Education in Qatar Ziad Said, College of the North Atlantic Qatar, Qatar Goals of National Research Institutions in Gulf States Ann Scholl, United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates Practitioner Research and the Education Professional in the Gulf Region Karen Whitby, CfBT Education Trust, Reading, England Establishing an International Branch Campus through Curriculum Transfer: The Experience of a Medical School in Bahrain David Whitford and Sameer Otoom, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Medical University of Bahrain Science Education Impacts on Labor Market Participation and Productivity of Nationals and Non-Nationals in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries Alexander Wiseman and Emily Anderson, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, United States 52

53 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 4: WTO and Globalization: The GCC Impact Prof. Tim Niblock University of Exeter Prof. Mohamed Ramady King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals The workshop explored interconnected themes and brought many different perspectives to globalization events shaping the Gulf in the economic, social and regulatory fields. Country studies provided templates on how some Gulf countries managed globalization issues and whether their experiences could benefit others in the region in light of World Trade Organization (WTO) accession and commitments. Natalia Alshakhanbeh s paper on the impact of Saudi Arabia s accession to the WTO analyzed the changes in the Kingdom s exports pre-and post-accession using intensive versus extensive margin analysis. She concluded that there were fewer diversifications in Saudi Arabia s export base following WTO accession, with the focus still on core petrochemical products. The case study of Oman by Yusuf Al Baloushi painted a brighter picture, with the focus on the benefits of FDI to Oman following accession. In both the Saudi and Oman cases, it was agreed that WTO and globalization commitments provided an impetus for domestic economic and regulatory reforms. In Oman s case, FDI is a perceived key driver for economic growth and raising domestic private sector efficiency. Caroline Yeoh and Zi Yi Chew provided an insight into how globalization sometimes does not benefit those seeking to enter new markets. The paper illustrated the difficulties faced by some Singaporean service companies in the real estate sector in the Gulf and posed the question whether such local challenges and lack of understanding of local business operations and the choice of partners might force some Singapore companies to look at markets nearer home where operations were based upon more familiar business models. Gulf Research Meeting July

54 The three papers on SWFs raised some interesting questions on the political nature of such sovereign entities and whether their perceived lack of transparency and investment parameters are a matter of concern to the West. Sara Bazoobandi examined the relatively small Iranian SWF and showed how, unlike other Arab Gulf SWFs, the Iranian vehicle was rather more an income stabilization fund but with an opaque operating mechanism and multi-political ownership structure. Sven Behrendt s paper argued that the current Arab spring will necessitate the removal of some of the secrecy under which SWFs operate during times of turmoil and illustrated this with the case of the Libyan SWF. Sven provided some interesting correlation analysis between democratization and compliance indexes for SWFs, which illustrated a strong correlation between the two indexes for countries such as New Zealand and Singapore, while the Gulf SWFs did less well. Gordon Clark and Ashby Monk s paper examined the interrelationship between modernity, institutional innovation, and the adoption of SWFs in the Gulf. They argued that there is an inherent conflict and contradiction between the accepted norms of western financial practice and the inherited traditions of managing such funds in the Gulf. The argument was that SWFs, as currently structured, were gestures towards modernity, and over time the Gulf SWFs might evolve towards the western operating model. As the Gulf SWFs develop more maturity in managing processes and people, their operating competencies will grow. The impact of globalization on Saudi student identities was explored by Tariq Elyas, who examined the use of English language as a tool of globalization and how a sample of Saudi students saw 54

55 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting the benefit of using the English medium post 9/11. The experience of the current Saudi Tatweer (change) education program was examined. The workshop discussion also raised the question of whether teaching in English or in Arabic was more effective, especially for non-science majors. Mary Ayad provided an interesting legal perspective by examining the legal and economic implications of WTO accession by the Gulf States. She presented case studies to support her argument that strong and internationally recognized and binding investment and international arbitration laws can only benefit the Gulf States, as these foster economic growth. Rushda Siddiqui s paper on social challenges to globalization in the GCC raised divergent viewpoints, as she argued that in the Gulf, it was the state that defined globalization and thus one saw different GCC countries norms of acceptance of globalization. More recently, the GCC was acting as a bloc in terms of globalization agreements. It was also argued that the current Arab Jasmine revolution was a product of globalization and not a reaction to it, and that the GCC states have decided to co-opt demands for change by being agents of change themselves on behalf of society. The concept of mutual dependency and supplier innovation from a perspective of local and global suppliers was explored by Zainab Al Balushi, and environmental issues were highlighted as being key drivers in global supplier innovation. The supply chain model indicated strong supplier Gulf Research Meeting July

56 innovation based on mutual dependency with key customers, and that consumer recycling efforts also lend to manufacturers adopting more innovation. In the GCC, the majority of GCC sampled industries were in the assembly stage with little consumer/customer feedback to suppliers. Jasim Hussain s paper examined the difficulties and successes in achieving bilateral trade accords by the GCC countries in the context of non-completion of the Doha Round. Despite the nonimplementation to date of the EU-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the GCC has successfully managed to sign bilateral FTAs with Malaysia, Singapore, EFTA, COMISAR; others are in the pipeline with India, China and MERCUSOR. The attractiveness of the GCC region in terms of their open economies made such bilateral trade agreements worthwhile to other countries and blocs. The workshop discussions also indicated that signing such FTAs can impose conditions that can be used, and have been used, in time of domestic political turmoil. Bahrain s FTA agreement with the US demonstrated such an FTA intrusion on domestic sovereignty. Workshop Director Profiles Prof. Tim Niblock Professor Tim Niblock is Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the University of Exeter, and Chair of the Management Board of the University s Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. He also serves as Vice-President of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, and Vice- President of the European Association for Middle Eastern Studies. He began his academic career 56

57 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting at the University of Khartoum in Sudan ( ), where he served as Associate Professor on secondment from the University of Reading. He has since worked at the Universities of Exeter and Durham. Between 1978 and 1993, he was at Exeter, establishing the Middle East Politics Programme there. In 1993 he was appointed Director of the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the Durham. In 1999 he returned to the University of Exeter and served as Director of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies there from 1999 to He has written widely on the Politics, Political Economy and International Relations of the Arab world. Among his books are: The Political Economy of Saudi Arabia (2007), Saudi Arabia: Power, Legitimacy and Survival (2006), Pariah States and Sanctions in the Middle East: Iraq, Libya and Sudan (2001), Muslim Communities in the New Europe (edited, with Gerd Nonneman and Bogdan Szajkowski, 1997), Economic and Political Liberalisation in the Middle East (edited, with Emma Murphy, 1993), Class and Power in Sudan (1987), Iraq: the Contemporary State (edited, 1982), State, Society and Economy in Saudi Arabia (edited, 1981), and Social and Economic Development in the Arab Gulf (edited, 1980). Prof. Mohamed Ramady Professor Mohamed Ramady is Professor in the Faculty of Finance and Economics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. He obtained both his BA and his PhD at the University of Leicester, and a Masters Degree in Economic Development at the University of Glasgow. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (UK) and a Council Member of the British Society Gulf Research Meeting July

58 for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES). In his current post he specialises on regional economics and the Saudi economy, as well as on money and banking, globalisation, privatisation and the World Trade Organisation. Among his publications are The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements and Challenges (Springer, New York, 2010), and a large number of articles in leading economics journals, including the Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management Journal, the Journal of Energy and Development, the World Journal of Business Management, the International Journal of Economics and Business Research, and the Middle East Journal of Economics and Finance. Dr. Ramady has over 25 years of senior level positions in banking, finance and investment. He was a Vice President with Citibank where he was posted in Europe and the Middle East and was seconded to the Saudi American Bank, as Assistant General Manager. He also served with Chase Manhattan and was Vice President with First City Texas Bancorp and Head of Economics, Investment and Planning with Qatar National Bank. He has experience in Islamic Finance, having served as Senior Advisor to the Chairman of Qatar International Islamic Bank. Workshop 4 Papers Globalization and Its Economic Implications on Gulf Cooperation Council Countries -- Case study: Oman Yousuf Hamad Al Baloushi, Ministry of National Economy, Muscat, Oman Mutual Dependence and Supplier Innovation, Local vs. Global Suppliers: An Empirical Study from the Arabian Gulf Countries Zainab Al Balushi and Damien Power, University of Melbourne, Australia The Impact of Saudi Arabia s Accession to the WTO on its Exports of Goods Natalia Alshakhanbeh, Independent Researcher, Geneva, Switzerland The Legal and Economic Implications of World Trade Organization Accession by the Gulf Arab States Mary Ayad, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Iran s Experience of Sovereign Wealth Management Sara Bazoobandi, Nomura International, London, United Kingdom 58

59 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Arab Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Arab Spring Sven Behrendt, Geoeconomica, Geneva, Switzerland Singapore s Gambits in the Gulf Region: Old Wines in New Bottles or New Wines in Old Bottles? Zi Yi Chew and Caroline Yeoh, Singapore Management University, Singapore Modernity, Institutional Innovation, and the Adoption of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the Gulf States Gordon Clark and Ashby Monk, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Impact of Globalization on Saudi Students Identities: A Post 9/11 Narrative Approach Tariq Elyas, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The GCC s Drive for Clinching Trade Accords in the Context of Non-Completion of Doha Round Jasim Husain, Member of Parliament, Bahrain, and Husain Al Shehab, Bahrain The WTO and the Gulf: Placing the Gulf Experience in the Wider International Context Tim Niblock, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom Saudi Arabia and the WTO: Rationale, Impact and Consequences Mohamed Ramady, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Damman, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Social Challenge to Globalization in the GCC Rushda Siddiqui, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, India Gulf Research Meeting July

60 Workshop 5: Modernization and Socio-Economic Changes in the Gulf Arabic Cities Dr. Belgacem Mokhtar Assistant Professor of Economic Geography and Planning, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Dr. Montasser I.M. Abdelghani Assistant Professor of Social and Urban Geography, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat The workshop on Modernization and Socio-economic Changes in the Gulf Arabic Cities sought to put in focus the socio-economic changes that have taken place in recent decades in the Gulf region. Participants were invited to examine the uncontrolled and rapid urban changes in the context of recent demographic trends, modern economic activities, attempts at localization, new urban functions and the large presence of a multinational workforce in the region. The workshop brought together eminent scholars from several institutions and universities in the Arab world, Europe and Asia. Participants represented 11 nationalities; only one invited participant was unable to come. Fourteen papers were presented and discussed. Participants discussed the issues from the political, economic, social and environmental perspective, putting the focus on the current debate on the outlook for harmonized and sustainable human development in the region. The historical conditions and the context of modernization and globalization formed the background and acted as a guide lines for selecting and scheduling papers. Researchers presented their latest findings and the overall view on the transformation processes in GCC countries as well as specific case studies of major Arab Gulf cities such as Riyadh, Dubai, Al-Madinah, Muscat, and Salalah. Repercussions of the adoption of western way of life on consumption modes, urbanization patterns and social relationships and the metamorphosis of small fishing or pastoral villages into large and complex urban areas, were at the heart of discussions. The accentuated process and the progress of change were elucidated in an attempt to find out the fundaments that configure the shape and the content of major cities. The differences and similarities between cities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in terms of socio-economic development and urbanization patterns were explored. It was seen that the urban reality differed from one country to the other, depending on the political choices and socioeconomic conditions. 60

61 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting One of the main findings was that oil wealth has dramatically transformed the urban morphology of major cities as well as the structure of society. The changed consumer behavior due to internationalization and globalization has also led to a radical change in demand and supply in recent years which is reflected in the cityscape. Thus, our meeting provided a good opportunity to expand the knowledge about current developments in the region as well as further cooperation between scholars involved in economic, social, development and similar issues in Arab Gulf countries. The presence of a large number of participants from the Arab world, and the Gulf region in particular, has to be considered as very positive because in the past, conferences about the Arab world often were dominated by European and North American scholars and experts. The good and balanced composition of topics within the workshop program has to be mentioned. It was reasonable that the organizers gave enough space also to historical topics because historical considerations are necessary to better understand the complex processes of modern development. Among the positive aspects of the workshop was that the participants represented different disciplines, as well as their balanced age and sex spectrum. So it was possible to look at the modernization/development process in the Gulf cities from different viewpoints as well as methodological approaches. The participants were able to learn a lot from each other e.g., that despite important regional differences, a lot of structural similarities can be observed. The Gulf Research Meeting July

62 meetings were characterized by open and scientific discussions of a high academic level which did not exclude sensitive/highly political issues. Last but not least, we cannot forget the cordial and friendly atmosphere during the entire workshop. This was the reason for its success and why the participants of this workshop left as friends and will try to continue the successful work in the future. A possible future workshop could be on: Rural-Urban Interactions and their impact on the Development of the Arabian Gulf States. Such a topic has high priority, scientifically as well as in development planning and implementation, because development in the past mostly was cityoriented and the rural areas often were neglected by politicians and planners. Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Belgacem Mokhtar Belgacem Mokhtar, holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geography (Regional and urban planning) from the University Francois Rabelais, Tours. (France). He taught geography at a number of Higher Education Institutions in Tunisia (Colleges of Sfax and Sousse ) and in the Sultanate of Oman (Colleges of Sur and Rustaq, ) and at Sultan Qaboos University (since 2003). Worldwide, he has participated in more than twenty international conferences and workshops 62

63 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting and published 2 books and 15 scientific papers in Arabic, French and English. He was rewarded by SQU for the distinguished published paper in His research has focused on the recent socioeconomic changes in Oman, as a GCC country, and their impact on urbanization, settlement patterns and spatial reconfiguration. His last accepted paper for publication is about the role of real-estate values in the relocation of socio economic categories in Muscat urban area, Oman. Dr. Montasser I.M. Abdelghani Dr. Montasser I. M. Abdelghani is an Assistant Professor of Social and Urban Geography at Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman. He was born in 1970 in the province of El-Minya, Egypt. From 1988 to 1992, he studied geography at the University of El-Minya. In 1996, he received a scholarship from the Egyptian government for post graduate studies in Germany. He studied the German language in Frankfurt and Mainz, and obtained his doctoral degree, in social geography, at the University of Bayreuth, in Bavaria. His research has focused on the issues of Arab cities, urbanization, vulnerability, and international migration. From 2003 to 2006, he taught geography at a number of institutions, in Egypt. In 2004, he worked as a visiting professor at the University of Bayreuth, in Germany. He has participated in many international conferences in Germany, Austria and in Arab countries. He has been living and working in Oman since Gulf Research Meeting July

64 Workshop 5 Papers The Kafala System and Social Compacts in the GCC Tanwen Ellis, University of Berkeley Neoliberal Urbanization and New Urban Policy in the GCC Cities Ala Al Hamarneh and Jonas Margraff, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany Social Housing Toward Affordability: The Case of the Sultanate of Oman Noura Al Nasseri, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman Place Sanctity, Spirituality and Rapid Urban Change: the Case of Al-Madina Atef Alshehri, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Between the Village and the City: Rural-urban Interaction and Place Attachment of Students in Muscat, Oman Marike Bontenbal and Eefje van Esch, German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), Muscat, Oman Cities in the Gulf: The Lesson from a Cartographical Approach of Urban Dynamics? Philippe Cadene, University Paris 7 Diderot, Paris, France The Place of Culture in Post-Oil Policies and Urban Planning: The Case of Dubai and Abu Dhabi Brigitte Dumortier, University Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Mapping Dubai: Towards an Understanding of Urban Form and Social Structure Yasser Elsheshtawy, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates Historical Background of the Development of Settlement Pattern in the Southern Region Dhofar and Salalah in Particular in the Late 1970s Joerg Janzen, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany The Role of Public Spaces in the Gulf Region s Cities: Dubai and Riyadh Amin Moghadam, Lyon2 University Gremmo Laboratory/Think Tank of the City Factory, France and Marco Pasqualini, Universities of Barcelona (UAB), Montpellier I, Milan and Szczecin 64

65 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Reconfiguring Urban Morphology: Waterfront Development Trends in Gulf Cities Amer Moustafa, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Social, Ecological and Morphological Changes; Case Studies Compared: Muscat Capital Area and Oasis Settlement of Mansafah Daniela Ottmann, German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), Muscat, Oman A City of Diasporas Everyday Practices and Networks of Expatriate Minority Communities in Muscat, Oman Carmella Pfaffenbach and Veronika Deffner, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany Case Study: Mechanisms of Urban Sprawl in Muscat Capital Area Aurel von Richthofen, German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), Muscat, Oman Dubai: Emerging Global City or Failed Economy of Fascination? Heiko Schmid, University of Jena, Jena, Germany Vision 2030 Socioeconomic Challenges and Structural Changes in the Urban Morphology of the Arab Gulf Post-Oil-Cities Nadine Scharfenort, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany Globalisation, Regionalisation and Economic Change in Salalah (Oman) Steffen Wippel, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany Gulf Research Meeting July

66 Workshop 6: India and the Gulf: What Next? Amb. Ranjit Gupta (Retd.) Member of the National Security Advisory Board, India Prof. Abu Backer Bagader Professor of Sociology, King Abdul Aziz University Even before the Arab Spring, India s ties with the Gulf countries were going through a major change. From 2005 onwards, all the GCC countries had indicated a deep interest in enhancing political and economic ties with India as was manifested, between , by the visits to India of the Heads of State/ Heads of Government of all the GCC countries, and with Saudi Arabia, specially in the Riyadh Declaration, signed in February 2010, even seeing India as a strategic partner. The ongoing Arab Spring has certainly thrown the entire West Asia/North Africa (WANA) region into turbulence and has generated unprecedented political and economic uncertainties. Not only are the polities in turmoil internally, with armed conflict taking place in Libya and Syria, in the Gulf there is an enhanced confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which has led to some extreme rhetoric and opened up theaters of competition across the region, including not just Bahrain but also Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. However, in spite of this ongoing turmoil, the logic and value of India s ties with the GCC and Iran (separately) is such that these ties are not likely to be adversely affected in the coming years. The substance of India s ties with the Gulf is made up of energy, trade and community-related relationships. The GCC provides about 50 per cent of India s oil imports; if Iran and Iraq are taken into account, India s supplies from the Gulf would be around 80 per cent. Again, Qatar is the principal supplier of imported gas to India. In regard to economic ties, the GCC remains India s number one trade partner in terms of economic groupings, while the UAE is India s number one trade partner on country-wise basis. The Indian community in the six countries of the GCC numbers about six million and is the 66

67 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting preferred community in every GCC country. This community remits to India about $32 billion annually. Given the crucial importance of the Gulf for India s energy and economic interests, the question the workshop put to itself was: What Next? Simply stated, the workshop explored whether India s present engagements with the region could in time evolve into ties with a strategic content. This involved an examination of: the content of the strategic ties envisaged; and, the various factors and interests of other countries in the region, both within and outside the Gulf, that would impinge on the content of the strategic partnerships. The workshop recognized that the realization of a strategic role by India in the Gulf would be determined by the internal developments in the countries concerned as also by role-players such as: Saudi-Iran ties, Regional role-players including Israel, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and External players such as United States and China. The workshop concluded that, in regard to its future role in the Gulf, India has the following options: Maintaining a business-as-usual scenario in terms of which it would continue to sustain and possibly enhance its energy, economic and community-related ties, with a relatively modest role in regard to political, security and defense engagements. Gulf Research Meeting July

68 Pursuing its strategic interests by aligning itself as a junior partner of a US-led Western alliance, playing a supportive role as is being done at present by UK, France or South Korea. Actively upgrading its own security-related engagements with the GCC and Iran: given the ongoing Saudi-Iranian competitiveness and hostile rhetoric, this foray is likely to be limited in value, and on occasion, in respect of specific issues or developments, could even demand that India choose between them. Pursuing a broader cooperative security alliance in tandem with other Asian role-players committed to Gulf security that would seek to blunt the competitive edge of Saudi-Iranian relations and work towards a framework that would incrementally embrace the principal countries of Asia, all of which have a crucial stake in Gulf security. One possible step in this direction would be for India to explore the possibility of setting up dialogue partnership arrangements (on ASEAN lines) with principal regional and extra-regional interlocutors. The workshop also noted that India s pursuit of its strategic role in the Gulf would have to take into account a number of important factors: Its energy and economic interests, Nuclear issues, Maritime issues, Arab aspirations as articulated through the Arab Spring, Islam as a factor in regional politics, the successful pursuit of defense and security ties and the interests of the Indian community. 68

69 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting The workshop also felt that India s strategic role in the region would be greatly facilitated by enhanced cultural links and stronger people-to-people contacts. Workshop Director Profiles Amb. Ranjit Gupta (Retd.) Ranjit Gupta is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer. During his 39-year career with the Ministry of External Affairs, he served successively in Cairo, New York, Gangtok, Jeddah (Deputy Chief of Mission), Frankfurt and Kathmandu. Later he was successively India s Ambassador to Yemen (North), Venezuela, Oman, Thailand and Spain and finally was Head of the non-official Office in Taiwan. One of his postings at Headquarters was as Head of the West Asia and North Africa Division in the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with Arab countries. Currently, he is a Member of the National Security Advisory Board; a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies; and, a visiting Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies. He is leading the Indian team in a joint research project sponsored by India s Ministry of External Affairs with the Gulf Research Centre, Dubai, on India-GCC Relations; he has very recently been granted a two-year research project by the Indian Council of World Affairs on India-GCC Relations. He has been delivering lectures at think tanks and other academic institutions in India and abroad and participating in conferences, seminars and workshops primarily relating to India s relations with the Gulf Gulf Research Meeting July

70 region, Southeast Asia and East Asia, as well as countries and issues of relevance to these regions. Prof. Abu Backer Bagader Prof. Abubaker Bagader is a Professor of Sociology at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He also serves as an Advisor for Cultural Affairs to the Minister of Hajj, Director of the ministry s department of Public Relations, Media Information and Hajj Awareness. Workshop 6 Papers Investments and Joint Ventures in India-GCC Economic Ties: Opportunities and Challenges Talmiz Ahmad, Embassy of India, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Iran as a Factor in Indo-Gulf Relations: The GCC Perspective Atul Aneja, The Hindu Newspaper, Dubai, United Arab Emirates The Role of the Gulf in India s Energy Security Sameena Hameed, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India 70

71 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting The Prospect of Cooperative Security in the Gulf Region: What will be the Role of External Actors? The Case of India-GCC Relations Visne Korkmaz, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey Realizing the Indo-Saudi Strategic Partnership : An Analysis of the Leading Drivers Robert Mason, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom Indian Diaspora in the Gulf: Identity, Social Security and Changing Forms of Association Ilias Mulamparambil, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India The Gulf: Future Security Architecture and India Janardhan Narayanappa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates The Iran Factor in India-Gulf Ties: An Indian Perspective Harsh Pant, King s College London, United Kingdom Gulf s Role in India s Energy Security Samir Pradhan, Tanween, Doha, Qatar India, Iran and the GCC: A Trilateral Cooperation in the Making Behzad Shahandeh, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea Iran Losing Status and Iraq the Emerging Partner of Asian Countries: A Case Study Pertaining to Relations with India Zahirinejad Varnosfadrani Mahnaz, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Gulf Research Meeting July

72 Workshop 7: Shaping the Gulf National Innovation Systems Dr. Kenneth Wilson Professor and Director, National Research Foundation, United Arab Emirates. Imen Jeridi Bachellerie MSC, Researcher, Gulf Science and Technology, Gulf Research Center Dr. Eoin O Sullivan University of Cambridge The workshop Shaping the Gulf National Systems of Innovation (NSI) brought together researchers from several different countries and disciplines to discuss a diverse range of topics from education and skills; to industries and R&D networks; to law and entrepreneurship and the challenges and prospects associated with building systems of innovation in the GCC countries. The workshop began with a presentation from guest speaker James Wilsdon, Director of the Royal Society s Science Policy Centre. James gave an overview of the Atlas of Science & Innovation in the Islamic World a major study conducted across the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference. The talk focused on the case of Qatar and drew comparisons with important emerging economies. In the second paper of the workshop Factor Inputs and Sources of Growth and Innovation in the Omani Economy, Said Alsaqri presented evidence on aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) performance for the Omani economy from , suggesting that for the period TFP growth was negative, but for TFP growth was positive and statistically significant, supporting the proposition that since 1988 technology and efficiency have induced GDP growth. 72

73 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting The workshop then took a closer look at enabling technologies and environments that foster innovation. Emily Anderson s paper on ICT-Integrated National Education Systems as the Core of National Innovation Systems in the GCC Countries estimated the impact of ICT-integrated education across the GCC countries on knowledge exchange and innovation capacity-building. Analyzing data from the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Emily found that, somewhat surprisingly, more frequent computer use may be associated with remediation and remedial instruction in science rather than knowledge-based innovation. Pegram Harrison presented a thought piece on Islamic entrepreneurship co-authored with Yousuf Al Bulushi and entitled Islamic Entrepreneurship and the Enabling Environment for Innovation in the Gulf, where he presented an analytical framework illustrating linkages between cultural determinants and entrepreneurial activities. In his paper Using Intellectual Property Regulation to Support National Innovation Systems in the UAE, Donald Feaver presented an analysis of the UAE intellectual property (IP) law and regulation and its relationship to obligations contained in international agreements. Donald argued that if properly designed, national IP protection regime and its instruments are capable of reinforcing innovation among local small and medium sized enterprises. Day Two began with a paper by Carlos Lopez Gomez presenting A Framework for Identifying National Value Capturing Opportunities: Aligning Policies and Evolving Industrial Systems. Gulf Research Meeting July

74 Carlos used the case of the aerospace industry a sector of strategic and timely relevance to several GCC nations to illustrate the evolving economic value capture opportunities associated with different parts of this industry s structure, which triggered discussion on how innovation policies might be designed to capture targeted opportunities within particular parts of industrial value chains. The workshop then moved to consider the contribution of higher education institutions and programs in driving innovation ecosystems in KSA and the broader region. Daniel Winfield and Terence McElwee presented a joint paper KAUST - An Economic Development Model for MENA Research Universities where, building on the concept of tacit knowledge, they put forth technology commercialization practices as a service in which KAUST bundles patent rights with practical know-how and engineering services in the form of a product development package to help companies better quantify risk, reward, and time-to-market. On the role of international networks in facilitating technology transfer and innovation capacitybuilding, Christina Flesia s paper The Role of R&D International Cooperation Networks in the NSI Concept Approach presented findings from her ongoing survey work for the European project Inconet-GCC. Cristina began with the observation that a lot has been made to form an efficient higher education in the GCC countries. However, more needs to be done to develop scientific culture, foster teamwork spirit, and enhance the visibility of research, development & innovation (RDI) activities in the Gulf at national and international levels. In this regard, she argued, rather than bilateral cooperation, international multidisciplinary networks can be very effective in building capacity and structuring long-term research efforts. Exploring the dynamism of International Technology Transfer (ITT) from East Asia to the GCC countries for the last 50 years, Makio Yamada then presented a case study of Japan s relationship with KSA with respect to technological upgrading and capacity building. Makio s paper International Technology Transfer from East Asia to the Gulf: Japan and Saudi Arabia as a case study highlighted that while the main ITT actors are private businesses, the state also plays a large role because of political-economic drivers (e.g. energy security, diplomatic competition, globalization). Makio argued that two channels are especially important in ITT: foreign direct investment and movement of people; and that, while in the past ITTs were ad hoc and short term, today they are more institutionalized as they become more entrenched in strategic business interests. 74

75 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting The workshop concluded with a plenary talk by Alan Hughes, Director of the UK Innovation Research Centre. Alan emphasized the complex and diverse factors that underpin national innovation performance and economic growth. In particular, he made a compelling case that the success of the US innovation system which many countries try to emulate was built on more than high-tech R&D, spin-off firms and private venture capital. Other factors such as governmental procurement policies and a diverse set of university knowledge exchange activities too played a major role. Alan concluded by highlighting the critical importance of understanding variations between national industrial structures, innovation-system institutions and practices. The workshop provided an opportunity to gauge the innovation capacity and prospects of the GCC countries and the opportunities for collaboration among them in this area. The interaction and shared interests among participants highlighted the complexity and interconnected nature of the different elements of an innovation system. Gulf Research Meeting July

76 Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Kenneth Wilson Dr. Kenneth Wilson is Director of the National Research Foundation (NRF) of UAE. Prior to joining NRF, Dr Wilson was Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic & Policy Research Unit, Zayed University, UAE. Originally from Australia, Dr. Wilson has undertaken research in a wide range of applied economic areas and has published more than 50 refereed publications including books, book chapters and international peer reviewed journal articles on topics such as international competitiveness, contingent protection, dumping and anti-dumping, trade, tourism economics, productivity and labor market issues. His current research focuses upon the knowledge economy fundamentals of Gulf countries. Dr. Wilson also has considerable experience in research project management, research training, research capacity building and developing innovation capacity. Dr. Wilson received his undergraduate education in Economics from La Trobe University in Australia and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA. Imen Jeridi Bachellerie MSC Imen Jeridi Bachellerie coordinates the Science & Technology program at the Gulf Research Center. She holds a degree in Electro-Mechanical Engineering from Ecole Nationale d Ingenieurs of Tunis (Tunisia), a Master of Science in Mechanics from Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan (France) and a Master of Science in Epistemology and History of Science and Scientific Institutions from Universite 76

77 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Denis Diderot-Paris VII (France). From 2005 till 2008, she was a project manager in the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF), where she took part in the design and coordination of many science development initiatives. For instance, she coordinated the first Pan-Arab Industry University Linkage Competition Made in the Arab World and was in charge of ASTF affiliate Networks. Prior to that, from 2002 till 2004, she was a consultant researcher and contributed to reports for UNDP and UNOPS on the Arab world. From 1996 till 2000, she was a project manager at Association Nationale les Petits Debrouillards (ANPD) and MILSET, French NGOs for Science Education where she developed training programs for science instructors in France and Lebanon. She coordinated the planning and implementation of the Lebanese ANPD sister organization. Dr. Eoin O Sullivan Eoin O Sullivan joined the Centre for Industry and Government as a Senior Policy Fellow in He is also a Programme Director at the Cambridge-MIT Institute which he joined at the end of Before joining CMI, Eoin was Special Advisor to the Director General of Science Foundation Ireland. At SFI, Eoin managed several university-industry initiatives including the national Centres for Science, Engineering & Technology (CSET) programme. Eoin was part of the original team that set up SFI. He was both a Senior Policy Advisor at Forfas, The Irish National Policy & Advisory Board for Enterprise, Trade, Science, Technology & Innovation and a Senior Programme Officer for Information & Communications Technologies at the Foundation. Before moving back to Ireland, Eoin spent a couple of years as a Physics Editor at the Cambridge Gulf Research Meeting July

78 University Press. He has a BSc from University College Cork and a D.Phil. from the Physics Department of Oxford University. Workshop 7 Papers Factor Inputs and Sources of Growth and Innovation in the Omani Economy, Said AlSaqri, Office of the Advisor to H. M. the Sultan for Economic Planning Affairs, Muscat, Oman Using Intellectual Property Regulation to Support National Innovation Systems in the UAE Donald Feaver, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia The Role of R&D International Cooperation Networks in the NSI Concept Approach Cristina Flesia, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy The Enabling Environment for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Gulf Countries Pegram Harrison, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom and Yousuf Al-Bulushi, University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom A Framework for Identifying National Value Capture Opportunities: Aligning Policies and Evolving Industrial Systems Carlos López-Gómez, Eoin O Sullivan and Mike Gregory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom KAUST An Economic Development Model for MENA Research Universities Daniel Winfield, RTI International, North Carolina, United States and Terence McElwee, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia ICT-Integrated National Education Systems as the Core of National Innovation Systems in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries Emily Anderson, Centenary College, New Jersey, United States International Technology Transfer from East Asia to the Gulf: Japan and Saudi Arabia as a Case Study Makio Yamada, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom 78

79 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 8: Healthcare Challenges in the Gulf Region Dr. Ahmed Alawi Director, Cambridge Consulting Alliance Ltd, Cambridge Shelley Gregory-Jones Development Director, PHG Foundation, Cambridge For the first time, with a workshop focusing on Healthcare Challenges in the Gulf Region, healthcare issues formed part of the discussions at the Gulf Research Meeting. The workshop, which was a great success, was directed by Dr Ahmed Alawi of GIMG and Shelley Gregory-Jones of the PHG Foundation and saw two days of high quality presentations across a wide range of topics. The workshop got off to a flying start with a powerful presentation from Lord Kakkar around his own specialist research area of thrombosis; he set a high standard that was maintained over the next two days. In his presentation, Lord Kakkar discussed the high incidence of venous thrombosis (VTE) around the world. He indicated that majority of VTE was related to recent hospital admissions with known medical and surgical conditions. VTE is a preventable public health crisis. Ron Zimmern, chairman of the PHG foundation, was discussant for Lord Kakkar s talk. Lord Kakkar was asked how the GCC countries can develop strategies for treating and preventing VTE. Other presentations focused on healthcare innovations in the areas of fertility, drug delivery and malnutrition. There was a lively discussion following presentations on an innovative device that allows couples to improve their chances of conception by monitoring ovulation through changes in bodily temperature; a new highly effective and versatile way of delivering drugs through the skin via a spray and also a new high protein food source based on a by-product of the fishing industry that is high protein, easily absorbed and which has great potential for helping people with malnutrition. The workshop also heard about new research that shows how thrombosis might be avoided with a device that stimulates blood circulation in the leg as well as a presentation on advances in renal care. Gulf Research Meeting July

80 As well as a focus on medical interventions, the workshop included broad overviews of healthcare challenges in specific Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia, the issue of patient autonomy and control of records, as well as an exploration of the issues surrounding generic drugs. We learned a great deal about the barriers and opportunities for primary healthcare in Saudi Arabia lessons that could be useful for other Gulf States. The presentation on an imaginative new approach to giving patients control of their own records could be particularly pertinent for the GCC states. Patient views were also at the heart of a fascinating discussion about the use of generics which challenged the assumption that brand drugs and their generic counterparts are, in fact, technically the same following patient reports of different outcomes. Finally, the workshop included two very high level presentations a very illuminating overview of Gallup survey responses on health and well-being from the Gulf States and an exploration of the nature and importance of translation and the need to ensure that we have clear processes and pathways to allow the best biomedical innovations to find their way into health systems. In two short days, it is fair to say that a great deal of ground was covered. There was a good deal of animated participation following each presentation and a great atmosphere based on a shared interest in the entire area of healthcare which meant that everyone was generous in listening and contributing even to areas well outside of their own expertise. We 80

81 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting would like to extend our grateful thanks to all who presented or took part and to the GRM organizers who made the meeting such a great experience for everyone. We are looking forward to publishing some of the valuable contributions made during the workshop and very much hope that, in 2012, there will be a second healthcare workshop to continue this lively and very necessary discussion. Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Ahmed Al-Alawi Ahmed Al-Alawi is co-founder and director at Cambridge Consulting Alliance (Cambcal), a management and a technology consultancy based in Cambridge, UK. Ahmed consults and advices on strategic healthcare investments, healthcare management, manufacturing and innovation. Prior to Cambcal, he worked as senior scientist at Genzyme specializing in applying new technologies for building robust chemical processes. In his career, Ahmed has been influential in the pharmaceutical industry where he was steering committee member of the UK/Eire Process Analytical Technologies Community of Practice. Dr. Al-Alawi has built his career at Genzyme, leading various projects in drug developments for the company. He has also held positions at Shell International and as an academic at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Along with this, he works closely with leading universities, organizations and businesses on shaping the future Gulf Research Meeting July

82 for healthcare and innovation globally. Recently, he was selected to the Science and Engineering Ambassador for Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. A creative and influential individual, Dr. Alawi s education has been widespread. He is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with a BEng and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. Ahmed is currently completing his MBA from Henley Business School. Shelley Gregory-Jones Shelley Gregory Jones is the Development Director at the PHG Foundation in Cambridge, England. The PHG Foundation finds the best ways to harness the power of scientific advances to prevent illness and tackle disease. They are an independent, non-profit body with a focus on policy and service development, working to accelerate the effective, responsible use of bioscience in healthcare and promote equal access to services. Her experience includes disability and public health charities in roles including Chief Executive, Strategy Director and Development Director. Her work covers strategic analysis, business development, communications, fundraising and international networking. In 2007, she completed an MBA from the Judge Business School and she has a BA (Hons), MA in philosophy from Girton College, University of Cambridge. She serves on the Cambridge Judge Business School Alumni Advisory Board and is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall, Cambridge. 82

83 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 8 Papers Amizate Natural Solution for Malnutricion Chandan Alam, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom Patients Views on Generic Substitution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): Focus on Renal Patients Mubarak AlAmeri, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom Challenges of Continuing Medical Education in Saudi Arabia s Hospitals Awatif Alghamdi and John Spencer, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom Challenges and Suggested Solutions for the Saudi Healthcare System: Opinions of Experts in the Workshop Healthcare Challenges in the Gulf Region Mohammad Alkhazim, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Gulf Research Meeting July

84 Patient-Controlled Records as the Only Way to Tackle GCC Health Care Costs Mohammad AlUbaydli, Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, United Kingdom Knowledge Brokering as the Key to Clinical Translation Philippa Brice, PHG Foundation, Cambridge, United Kingdom Study of Home-Based Expectant Management in Infertile Couples Awaiting IVF in Europe Provides Attractive Options for Improving Fertility Care in the Gulf Region Oriane Chausiaux and Shamus Husheer, Cambridge Temperature Concepts Limited, Cambridge, United Kingdom The Effect of a Novel Method for Improving Lower Limb Blood Flow in Healthy Volunteers Huda Jawad, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom Cancer and Thrombosis Lord Ajay Kakkar, Crossbench member of the House of Lords Epidemiology of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) in the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): A Systematic Review Amal Hassanien and Fahda Al Shaikh, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom Life Evaluations in the GCC: Subjective Wellbeing and Health Magali Rheault, Sofia Kluch and Ken Kluch, Abu Dhabi Gallup Center, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 84

85 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 9: Potential and Limits of Civil Society in the Gulf Region Prof. Paul Aarts Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam Dr. Baqer Al-Najjar Department of Social Sciences, University of Bahrain The workshop started from the overarching research question: To what extent has civil society a sociopolitical transformative potential in the Gulf region? Some of the related sub-questions which guided the contributions were: What are the main developments of political and social reform in the last two decades? What are the differences and similarities between civil society in the Gulf monarchies and the rest of the Arab world (and Iran)? (i.e. is there a khaliji exceptionalism?). What are the main drivers of change? How do processes of inclusion and exclusion take place (and what are the key contextual factors)? Can political attitudes be inferred from social attitudes (i.e. is there a simple linear movement from religious conservatism to social conservatism to political conservatism or even support for political authoritarianism?). To what extent is the debate on the role of civil society related to the debate on citizenship? How to evaluate the strength/weakness of civil society? This final question was divided in four sub-questions: What is the structural makeup of civil society with regard to the main characteristics of individual citizen participation and associational life? What kind of values are being promoted and practiced by civil society? What is civil society s impact in general? How looks the political, legal, socioeconomic, and sociocultural context, as well as the relationship between civil society and the state? In the two-day workshop, 16 papers were presented, each presentation followed by an assigned discussant. The sessions were attended by several non-listening participants, in numbers varying from three to five. Most of the Gulf countries were covered in the papers, including Iran and Iraq. Gulf Research Meeting July

86 Six papers dealt with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, two with Iran, two with Kuwait, and two with the GCC countries in general. Dubai and Bahrain were covered in separate papers and, finally, a comparative study of the Kurds in Turkey, Iran and Iraq was presented. In a comparative study of the Gulf and the Maghreb region, Nahla Mahmoud Ahmed detected several similarities and differences between the civil societies of the two regions. The author also tried to draw lessons from the recent Tunisian experience. In more general terms, it was stated that civil society s democratizing potential is contingent, i.e. neither necessarily positive nor negative (though in the paper the normative notion seemed to have creeped in). In a second comparative study, on parliamentary experience in Kuwait and Egypt, it was argued that formal participation in an authoritarian context is often managed informally. Formal participation procedures interact with informal mechanisms in order to regulate access to networks of patronage. Using informal features and formalizing them is seen as an important adjustment screw, as was stated by Thomas Demmelhüber. In another paper on Kuwait, Eran Segal presented the results of his historical research on the country s women s movement. The workshop s leading question was answered in a fully confirmative manner, qualifying the women groups political activities as a success story. The papers on Iran dealt with respectively the One Million Signatures Campaign and the Green Movement. Hamideh Sadeghi detailed the campaign s program, which mainly advocates the repeal 86

87 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting of gender discriminatory laws. In evaluating women s transformative potential, the author reached a positive conclusion: Iranian women have feminized the civil society. Studying Iran s Green Movement, Anicée Van Engeland-Noural came to a much less rosy judgement, raising the question whether Iran s civil society even has limits that are inherent. Most civil society actors seem incapacitated, traumatized, in exile or dead. On the basis of empirical survey research on Arab monarchies, Russell Lucas explored the relationship between social pluralism, national identity and civil society activism and the support for the status quo or support for democracy. On the basis of the research so far, there was just one robust finding, i.e. that interest in politics can be linked positively to both civil society activism and support for democracy. Some of the participants uttered doubts about the paper s quantitative methodology: Can you measure social attitudes at all? Sanuja Mohammad Ali made a strong plea for an anthropological understanding of the relationship between various elements of citizenship in the case of Dubai. Arguing that we should go beyond the political science way of looking at this phenomenon, thus making room for city citizenhip, based on residence, rather than national citizenship. In a study on Bahrain it was argued that secular, non-sectarian spaces for political activity have declined since the 1970s. Jane Kinninmont also concluded that civil society had been used to marginalize political society (via the National Dialogue ). In his contribution on civil society s potential for change in the small Gulf states, Abdulnaby Alekry also concluded that the uprising in Bahrain though not being a Shiite revolt but a popular uprising has led to a rift between Sunnis and Shiites. Looking at developments among the Kurds in Iraq, Iran and Turkey, Michiel Leezenberg stated that Iraqi Kurdish society displays persistent elements of Leninism more in organizational than ideological terms. Local parties try to control all societal groups and institutions, making the very idea of civil society suspect, at least among the power elites. Though Turkish politics leaves more room for civil initiatives, mainly thanks to less pervasive structures of patronage, here too political parties continue to dominate civil society in a top-down manner. Different forms of patronage were discussed as well as the usefulness of the term Leninist. Finally, six papers dealt with various aspects related to civil society in Saudi Arabia. Reli Shechter focused on a more general topic: the nexus between consumption and citizenship, making use of Gulf Research Meeting July

88 the term material-politics (with hyphen) thereby throwing new light on logics and mechanics of the country s socio-political structure. A debate ensued whether consumption necessarily leads to conservatism. The remaining five papers, in varying degrees, more directly focused on aspects of Saudi Arabia s civil society. Muhammad al-atawneh showed that since 9/11 the Saudi-Wahhabi official religious discourse has softened, i.e. manifesting more tolerance towards the other (reflected by the use of the term wasatiyya ). To some extent, Roel Meijer s paper on the impact of (different kinds of) Saudi liberalism on civil society tied in with al-atawneh s contribution, among others by referring to anti-clerical sentiments but not limited to that. Discussion followed on the tension within the religious establishment and on the ebb and flow of the umara-ulama relationship. The papers by Mariwan Kanie and Caroline Montagu focused most directly on civil society: Kanie choosing the angle of Butler s notion of performativity of language, while Montagu (equally quite sanguine) analyzed Saudi Arabia as a most groupie country. Questions were raised about the power of the language and on the supposed changed relationship between the Al Saud, the conservative ulama, and segments of civil society. Finally, Mark Thompson presented his (mainly positive) findings on the King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue, seeing it as an important channel of communication not only between citizens and the state, but also among citizens (e.g. by a facilitated inter-sectarian dialogue). Debate ensued about the meaning of dialogue (Tocquevillian vs. Gramscian), mechanisms of change, and the King s dilemma. 88

89 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting In conclusion, though not all of the guiding questions have been tackled in the presented papers, many interesting issues came to the fore sometimes with, and at other times without reaching consensus. First, the liberal, normative notion of civil society seems quite persistent (notwithstanding severe criticism from many sides). Second, there was a clear call for attention for processes and mechanisms of authoritarian upgrading, in particular different forms of patronage. Third, and related to the second point, the importance of informal mechanisms in the region cannot be overemphasized. Fourth, the relation between civil society and political society needs more attention. Fifth, the power of language needs additional scrutiny. Six, the notion of citizenship is more multifarious than often understood. Seven, gender dimensions are too often neglected. Eight, there was no discussion at all on the notion of khaliji exceptionalism. Nine, little attention was paid to socioeconomic contexts. Ten, the term rentier state was hardly mentioned. Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Paul Aarts Paul Aarts is a lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Political Science (University of Amsterdam). He is member of the editorial board of ZemZem, a journal on Islam and the Middle East and North Africa. He has undertaken consultancy work on the Middle East for Gulf Research Meeting July

90 the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission and other institutions. Aarts regularly contributes to public debates on matters related to the Middle East. Prof. Baqer al-najjar Baqer Salman Al-Najjar is Professor of Sociology at University of Bahrain. He received his Ph.D. from Durham University, UK. In 2009, he received the Shaikh Zayed Book Award for his work on civil society in the Gulf. His other main publications are NGOs in the Arabian Gulf (1988); Productivity in Industrial Sector in Bahrain (1993); Sociology of the Arabian Gulf (1999); Women and Modernity in the Gulf (2000); Dream to Migrate to Wealth: Foreign Labour in the Gulf (2001); Society and Education in the Arabian Gulf (2003); Gender, Citizenship and Non-Governmental Organizations (2003); The Religious Movements in the GCC Countries (2007); Social Policies in Bahrain (2008); and The Strenuous Democracy in the Arabian Gulf (2008). Workshop 9 Papers Islam and Civil Society at the Turn of the 21st Century Muhammad Al Atawneh, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel Informal Access to Parliament in Kuwait: Politics, Power and Patronage Thomas Demmelhuber, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Germany 90

91 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Civil Society in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society, the Language of Rights and the Authoritarian State Mariwan Kanie, Unversity of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Critical Reflections on Urban Citizenship: A Case for Dubai Sanuja Karayil Mohammad Ali, University of California, Berkeley California, United States Mataams, Majalis and Modernity: Civil Society, Political Space, and Identity Politics in Bahrain Jane Kinninmont, Chatham House, London, United Kingdom Civil Society among the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey: A Comparative Analysis Michiel Leezenberg, Unversity of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Social Pluralism, Civil Society, Political Stability and Democracy in Arab Monarchies Russell Lucas, Florida International University, Florida, United States The Civil Society and Democracy in Gulf and Maghreb Countries (A Comparative Study) Nahla Mahmoud, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt Gulf Research Meeting July

92 Who are the Saudi Liberals and What Is Their Impact on Civil Society? Roel Meijer, Radboub University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Civil Society in Saudi Arabia Caroline Montagu, London, United Kingdom Do Women Protest Organizations Have Political Transformative Potential In Iran? The One Million Signatures Campaign Hamideh Sedghi, Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States The Success of Civil Society: The Movement of Women in Kuwait from the Social into the Political Arena Eran Segal, University of Haifa, Haifa, Isreal Consumer Society, Civil Society and Saudi Socio-Politics since the 1970s Relli Shechter, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel The King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue: The Impact of Dialogue Training Initiatives Mark Thompson, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom Iranian Civil Society and the Green Movement: Year Zero Anicee Van-Engeland, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom 92

93 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 10: Media in the GCC Dr. Abeer Najjar Assistant Professor, Dept. of Mass Communication, AUS, Sharjah Dr. Khaled Hroub Director, Media Program Gulf Research Centre, Cambridge The media workshop intended to enhance and further the research and analysis of various aspects of developments in the media landscape in the Gulf region in particular, but also in relation to wider regional and global changes in this field. The 17 papers presented at the workshop spanned a wide range of themes, countries, research methodologies, media practices and new emerging tendencies. Participants included academics and practitioners who came from diverse backgrounds both in terms of expertise and geography. Researchers from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, India, North America and China participated in the workshop. The role of the Gulf-based media and the Arab world at large in the Arab Spring was one major theme that attracted contributions and discussion. Conceptional perspectives and case studies on this subject covered the undeniable role that broadcasting and social media played in Arab revolutions. The case studies focused on Egypt and Tunisia in particular. Mainstream broadcasting corporations such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya were analyzed in several papers directly or indirectly. The changing nature of the media in relation to influence on audiences and shaping public opinion was another major theme covered in several papers. These papers covered the impact of reality TV programs, with case studies analyzing shows on Abu Dhabi TV and Moroccan TVs, discussing the place that news programs have occupied in the public sphere, and examining issues such as the portrayal of Christians and the Christian-Muslim relationship in Egyptian cinema. In the context of the film industry and its impact on new generations in the Gulf, a fascinating presentation focused on the popularity of Arabic-dubbed Bollywood cinema on television in the UAE. A number of papers offered historical accounts highlighting the course of media developments Gulf Research Meeting July

94 in the Gulf. Life before Satellite TV and Embracing Change is Vital, for example, belong to this group of papers where the analysis started in the mid 20th century focusing on radio and press media. In these papers, the pace of rapid change and need for adaptability was shown as a key factor for paving the way for future media leadership in the Gulf region. The manifestation of this media leadership, seen in the emergence and success of Gulf broadcasting media, transcended setting up conventional media enterprises. In this context, a number of papers analyzed the rising use of media in nation branding in Gulf countries. An interesting paper focused on the use of the media in maximizing sport events, tourism industry and diplomacy in three small Gulf countries. In their bid for regional influence and leverage, the Gulf countries have invested enormous resources in these areas to overcome other limitations such as size and small population. Another paper focused on the use of the media in furthering education (in Saudi Arabia), again within the wider context of nation building. Other insightful perspectives linked media developments in the Gulf region to global change. Three papers explored almost novel territories in this context. A presentation titled The Transformation of the Gulf and How Africa Can Learn from It provided an African perspective. Using comparative analysis, with common and different grounds, many experiences in the Gulf in and beyond the field of media were shown to offer valuable lessons. Another paper brought to 94

95 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting light a fascinating and new Chinese engagement in the realm of Arab media. China has started an ambitious media project transmitting in Arabic, on air and online, in order to occupy a space on Arab airwaves. China-Gulf relations are expanding in various areas, including energy, investment and diplomacy, and this expansion seems to have pressed the Chinese to launch a media arm to parallel other mutual interests. A third paper covered Policies, Practices and Perceptions of America s Middle East Broadcasting. Detailed and insightful perspectives were offered in this paper. The United States has always paid strong attention to the role of the media. In recent years, this attention was enhanced with the setting up of broadcasting TV station (Al-Hurra) aimed at winning the minds and hearts of the Arabs. The paper included a detailed evaluation of official American media policies as part of wider public diplomacy politics. Put together, the presentations at this workshop certainly contributed to furthering understanding of the developments in the media in the Gulf region and highlighted the areas where new fields of research could be focused. Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Abeer Najjar Dr. Abeer Najjar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mass Communication at the Gulf Research Meeting July

96 American University in Sharjah. Dr. Najjar has considerable industrial media experience in both print journalism and Television production in Jordan. She has been invited to speak at many forums at both professional and academic international conferences. She was also invited to be a member of the editorial board of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy. Her Recent Publications include: How Arab is Al-Jazeera English: a comparative study of Al-Jazeera news channels (Global Media Journal, Spring 2009); Othering the self: Palestinians narrating the War on Gaza in the social media. Journal of Middle East Media (JMME) Vol.6, Issue 1, 2010 and Conflict Over Jerusalem: Covering the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in the British Press. VDM Verlag 2009 (book). Dr. Najjar s research interests include media and political conflict, social media, politics and popular culture in the Arab media. She is frequently quoted on issues related to media. Dr. Khaled Hroub Dr. Khaled Hroub is the Director of the Media Program of the Gulf Research Centre, Cambridge. He also teaches Modern Middle Eastern: Politics and Identity at Cambridge University where he directs the Cambridge Arab Media Project; he is the author of Hamas: Political Thought and Practice (2000) and Hamas: A Beginner s Guide (2006). He publishes a weekly article on current affairs that appears in six major dailies in the Arab world. His forthcoming book is Political Islam: Context versus Ideology (ed.) (Saqi Books), and he is researching a volume on The Politics of Arab Media. Workshop 10 Papers When Television Meets Freedom. The Adaptation and Restructuration Strategies of Tunisian Television Post Revolution Ilhem Allagui, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Gulf Media in Arab Public Sphere: Comparative Analysis of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya Omair Anas, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India The Transformation of the Gulf-How Can Africa Learn From It Edward Boateng, Global Media Alliance, Accra, Ghana 96

97 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Life before Satellite TV: International Radio Listening in the Arabian Gulf Douglas Boyd, University of Kentucky, Kentucky, United States New Media and Politics in Egypt Ghobrial Bahaa, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt A Step towards the Personal: The Illusion of Real Life Stories on Abu Dhabi TV Xenia Gleissner, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom The Portrayal of Christians and the Christian-Muslim Relationship in the Egyptian Cinema Dina Guirgis, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt China s Arabic Satellite Channel: Emerging Inter-Asian Connection, Rebuilding a New Silk Road Station? Wai Yip Ho, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Gulf Research Meeting July

98 Nation Branding, Sport, Tourism and Diplomacy in Three Small Gulf Countries Mohammed Ibahrine, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Policies, Practices, and Perceptions of America s Middle East Broadcasting Frank Kalupa, James Madison University, Virginia, United States and Keith Tomasek, the University of Western Ontario, Canada The Impact of Screen-based Media as an Educational Tool in the Social Development of Saudi Arabia in the Context of Knowledge Media and School Education Lina Khashogji, Kingston University, Surrey, United Kingdom Popularity of Arabic-Dubbed Bollywood Cinema on Television Raksha Ludhani and Abeer Al Najjar, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Changing Face of Media in the UAE over 30 Years Francis Matthew, Gulf News, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Holding Government and Media Accountable: Arab Youth Find Ways to Tell Their Narrative through New Media Nadia Rahman, Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Aljazeera: Media or Medium of Change in the Arab World? Nabil Sultan, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, United Kingdom Reception Analysis of Moroccan Public Service Television Audience Bouziane Zaid, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco 98

99 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 11: GCC-Iran Relations Prof. Saleh Al-Mani Professor and Dean of Law and Political Science, King Saud University, Riyadh Prof. Mahmood Sariolghalam Professor of International Relations, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran The Iran-GCC workshop received a considerable number of proposals for papers and participation. Some 28 papers were proposed, out of which 14 were selected for presentation. The diversity of countries from which the presenters originated was also an indication of the widening scholarship on the subject. In this respect, papers arrived from as far as Argentina and South Korea. Most papers, however, were sent by scholars from the Middle East, Turkey and Europe. Interestingly, there were not many papers from the United States. On an average, some 10 people were present at all sessions as listening participants. During the two-day workshop, 13 papers were presented followed by rather elaborate discussions. The descriptive element of the papers was rich. Some papers were highly analytical, comparative and thought-provoking. The directors of the workshop provided nuanced analysis to supplement the discussions and elevate them beyond library research. In substantive terms, a number of variables were highlighted during the discussions: 1) the dominant role of security perceptions and misperceptions between Iran and the GCC countries; 2) the salient role of extra-regional actors in shaping the discourse and the state of affairs between these countries; 3) the significance of Iranian-American relations and lack of relations in the way Arab-Iranian relations are shaped and conceived; 4) the absence of economic and cultural relations between Iran and Arab countries; 5) lack of interest in Arab societies and among Arab governments toward the soft issues in Iran such as art, culture, education, trade, tourism, and civil society; 6) the ideological rhetoric of Iranian foreign policy serves as a fundamental impediment in improving relations between Iran and the GCC states; 7) whether Iran and Saudi Arabia cooperate or take rival sides sets the pace, to a large degree, for Iran-GCC relations in particular and Arab-Iran relations in general; 8) the diverse nature of polities in Iran and the GCC countries is a peculiar element of divergence in security perceptions and bilateral and Gulf Research Meeting July

100 multilateral cooperation between Iran and GCC states; 9) Iran s support for non-state actors in the Arab world produces distrust and divergence between Iran and the Arab governments; 10) on a regional scale, Saudi Arabia is a country on the rise and Iran is a country in decline; 11) Iran s foreign policy toward the Arab states, non-state actors in the region, and the United States has exhibited a remarkable continuity and stability over the last three decades despite changes in style and vocabulary; 12) Iran s confrontation with Israel, and therefore the United States, feeds its domestic ideological construct; 13) Turkish, American and GCC economic and political cooperation and coordination is on the rise particularly in the aftermath of the Arab Spring; 14) Iraq is the most significant strategic landscape in Iran s regional foreign policy; 15) Iran s regional political and military ambitions, whether real or imagined, serve as penetrating elements in shaping threat perceptions in the Arab world; 16) Iran s nuclear program is another variable in producing divergence between Tehran and GCC governments; 17) the nuclear program in Iran has ignited a momentum in Arab capitals to initiate their nuclear programs; 18) there are vivid disparities between Iran and its southern neighbors in terms of economic indicators ranging from infrastructure investment, per capita income, IT penetration in the national economy, and foreign investment in the oil and gas industries. Due to sanctions, Iran s economic performance has lagged behind these states; 19) despite the fact that there are some six million Indian people functioning in the GCC economies, Iran s economic relationship with the area is fundamentally limited to its trade with the UAE. This trade is defined as Iranian imports from the UAE; 20) while 100

101 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting the foreign policies of the GCC countries are closely linked to their economies and international technological and financial interconnections, Iran s economy is de-linked from its foreign policy; 21) due to UN sanctions and unilateral sanctions of the US and the EU, Iran s economy is moving toward the Asian countries, particularly China and India; 22) though Iran may have the capacity to disturb possible regional order and arrangements, it has no capability to shape an order of its own; 23) Russia plays a minimal role in the regional dynamics between Iran and the GCC countries; 24) though the US may have to increasingly conduct multilateral diplomacy in Asia, Latin America and Europe, it has a dominant role in the politics of the Middle East region; 25) currently, Iran s diplomatic relations with the GCC are at their lowest level in the last decades. Workshop Director Profiles Prof. Saleh Almani Saleh A. Almani is Professor of Political Science and Dean, College of Law and Political Science, King Saud University, in Riyadh. He serves as a senior consultant to the GCC Secretariat in Riyadh, and on the Board of The Institute for Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh, as well as The Institute Gulf Research Meeting July

102 of Public Administration. He has published two books and about twenty five scientific papers, as well 14 chapters in edited books. He writes on Gulf security and the international relations of the Arabian Gulf, has delivered papers and presentations at regional and international forums, such as Kuwait University, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Georgetown, Harvard and Michigan, LSE, as well as UNESCO in Paris, and served as an Editor of King Saud University Journal (Administrative Sciences). He writes a weekly column for Okaz newspaper in Jeddah, as well as Al-Ittihad newspaper in Abu Dhabi. Prof. Mahmood Sariolghalam Prof. Mahmood Sariolghalam is the professor of International Relations at the School of Economics and Political Science in Shahid Beheshti University (formerly Iran National University) since He received his B.A. degree in Political Science/Management from California State University, Northridge in 1980 and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in International Relations from the University of Southern California in 1982 and 87, respectively. Professor Sariolghalam also completed a Post Doctorate program at the Ohio State University in During the academic year, he taught at the Kuwait University. Professor Sariolghalam specializes in international politics of the Middle East, Iranian foreign policy and political culture and has written extensively in Persian, Arabic and English. He has made presentations in more than one hundred countries. He is a member of International Studies Association (USA), Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum (Switzerland) and a Non-Resident Scholar at ASERI (Italy). His last name literally means a Quick Pen. Workshop 11 Papers The UAE-Iranian Territorial Dispute Over Three Islands: Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb in the Strait of Hormuz Noura Al Mazrouei, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom Changing Dynamic of Iran-GCC Relations Beryl Anand, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Saudi Arabia s Balancing Strategy vis-à-vis Iran: Empowerment and Containment Yasmine Farouk, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt 102

103 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting The Impact of China-Iran Relations on China s Relations with the GCC States Karrar Ahmed Gaafar, Peking University, Beijing, China Regional Security in the GCC-Iran Relations: Binding or Dividing Factor? What will be the Likely Impact of Iranian Nuclear Crisis on the Regional Security? Nursin Guney and Visne Korkmaz, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey Impact of Persian Nationalism, Islamism and Revolutionary Anti-imperialism as Elements of Iranian National Identity in Iranian Foreign Policy on Iranian-Saudi Relations Since 2005 Gerardus Hoetjes, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom Iraq and its Future as a Contentious Issue: The Struggle for Preponderance in the Gulf Region and the Iranian Influence in Iraq Hichem Karoui, Paris III University, Paris, France Developing a New (Stability of Oil Market) Index Calculated for Iran s Role and Its Impact on the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council Hayssam Obeidat, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland Understanding Obama s Policies towards a Nuclear Iran and Saudi Arabia Ozden Zeynep Oktav, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey Future of Iranian Foreign Policy in the Arab Region: Prospects and Potential Scenarios Eman Ragab, Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Cairo, Egypt Redefining GCC-Iran Relations: Adopting a Piecemeal Rather than Wholesale Approach Taufiq Rahim, Dubai School of Government, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Russia-Iran: Ambivalent Relations in Context of the Arab Spring Alexander Shumilin, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia Conflict and Cooperation in Iran-GCC Relations from Iraq s Invasion to Jasmine Revolution Luciano Zaccara, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Gulf Research Meeting July

104 Workshop 12: Migration in the Gulf Prof. Philippe Fargues European University Institute, Robert Schumann Centre for Advanced Studies Prof. Nasra Shah Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University Our workshop had similar goals to the one we organized during the first Gulf Research Meeting in July Our main aims were to assess the current trends and patterns of migration and appraise the consequences in terms of the costs and benefits for sending as well as receiving countries. Another major goal was to assess the governance of migration in terms of the sustainability of current migration patterns in light of the socio-demographic changes occurring in the receiving countries, especially their efforts towards indigenization of the workforce. The workshop received more than 40 proposals from which 15 were selected. Three participants were unable to attend. A total of 12 papers were received. In addition, a paper was presented by one of the workshop directors. Participants included economists, demographers, sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists resulting in a highly interdisciplinary debate and discussion. The papers covered a wide array of topics ranging from broad theoretical overviews to specific case studies. Almost all the six Gulf countries and several sending countries were covered. The workshop began with a paper by Phillipe Fargues outlining the uniqueness of the Gulf region in terms of a phenomenal reliance on foreign workers combined with exclusion from the receiving country s citizenship and integration in the host culture. It described three stages through which the migration process has evolved and outlined the separate demographics of the populations of nationals and non-nationals. A theoretical paper by Oded Stark and Lukasz Byra assessed the impact of international migration of unskilled workers on the average skill level in the home country and the ensuing welfare implications for the home country. 104

105 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Five papers focused on migration issues in receiving GCC countries. In her paper on the tiering of citizenship, migration, and nationality rights in the United Arab Emirates, Manal Jamal showed how the current nationality and tiered rights policies are built on an institutional legacy inherited from the British during the existence of UAE as a Trucial State. Francoise De Bel Air presented a paper describing the characteristics of the Kafala system and its economic, social and political outreach. She concluded that the sponsorship system supports the social and economic segmentation between nationals and foreigners and the maintenance of control over the latter by the former. Shefali Jha addressed the contradiction between the Qatari government s policies to increase the participation of nationals in the workforce and their declining proportion instead. Adel Al- Herbie and colleagues focused on the trends of tuberculosis in Kuwait. They concluded that the recent rise in prevalence of tuberculosis among non-nationals places a burden on Kuwait s health system that requires alternative management strategies. In his paper on Space and Demography in Bahrain, Omar AlShehabi described how spatial and demographic factors have driven the geographic transformation of Bahrain. The rapid rise in population, caused mainly by the politically naturalized citizens has led to the geographical shifting and intermixing of various groups. Three papers dealt with various aspects of migration from India to the Gulf. In their paper on labor market activity of Indians in the Gulf, Mathias Czaika and Maria Villares Varela found that Gulf Research Meeting July

106 occupational changes during an individual s migration history had an impact on the length of stay in the Gulf. Lakshmi Priya described how the efforts of many hard-working Indian entrepreneurs such as Ram Buxani helped in the development of present-day Dubai. R.S. Reshmi and Unisa Sayeed described several aspects of the migrant experience of domestic worker returnees from the Gulf to Kerala villages based on a household survey of 71 domestic workers. One paper focused on migration from Bangladesh and another on Lebanon. In his paper on migrant worker recruitment in Bangladesh, Md. Mizanur Rahman described the process through which recruitment agents organize such migration. He pointed out the difference between the arrangement of flying visas and free visas. Rita Yazigi noted that 45 percent of Lebanese households have at least one family member abroad. There has been a sharp increase in Lebanese university graduates who seek to go overseas in the absence of jobs at home. The group discussed publication plans and preferences of participants. It was agreed that the directors would explore the possibility of publishing selected papers in a special issue of the Asian and Pacific Migration Journal in which four papers presented at the migration workshop of the Gulf Research Meeting 2010 are already under process. 106

107 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop Director Profiles Prof. Philippe Fargues Philippe Fargues is a sociologist and demographer. He is currently Migration Programme Director at the European University Institute, the founding Director of the Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration (CARIM) and co-director of the Florence School on Euro- Mediterranean Migration and Development. He has been founding Director of the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies Program at the American University in Cairo, a senior researcher and head of the unit at the French National Institute for Demographic Studies in Paris, a visiting professor at Harvard, and the Director of the Centre for Economic Legal and Social Studies (CEDEJ) in Cairo. His research interests include migration and refugee movements, population and politics in Muslim countries, family building, demographic methodologies and their application to developing countries. He has numerous publications and he lectured in various universities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. His most recent publications include Mediterranean Migration Report 2008/2009; Work, Refuge, Transit: An Emerging Pattern of Irregular Immigration South and East of the Mediterranean (International Migration Review, 2009, 43/3); Emerging Demographic Patterns across the Mediterranean and their Implications for Migration through 2030 (Migration Policy Institute, 2009); The Demographic Benefit of International Migration: Hypothesis and Gulf Research Meeting July

108 Application to Middle Eastern and North African Contexts (International Migration, Economic Development and Policy, The World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan, 2007); and his books include: Generations Arabes, Christians and Jews Under Islam, The Economy of the Middle East in a Prospect of Peace, The Atlas of the Arab World Geopolitics and Society. Prof. Nasra Shah Prof. Nasra M. Shah, a Demographer/Sociologist, received her doctoral degree in Population Dynamics from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA. Before joining Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University in 1988 she worked in Hawaii, USA and Pakistan. Her research has focused on labor migration from Asia to the Gulf, the role of social factors in infant and child mortality; predictors of fertility and contraceptive use; women s role and status; utilization of health services; and the importance of social networks in psychosocial health of older persons. Her many publications include books on Pakistani Women, Asian Labour Migration, Basic Needs, Women and Development, and Population of Kuwait: Structure and Dynamics. Workshop 12 Papers Immigration and Associated Increase of Tuberculosis Trends in the State of Kuwait Adel Al Harbie and Ali Sadek, Ministry of Health, Kuwait City, Kuwait The Demographic and Spatial Transformations of the Cities of Bahrain Omar Al Shehabi, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait City, Kuwait 108

109 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Kano to Jeddah - Explanations on Migration Dynamics of Nigerian Migrants and Traffickers in Saudi Arabia Aliyu Salisu Barau, University of Technology Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia Labour Market Activity and Temporary Migration: The Case of Indian Expatriates in the Gulf Mathias Czaika and Maria Villares Varela, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Reforming the Kafala (Sponsorship) in the GCC Countries: What Socio-Political Stakes? The Case of Saudi Arabia Francoise De Bel Air, European University Institute, Florence, Italy Beyond Globalization and Oil: the Tiering of Citizenship, Migration, and Nationality Rights in the United Arab Emirates Manal Jamal, James Madison University, Virginia, United States Expatriate Labor and Nation Building: Issues and Contentions in Qatar Shefali Jha, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Indian Entrepreneurs in Gulf: A Case Study of Ram Buxani Lakshmi Priya, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Recruitment of Labour Migrants for the GCC Countries: The Bangladeshi Case Md Mizanur Rahman, National University of Singapore, Singapore Working and Living Conditions of Domestic Workers in the Gulf - A Special Reference to Female Migrants from Kerala, India Reshmi R.S. and Unisa Sayeed, Deemed University, Mumbai, India A Back-Door Brain Drain: How Low-Skill Employment Prospects Abroad Erode Skill Formation at Home Oded Stark and Lukasz Byra, Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland The Lebanese Emigration: Between Myths and Facts Rita Yazigi, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth/Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, Beirut, Lebanon Gulf Research Meeting July

110 Workshop 13: Human Resource Development in the Gulf Region Dr. Christopher J. Rees University of Manchester Nasser AlBadri Director, Recruitment and Omanisation Department, Royal Court Affairs(RCA), Sultanate of Oman The main aim of the workshop was to examine the theory and practice of Human Resource Development (HRD) with specific reference to the Gulf region. As such, the workshop sought contributions that offered insights into a) some of the defining features of HR as it is currently practised, b) the challenges facing HR practitioners and c) how existing HR theory and practice, emanating from around the world, may be developed in order to improve its relevance and applicability to the Gulf region. The call for papers highlighted a number of reasons why the subject of HRD is both topical and also important for the Gulf region. For example, localization/nationalization initiatives (such as Emiratization, Saudization and Omanization) are now exerting a profound effect on a variety of HR-related practices throughout the region as organizations in both the public and private sectors seek to balance the requirements of national laws and dictates with local skills shortages in labor markets. Similarly, the gradual influx of Western-emanating HR theories and practices into the Gulf region by means of both foreign-owned companies and Western-educated nationals raises many questions about the relevance of these theories and practices to this culturally diverse region. At the beginning of the workshop, the directors contextualized the HRD workshop with reference to the themes of the other workshops scheduled at the 2011 Gulf Research Meeting. Thus, it was highlighted that themes such as climate change, rentier states, and educational reform and public policy are all, in various ways, inextricably associated with HRD-related topics such as leadership and knowledge sharing, mentoring, management development, career management, job security, diversity management, localization/nationalization policies and practice, recruitment and selection, payment and reward, and managing organizational change. In total, 11 papers were selected from the large number of submissions received for this workshop. All 11 papers, which were presented in a single stream over two days, were either authored 110

111 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting or co-authored by participants from countries in the Middle East region including Egypt, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Oman. Taken as a whole, these papers offered a fascinating multi-level analysis of HRD theory and practice in the Gulf region. For example, when loosely categorized, the first set of papers offered international comparative perspectives involving countries such as Australia, Germany and Oman. The second set of papers offered Gulf regional perspectives on HRD-related subjects such as employee involvement, cultural values, Middle Eastern HRM models, and employee expatriation. The third set of papers focused on national HRD perspectives connected to subjects such as Omanization and Emiratization. The fourth set of papers sought to examine HRD primarily from sector perspectives such as banking, construction and the public sector. The fifth and final set of papers offered organizational perspectives on HRD in the Gulf region by means of case study analyses. By means of both the presentations and the subsequent discussions, the workshop unearthed and examined some of the inevitable tensions and perhaps conflicts that arise when formalized strategically-focused HRD practices are implemented in various organizational sectors in the Gulf region, especially when these practices emanate from Western countries such as the USA and the UK. As the participants engaged in the lively discussions which followed each of the presentations, issues connected to the management of multi-cultural workforces, values and mores, knowledge transfer, leadership styles, educational opportunities and standards, social change, and the general lack of reliable HRD-related data about the region, were all recurring themes of this workshop. Gulf Research Meeting July

112 Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Christopher J. Rees Christopher J. Rees is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resources and Organisational Change at the University Manchester, UK. He is based within the Institute for Development Policy and Management where co-directs the Centre for Organisations in Development. Chris is a Chartered Psychologist and holds a PhD in Occupational Psychology from Manchester Business School. He is also a Chartered Fellow of the UK s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He has published widely on subjects such as Decentralisation, Emiratisation, and Organisational Change, in leading journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Public Administration, the International Journal of Human Resource Management, and the International Journal of Selection and Assessment. Nasser AlBadri Nasser AlBadri is the director of the Recruitment and Omanisation department in Royal Court Affairs (RCA) in The Sultanate of Oman. He holds an MBA from Hull University in the U.K. During 17 years of experience in RCA, Nasser has participated in various influential committees such as the Development Committee and the Personnel Committee. His interest in Human Resources and ICT led him to design a mobile recruitment programme which was nominated as one of the best five programmes around the world in 2009 at the United Nations World Summit Awards. His research interests currently center on culture and HRM. He is a past-president of the Omani writer ssociety. Workshop 13 Papers The HR Value Proposition Model in the Arab Middle East: An Empirical Investigation of the Banking Sector Fida Afiouni, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon Barriers Preventing Omani Graduates from Working in Oman s Private Construction Industry: Employer Perspective Said Alnabhani, University of Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom 112

113 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Emiratisation: Mirage or Reality Khadija Al Arkoubi, University of New Haven, Connecticut, United States Vocational Education and Training in the Sultanate of Oman and Industrial Countries with Special Reference to Australia and Germany Maimoona Al Rawahi and David Redfern, University of Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom Values and the Practice of Organisation Development in International Contexts Paul Barry and Christopher J. Rees, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, and Ali Al-Harthi, Ministry of Manpower, Muscat, Oman Knowledge Management in the UAE s Public Sector: The Case of Dubai Mhamed Biygautane, Dubai School of Government, United Arab Emirates and Khalid Al-Yahya Implementation of Organisational Change Management: The Case of King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia Farhad Hossain, University of Manchester, United Kingdom and Abdulrahman Alhazemi The Impact of Expatriation on Professional Role Characteristics Ingo Forstenlechner and Abdulla Al Kaabi, Federal Demographic Council, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Exploring Employee Involvement in the Middle East: HRM at Half-Speed Hussein Ismail, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon Developing and Using National Human Resources in Implementing Successive Development Plans and Realizing the Omanization Policy Adil Khalid, Sohar University, Sohar, Oman Factors Impacting the Project s Life Cycle Akram Saad, PMI, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Gulf Research Meeting July

114 Workshop 14: The Role of Business Women in the Economies and Societies of the Arab Region Dr. Anja Zorob Assistant Professor, Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin Dr. Beverly Dawn Metcalfe University of Manchester, UK The aim of this workshop was to bring together most recent and innovative research offering new insights into the role of women in the economies and societies of Arab countries with a special focus on the Gulf region. Following an introduction, sessions were sub-divided along four inter-related topics covering Women s Leadership Development, Role of Women s Organizations, Women s Employment and Women s Entrepreneurship. In her introduction, Anja Zorob presented preliminary results of a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis of media outlets exploring how business women are portrayed in the Gulf. The results suggested that public discourse favors a strongly personalized pattern highlighting role models apparently in line with Gulf governments approach of promoting female entrepreneurship from above. The constructed image of the successful, modern, and highly-educated women entrepreneur, however, is not left uncontested. One could easily find reports criticizing the constraints female entrepreneurs are facing, or, in contrast, voices calling into question the basic idea of women being an entrepreneur. These different discursive patterns clearly illustrate the long way ahead for women to get accepted as full and equal economic as well as political actors. The session on Women s Leadership Development started with a paper delivered by Beverly Dawn Metcalfe exploring the progress of women s development in the countries of the Arab Gulf, specifically Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE. After highlighting the achievements of key female leaders, she contrasted those with various social and cultural barriers impeding women s empowerment and social change in the Gulf region. Arguing that the challenges of globalization are requiring nation states to fundamentally re-evaluate leadership skills and that empowering women will be crucial for economic, social and political transformation in the Gulf, she proposed 114

115 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting a leadership development model which incorporated multiple stakeholders including government, women s organizations and women themselves in order to enhance and develop women s capabilities. She outlined how leadership skills which reflect a feminine ethics of care will take a central role in promoting new leadership roles and that Gulf women should lead this development premised on Arab cultural values. Lulwa al-mutlaq, a Board Member of Bahrain Businesswomen Society (BBWS), took a look at the challenges of female business leadership in Bahrain. She highlighted the role of the government in fostering women empowerment based on which substantial success has been achieved not only in terms of women being allowed to vote, but also in taking over leading positions in government, the legal system, higher education as well as business and even the military. However, and despite the numerous efforts sponsored also by women s CSOs including BBWS, many obstacles remain preventing Bahraini women from exploiting their full potential. She concluded by listing a couple of issues which would urgently need to be tackled in the years to come including changing the society s perspective of business women and strengthening efforts to encourage women to start their own business. Sharifa al-yahyai, former Omani minister of social development, emphasized the aspiration of the Omani political leadership in assigning women a vital role in the country s development. Benefiting from numerous measures designed to rule out gender discrimination in the legal framework, Oman has witnessed a steadily rising share of women not only in the national labor force, but also in leading positions at all levels of society. She warned, however, that primarily social and/ or personal barriers still hinder women from fully and effectively contributing to the nation s political and economic development. From this perspective, it would be first and foremost up to women themselves to change their attitudes and overcome social traditions they have been taught since birth. The paper of Maged Reda Botros and Beverly Dawn Metcalfe, presented by the former, focused on women and political reform in the Middle East taking Egypt and Tunisia as case studies. The authors aimed to trace the form, speed and scope of political reforms enacted prior to the overthrow of the Ben Ali and Mubarak regimes and how these have shaped the promotion of women s rights and political participation. In addition, the paper highlighted the significance of grassroots civil society development from below by women s organizations and feminist movements. While the scope, speed and resistance to reform have varied in line with factors such as cultural and Gulf Research Meeting July

116 religious diversity or strength of civil society, both countries tried to protect women s rights in general, but effectively limited their rights of political participation. The paper by Shahira Osama Abdel-Hameid and Elisabeth Wilson, presented by the latter, explored whether women in formal employment in Sudan show similar experiences with regard to organizational arrangements and behavioral patterns as discovered in other countries. Drawing on unpublished material and data assembled via semi-structured interviews, the authors suggested that experiences of Sudanese women are in many aspects similar to but at the same time different from those witnessed in other African or Arab countries classifying Sudan itself an intersection of culture. Whereas women have to face the same behavioral patterns, the relationships between men and women at work seem to be more relaxed. In addition, gender equality and roles are not viewed as separate streams, but Sudanese women sought equality within a man s world. Faiza Ali s paper focused on Muslim women in the Pakistani formal employment sector and aimed at investigating what kind of differences exist between policies of equal employment opportunity (EEO) and its practical implementation. As recent research in this field points to the inadequacy of investigating issues of diversity management solely within the area of organizational policy, she resorted to a three-dimensional framework of analysis. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with female employees in Lahore, in addition to a review of documents relating to EEO, she concluded that women s experiences would indeed be affected to a large degree by macro-societal 116

117 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting factors such as religion or cultural traditions as well as micro-individual factors, including intersectional identity and agency, besides factors purely confined to the meso-organizational level. Jawad Syed approached the issue of female employment from a different perspective concentrating on the concept of Islamic modesty. Drawing on a textual, historical and context analysis of how female modesty has developed over time, he argued that the provisions contained in the Qur an and Sunna aiming at protection of women have been transformed into a patriarchal concept including institutions such as female seclusion and gender segregation. As such a concept would not allow for an active role of women in the economy and society, let alone promotion of gender equality at the workplace, he proposed to engage in critical reinterpretation of religion as a starting point for reform of gender relations in Muslim majority countries. Switching from female employment to women entrepreneurship, Susan Furness and Yochanan Altman delivered a joint conversation on How NOT to be an Alien A Single Woman s Journey in the Arabian Gulf Business Environment. In this conversation, Susan Furness reflected on her personal view from below gained during three decades of doing business in the Gulf. The paper presented by Amal Shanfari focused on Omani business women and the challenges they face in establishing and operating a business. She emphasized that despite numerous efforts to empower women, Omani women still lag behind their sisters in the Gulf with respect to participation in wealth accumulation, entrepreneurship and employment. Based on the results Gulf Research Meeting July

118 of a survey conducted among business women in the Muscat region, her findings largely support evidence found elsewhere: The most important gender-specific challenges female entrepreneurs are struggling with in Oman could be summarized in gender discrimination and stereotyping, dual career family pressures, and lack of equal opportunities. Moreover, Omani business women lack support from and representation in business associations. Dalia Abdelhady investigated the role of female entrepreneurs in promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR). The pioneering role governments in the Gulf are aspiring to would make CSR an issue of major importance. Whereas recent survey data indicate a high level of awareness of CSR among UAE companies, the practical implementation of CSR activities seemed to be rather low. In addition, the scarce material available suggested that CSR activities are viewed in Middle Eastern countries mainly as a philanthropic endeavor. Taking into consideration that women globally show a particularly strong interest in sustainable development, she emphasized that future research should address specifically the ways culture affects the dynamics of CSR in the Arab world. The paper presented by Sherilyn Reindorf-Partey focused on strategies to promote female entrepreneurship. The problem of Gulf countries is two-fold: first, most government-sponsored programs rather targeted women seeking paid-employment opportunities. Second, promotional initiatives launched by Gulf countries governments and women s organizations lack coordination. Accordingly, what is required, and what Gulf countries could learn from Turkey, is the es- 118

119 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting tablishment of a framework allowing for coordination between different players, with women s organizations taking the lead and actors to be given the right to follow their own approaches; in addition, those involved should acknowledge that women need to be treated as a heterogeneous group. The ultimate aim of this framework should be to improve women s self-confidence, risk acceptance and opportunity seeking behavior. Malika Moussaid-Hilton, a consultant on entrepreneurship as well as university lecturer from Morocco, finally raised the question if female entrepreneurs could not only offer additional capacity, but also business practices distinct from those delivered by their male counterparts that might lead to greater long-term stability and sustainable growth. To take advantage of these competencies and appropriately support female entrepreneurship in MENA, she proposed a concept called recapitalization which aims at qualifying women entrepreneurs via, among other things, close cooperation with innovative companies in the region and beyond. Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Anja Zorob Dr. Anja Zorob is professor (Juniorprofessor) at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics, Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin. Her teaching activities at the Center cover International Relations of MENA countries, European Foreign Policy with special focus on Europe and the Mediterranean and wider Middle East, Economic Development Gulf Research Meeting July

120 and Political Economy of Reform as well as Regional / Global Integration of MENA economies. Her research record includes processes and outcomes of Middle Eastern and North African intra- and interregional economic integration (Euro-Mediterranean relations and intra-arab integration) and political economy of reform in MENA countries (Syria and other Mashreq) besides issues of peace and conflict studies including Israeli-Palestinian relations and Iraqi refugees. Her current research activities focus on characteristics and impact of overlapping FTAs with special focus on Gulf Cooperation Council member countries trade policies, FTA negotiations with third parties (in particular with EU and US) and GCC internal economic integration; Arab business women and their organizations as drivers of change. In addition to research and teaching, Anja Zorob served in recent years as a consultant for German development organizations and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation, among others. Before joining Freie Universitat Berlin, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Research and Development Policy (IEE) at Ruhr-University Bochum and the Institute of Middle East Studies (IMES), German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Beverly Dawn Metcalfe Dr Beverly Dawn Metcalfe is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Human Resource Development, Centre for Organizations and Development, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM) University of Manchester, UK. Her research is concerned with two key themes firstly, women s development in Arab Gulf states, specifically in the sphere of womens 120

121 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting leadership and entrepreneurial development the role of women s organizations and networks in facilitating empowerment, and secondly, the characteristics and structure of national and education planning frameworks in Gulf states. She has also collaborated on research projects and acted as advisor and consultant on education development and women s development to numerous Gulf organizations including inter alia Bahrain Ministry of Labour, Bahrain Management Society, the Women s Branch of Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Saudi Arabia, as well as several women s NGOs. She is currently on the Editorial Board of Human Resource Development International (HRDI) and has just compiled a special issue entitled Women, Empowerment and Human Resource Development in Arab Gulf States to be published in HRDI April In addition, her book with Dr Fouad Mnoumi, Arab Open University, entitled Leadership and Development in the Middle East was published in the summer of 2011 by Edward Elgar publishing. Workshop 14 Papers Women Businesses and Corporate Social Responsibility in the United Arab Emirates Dalia Abdelhady, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden A Multi-level Perspective on Workplace Experiences of Women in Islamic Societies Faiza Ali, University of Kent, Kent, United Kingdom Women and the Challenges of Business Leadership Lulwa Al Mutlaq, Golden Trust Business Consultancy, Isa, Bahrain Omani Business Women and Challenges Case Study: Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Amal Al-Shanfari, Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States, Muscat, Oman Report Presentation: Women and Social Development in the Gulf Sharifa Khalfan Al-Yahyai, Former Minister of Social Development of the Sultanate of Oman, Muscat, Oman Women and Political Reform in the Middle East Maged Reda Botros, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom Gulf Research Meeting July

122 Similarities and Differences of Women Business Leaders in the West and East: A Case Study of the Gulf Area Marianna Fotaki, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom A Woman s Journey in the Gulf over Three Decades of Business and Life Susan Furness, CEO Strategic Solutions, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Yochanan Altman, London Metropolitan University, London, United Kingdom The Role of Qatari Business Women in Civil Society Wanda Krause, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar Developing Women s Empowerment and Leadership Capability in Arab Gulf States Beverly Dawn Metcalfe, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom Stability Through (re)capitalisation of the MENA Region as: The Opportunity for Women Entrepreneurs Malika Moussaid, Aleff Group, London, United Kingdom The Development of Women-Owned Business as an Alternative to Filling Labour Needs in the Gulf Region: How can Frameworks be Modified and/ or Put in Place to achieve this Goal? Sherilyn Reindorf Partey, Global Media Alliance, Accra, Ghana Islamic Modesty and Female Employment Jawad Syed, University of Kent, Kent, United Kingdom Report Presentation: Introduction to Women for Sustainable Growth Initiative Jaleh Taheri, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden Gender and Organization in Sudan Elisabeth Wilson, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, and Shahira Osama Abdel-Hameid, University of Ahfad, Omdurman, Sudan 122

123 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 15: The EU and the GCC in the Mediterranean Dr. Tobias Schumacher Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, Lisbon University Institute Dr. Geoffrey Edwards Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge This workshop set out to shed some light on the growing role of GCC states in the Arab southern Mediterranean. At a time when the EU found its activities in the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean increasingly frustrated and frustrating, GCC economic engagement in both the Eastern and Western Arab Mediterranean has become a non-negligible variable. In the last decade, and as a result of their vast capital surpluses, most of the GCC states initiated pro-active trade and investment strategies, the latter of which have also increased their political leverage. Not least due to the similarities of their authoritarian governance structures, none of the Gulf regimes have hitherto utilized their economic clout to demand political reform in the Arab Mediterranean. Nonetheless, they have become important actors in the political arena and thus potential partners of the EU or, depending on the perspective, potential competitors, in the field of political modernization. To date, no attempt has been made either on the part of the EU or the GCC states to act strategically together with respect to the issue of political and economic modernization in the Arab Mediterranean. It is against this backdrop that a total of 10 papers were presented at this workshop, preceded by an introductory presentation that explained the attempts of both the EU and its member states and the GCC states throughout the last almost two decades to influence the political and/or economic development in the Maghreb and the Mashreq. By suggesting a number of areas for potential joint EU-GCC collaboration in the Arab Mediterranean, it paved the way for more issue-specific discourses. While the first two presentations focused in particular on the impact of the recent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and to some extent in Libya and Syria, on political reform in the Gulf and the GCC countries role in the Arab Mediterranean, the two subsequent papers provided concrete examples of issue-areas, such as trade, commercial cooperation, investment, and urban planning, in which GCC countries have increasingly become influential in recent years and nowadays act as agenda-setters. These discussions were complemented by two presentations related to the issue of energy cooperation Gulf Research Meeting July

124 and energy security, and areas for potential synergies between the EU and the GCC were singled out in particular in the field of renewable energy, and power and water. The second part of the workshop focused first on security issues and a comparative analysis of NATO and EU engagement in both the GCC countries and the Arab Mediterranean and the repercussions that the recent dynamic of change in the Middle East and North Africa may or may not have on regional and inter-regional stability and security. The discussion moved on to regionalism, and the emerging triangular relationship EU-GCC-Mediterranean was analyzed through the lens of concepts of regionalism and inter-regionalism, as well as bilateralism. With regard to the latter, a particular emphasis was put on Turkey s growing political and economic role in both the Gulf and the Arab Mediterranean and on Saudi-Turkish relations. The workshop, which benefited from intense and lively discussions, proved that the GCC countries growing engagement in the Arab Mediterranean is still highly under-researched and that both the EU and GCC countries would benefit considerably with respect to the sustainability of their political and economic activities in their respective near abroad if they engaged in a systematic dialogue to address issues such as micro- and macro-economic development, labor market reform, educational reform, urban planning, institutional reform, governance, regional integration, and political liberalization in a complementary fashion. 124

125 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop Director Profiles Dr. Tobias Schumacher Tobias Schumacher is a German political scientist and an expert on Euro-Mediterranean affairs, foreign policy and Middle Eastern Politics. After having studied Political Science, Sociology and Business Administration at the Universities of Freiburg, Basel, Edinburgh and Mainz, Schumacher received his M.A. and Ph.D in 1998 and 2002 respectively from the University of Mainz. Schumacher held research and teaching positions at the University of Mainz, the Florencebased European University Institute, the Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission (EuroMeSCo) and the Lisbon University Institute. He was awarded numerous scholarships and was a Jean Monnet Fellow and a Marie Curie Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, where he also worked as Research Fellow and Scientific Coordinator of its Mediterranean Programme. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow in Political Science at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES) at the Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL) in Portugal. He is the author of more than 80 books, book chapters and articles in academic journals and a regular media contributor. Since May 2010, he is the co-editor of the IPRIS Maghreb Review published by the Portuguese Institute of International Relations and Security (IPRIS) in Lisbon. Gulf Research Meeting July

126 Dr. Geoffrey Edwards Dr. Geoffrey Edwards is a Reader in European Studies in the Centre and holds a Jean Monnet chair in Political Science. He is a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he is also a Graduate Tutor. He has held research posts at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a number of other institutions including the Federal Trust and Chatham House. He specializes in the European Union, its institutions and its foreign and security policies. In the Centre he teaches courses on European Security and Foreign Policy and on the Politics of European Integration. He has also taught on the papers on European integration and British politics at undergraduate level. His recent publications have focused on the EU s foreign policy with articles on European security culture, the EU s foreign policy and the impact of the new Member States, on the EU s Neighbourhood Policy, on EU-Gulf relations and on the EU Counter-terrorist policies - the last in a special issue of the Journal of Common Market Studies. Workshop 15 Papers NATO and the GCC Security versus the MACs Political Changes Rachid Aarab, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain and Abderraouf El Ouazzani Taibi, Qatar Petroleum, Doha, Qatar Energy in the Mediterranean: Synergies between Europe and the Gulf Naji Abi-Aad, Qatar Petroleum, Doha, Qatar Europe and the Arab World: Better Is a Neighbor Who Is Near Than a Brother Far Away Francis Baert, United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies and Ghent University Centre for EU Studies, Bruges, Belgium Gulf Companies and Arab Mediterranean States Involved in Urban Mega-Projects: Strategies, Urban Model and Questions in the 2011 Context Pierre-Arnaud Barthel, Centre for Social, Judicial and Economic Documentation and Study, Cairo, Egypt Energy Security: Potential for EU-GCC Cooperation Lucia Bottecchia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy 126

127 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Narratives of Democratization and MENA Turmoil: How They Will Impact the EU GCC Relationship? Dario Cristiani, King s College London and Global Governance Institute Brussels Turkey in the Eyes of the GCC Countries Looking at the Mediterranean Elena Maestri, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy Growth, Crisis and Recovery: GCC-SEM Relations in the 2000s Karen Pfeifer, Smith College, Massachusetts, United States The Dangerous Liaisons of Ankara and the European Perspective Valeria Piacentini, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy Regionalism in Turkish Foreign Policy and the Middle East Aysegul Sever, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey Gulf Research Meeting July

128 Workshop 16: Soft Power in the Gulf: The Politics of the Post-Rentier State Dr. Victor Gervais Associate Fellow, Kuwait Program, Sciences Po Paris This year again, the Kuwait Program at Sciences Po Paris was happy to support the Gulf Research Meeting and to conduct a workshop entitled Soft Power in the Gulf: The Politics of the Post- Rentier State. The objective of the workshop was to analyze the growing willingness and ability of the GCC states to transform their economic resources into a new kind of soft power. Over the past few years, the Gulf States have become increasingly influential actors on the global scene and have powered into the 21st century on the back of new developments plans and investment strategies which allow them to carve out high profile and sustainable niches. They have shown greater willingness to take proactive steps in mediating regional disputes and have spearheaded various investments strategies and developments projects designed to maximize their visibility and attractiveness in the international and regional arenas. GCC states have strived to become hubs for branches of top universities, think tanks, media and world renowned museums, and have hosted major conferences and sports events. In this respect, they have appeared increasingly willing to transform important segments of their economic resources into soft power capabilities that would enable them to enhance their influence and visibility at both the regional and international levels. Moreover, these attempts appear to have taken place as the political leadership in those countries is planning the transition to post-rentier forms of governance. The workshop looked at the political, diplomatic, economic and cultural dimensions of soft power in the Gulf from different analytical perspectives. First, it focused on the external and internal incentives that the Gulf States have to invest in soft power strategies. What is the rationale behind such investment? Is the willingness of the GCC states to invest in soft power strategies the result of new patterns in the decision-making process involving new actors, norms and rules? Or 128

129 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting is it the natural policy choice for small states and therefore not just a phenomenon of the postrentier state? In this respect, how should «branding» expenditures be analyzed? Other key questions were raised during the workshop. In particular, focus was placed on the GCC states capabilities to strategically and proactively wield soft power and the conditions under which they could successfully employ a soft power strategy. What are the most efficient soft power institutions? What influence can media have on the political arena both internally and externally? Another related question discussed during the workshop was the potential contradiction between the various sectors controlled by one actor. Is power a fungible resource? Could one actor combine both hard and soft power in effective ways? Finally, the workshop analyzed the impact of recent events in the region on GCC states international image and attractiveness. The workshop gathered a multidisciplinary group of scholars and experts. In total, 11 papers were presented and discussed over two days. About one hour was allocated for each paper, including a minute presentation of the paper, 10 minutes for the discussant, followed by a discussion of the paper by the whole group. The workshop welcomed a combination of empirical country or region-wide studies and theoretical contributions on soft power. As such, several case studies were presented, focusing on Saudi Arabia (Robert Lacey and Mansour Al Marzoqi Al Bogami), Bahrain (Hasan Al-Hasan), the United Arab Emirates (Khalid bin Sultan Al Nahyan Gulf Research Meeting July

130 and Petra Dolata-Kreutzkamp) and Qatar (Ajit Kumar Jha). Other papers covered regional or thematic studies, including Al Jazeera and the Pan Arab Media (Paloma Hashke), the Museum and the Art Market in the Gulf (Alexandre Kazerouni), State-Society Relations in the Gulf (Khalid Al Mezaini and Motahar Al Saeede) and in the Middle East (Ali Mebroukine). Workshop Director Profile Victor Gervais Victor Gervais completed in 2010 his Ph.D. in Political Science at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris (Sciences Po). He has previously been a visiting researcher at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi and at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. His research interests focus on the international relations of the Middle East, with particular interests in GCC states security and defense policies. Victor Gervais was born in Montreal (Canada) in 1981, and holds degree in International Relations and Political Science. He acquired research and teaching experience in France, Canada, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, and in the United Arab Emirates. He is proficient in Arabic. Victor s Ph.D. dissertation is entitled From Oil to the Military: State-Building Strategies in the United Arab Emirates. 130

131 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Workshop 16 Papers The Impact of the Crisis on Bahrain s International Image Hasan Al-Hasan, Sciences Po, Paris, France Saudi Foreign Policy: A Diplomatic Cycle Mansour Almarzoqi Albogami, Science Po de Lyon, University of Lyon II Lyon, France State-Society Relations in the Gulf: Re-examination of the State and Society in the 21st Century Khalid Almezaini, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom Soft Power in the Foreign Policy of the UAE Khalid Al Nahyan and Petra Dolata-Kreutzkamp, Kings College London, United Kingdom The Politics of the Post-Rentier State in the GCC Countries Motahar Alsaeede, Sana a University, Sana a, Yemen Gulf Research Meeting July

132 Pan-Arab News Media Competition in the Post-Al Jazeera Era, the Public Face of a Political Rivalry over Regional Influence Paloma Haschke, Sciences Po, Paris, France The Politics of Qatar s Transition from a Rentier State to a Soft Power Ajit Kumar Jha, Qatar Tribune, Doha, Qatar The Museums and the Art Market in the Gulf: The Post-Rentier State and the Arts of Visibility Alexandre Kazerouni, Sciences Po, Paris, France Relations State / Society in the Middle East Countries and Annuitants Maghreb Ali Mebroukine, National School of Administration, Algiers, Algeria Disguising the Struggle for Power: The Allegiance Committee in Saudi Arabia Nabil Mouline, Princeton University, New Jersey, United States 132

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137 The 2012 GRM The 2012 Gulf Research Meeting The 2012 Gulf Research Meeting will take place from July 11 to 14, A Call for Workshop Proposals was launched in the summer of 2011 resulting in more than 40 proposals received. From these applications, a total of 19 workshops were selected and offered alongside a Call for Papers in early November The deadline for application for paper submission was January 6, The following is a list of the workshops to which prospective participants could apply: The Arab Spring: Impacts and Consequences on the GCC Dr. May Seikaly, Associate Prof. in Near Eastern Studies, Wayne State University, USA Dr. Khawla Mattar, Regional Director for the United Nations Information Center in Cairo Asia and the Gulf: Comparative Analysis of the Roles of Asian Countries Prof. Tim Niblock, University of Exeter, UK Dr. Monica Malik, EFG-Hermes, Dubai, UAE Gulf Charities in the Age of Terror and the Arab Awakening Robert Lacey, Author Jonathan Benthall, Islamic charities expert & Honorary Research Fellow, University College London Gulf Research Meeting July

138 The 2012 GRM Socio-economic Impacts of GCC Migration Prof. Philippe Fargues, European University Institute (Florence) Prof. Nasra Shah, Kuwait University Gulf Youth Employment - a Ticking Time bomb. Private and Public Sector Initiatives Sponsored and directed by Silatech, Qatar International Tourism Development in the GCC Countries: Opportunities and Challenges Dr. Ala Al-Hamarneh, Mainz University, Mainz, Germany Dr. Marcus Stephenson, Middlesex University, Dubai, UAE The Impact of Globalization on Women in the GCC Dr. May Al Dabbagh, Dubai School of Government, UAE Dr. Dalia Abdelhady, Lund University, Sweden An Assessment of Opportunities and Possibilities: The Gulf and Latin America Dr. Alejandra Galindo Marines, Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM), México Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri, Institute for Diplomatic Studies, Riyadh Visual Culture in the GCC Nadia Mounajjed, American University of Sharjah, UAE Sharmeen Syed, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE The Impact of Large-scale Datasets on Evidence-based Educational Policymaking and Reform in the Gulf States Dr. Naif H. Alromi, Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia Dr. Alexander W. Wiseman, Lehigh University, USA Environmental Cost and Changing Face of Agriculture in the Gulf States Dr. Shabbir A. Shahid, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, UAE Dr. Mushtaque Ahmed, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman Gulf Energy Challenges Dr Naji Abi-Aad, Qatar Petroleum International, Qatar Dr Mostefa Ouki, Nexant, London, UK 138

139 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting Housing Markets and Policy Design in the Gulf Region Prof. Peter Williams, University of Cambridge, UK Gus Freeman, Ernst & Young, Dubai, UAE Structure, Conduct and Performance of GCC Banks Dr. Lamia Abdelaziz Obay, Abu Dhabi University, UAE Dr. Anis Samet, American University of Sharjah, UAE State-Society Relations in the Arab Gulf Region: Religion, Intellectuals and New Media Dr. Mazhar Al-Zo by, Qatar University, Qatar Dr. Birol Baskan, Georgetown University, Qatar The Political Economy of Clean Energy Solutions in the GCC Prof. Giacomo Luciani, Senior Advisor, Gulf Research Center Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland Dr. Rabia Ferroukhi, Senior Policy Advisor, IRENA, Abu Dhabi, UAE Prof. Manfred Hafner, President, International Energy Consultants (IEC) India-Gulf Strategic Partnership in a Pan-Asian Cooperative Paradigm Ranjit Gupta, Indian Foreign Service (Retd.), India Dr. Abu Backer Bagader, King Abdul Aziz University, Saudi Arabia Healthcare policies in GCC: Challenges and Future Directions Dr. Ahmed Alawi, Cambridge Consulting Alliance Ltd, UK Dr Mohammad Alkhazim, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Islamic Banking in the GCC Prof. Mehmet Asutay, Durham University, UK Dr. Abdullah Q. Turkistani, Associate Professor, Economics Department, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia To learn more about this event and how to register, please visit our website: Gulf Research Meeting July

140 GRM Sponsors Our Sponsors The GRC would like to express their deep thanks and gratitude to all of our sponsors as without their support and enthusiasm, the meeting would not have been possible. The 2011 GRM was sponsored by: Emaar Properties Emaar Properties PJSC is rapidly evolving to become a global provider of premier lifestyles. A Dubai-based Public Joint Stock Company, Emaar is listed on the Dubai Financial Market and is part of the Dow Jones Arabia Titans Index. In tandem with Dubai s rapid growth, Emaar has been shaping landscapes and lives in the Emirate since the company s inception in Not just building homes, Emaar develops value-added, master-planned communities that meet the homebuyers full spectrum of lifestyle needs. A pioneer of innovative community-living concepts, Emaar is the prime mover of the Emirate s real estate and construction sector. Bank Muscat With assets worth over USD 15 billion, Bank Muscat is the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate of Oman with a strong presence in Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Investment Banking, Treasury, Private Banking and Asset Management. The Bank has the largest network in Oman exceeding 130 branches, 386 ATMs, 131 CDMs and 4500 PoS terminals. The international operations consist of a branch each in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait and a Representative Office in Dubai (UAE). 140

141 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting The Zubair Corporation Founded in 1967 as Muscat Trading Company by Mohammad Al Zubair, which then became Zubair Enterprises, Zubair is one of a number of leading business houses that operates successfully both nationally and internationally. Its growth in size and diversity, across a wide range of interests, has highlighted the entrepreneurial flair, informed risk-taking and awareness of national interests that reflects Oman s successes of the past. Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in North America and one of the first post-colonial institutions of higher learning in the United States. Georgetown administers 180 academic programs in four undergraduate and three graduate and professional schools, of which the schools of international affairs and law are particularly selective and well regarded. In addition to its main campus, Georgetown operates a law Center on Capitol Hill, as well as auxiliary campuses in Italy, Turkey, and Qatar. Bank Dhofar The bank started as Bank Dhofar al Omani al Fransi in January 1990, with a paid up capital of 5 million Omani Rials. The bank acquired the assets and liabilities of Banque Paribas through a sale and purchase agreement and entered into a five year management contract with the French bank. It commenced operations with two branches, one in Muscat and the other branch in Salalah. Gulf Research Meeting July

142 GRM Sponsors With assets worth over RO 1.6 billion, Bank Dhofar is a strong bank in the Sultanate of Oman, with a presence in Corporate Banking, Consumer Banking, Treasury and Project Finance. BankDhofar has a reputation of commitment, foresight and solid growth and has been named as the Best Bank in Oman 2011 by the Oman Economic Review-Gulf Baader Capital Markets for the second year running, Business Today s Banks & NBFCs 2010 survey conducted by Ernst & Young and Best Bank in Oman 2010 by the pre-eminent international finance magazine Euromoney. The Kuwait Program at Sciences Po The Kuwait Program is a Gulf-focused research and teaching program based at the Chaire Moyen-Orient Méditerranée at Sciences Po Paris, created in 2007 thanks to a generous grant from the Kuwait Foundation of the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). KFAS and Sciences Po share an awareness of the common challenges facing the Gulf region and Europe in fields such as security, sustainable development, geopolitics of energy, economic diversification, the new role of the private sector, international migration, civil society development, and the shift of public policies from domestic to global levels. KAB Holding KAB Holding was established by Sheikh Khaled Ahmed Bagedo and focuses on promoting the real estate business and building materials manufacturing, mainly targeted at the Saudi Arabian and Middle Eastern markets. Based in Jeddah, KAB Holding is known for is ambition, enthusiasm and devotion to community development, through large scale business. 142

143 The 2011 Gulf Research Meeting London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Kuwait Research Programme The Kuwait Research Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States is a ten year multidisciplinary global programme. It focuses on topics such as globalisation, economic development, diversification of and challenges facing resource rich economies, trade relations between the Gulf States and major trading partners, energy trading, security and migration. The Programme generally focuses on the states that comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, occasionally the interests of research require a more flexible and broader conception. The Programme is hosted by LSE Government, and led by Professor David Held. It supports post-doctoral researchers and PhD students, develops academic networks between LSE and Gulf institutions, and hosts public lectures, a regular seminar series as well as five major biennial conferences. Khaled Juffali Company Khaled Juffali Company, KJC Ltd., is a multifaceted personal investment company with a vast local, regional, and international network of investments. Having an underlying focus on the creation and incubation of growth business ventures, KJC has penetrated industries that include automotive, petrochemicals, banking, insurance, venture capital funds, buyouts, distribution, information technology, education, real estate development, project management and consulting services, biotechnology, heavy cranes, auto/equipment leasing, and telecommunication. KJC s strength lies in its strategic mix of innovative projects that have a solid financial foundation coupled with an excellent network of multinational partnerships, know-how and a proven track record. Gulf Research Meeting July

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145 GULF RESEARCH CENTER The Gulf Research Center (GRC) is an independent research institute founded in July 2000 by Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, a Saudi businessman, who realized that in a world of rapid political, social and economic change, it is important to pursue politically neutral and academically sound research about the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and disseminate the knowledge obtained as widely as possible. GRC seeks to provide a better understanding of the challenges and prospects of the GCC countries. Since its establishment, the Gulf Research Center has grown from its original Dubai, UAE location to become a global organization with a well-established worldwide network of cooperation partners and offices in both the Gulf region and Europe. Key steps have been the opening of the Gulf Research Center Foundation (GRCF) in Geneva and the Gulf Research Centre Cambridge (GRCC). GRC operates its regional offices from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. GRC focuses on achieving the following main objectives: Conducting objective and scholarly research bearing on political, economic, social and security issues, as they relate to the GCC states in particular and the Gulf region in general. Promoting communication and cooperation among GCC citizens, along with propagating information about the GCC states and the Gulf region through a series of conferences and workshops the GRC holds and hosts. Publishing and disseminating relevant and useful information and data on the GCC states within and outside the region. Interacting with and answering the knowledge requirements of individuals and/or corporate organizations, including GCC nationals and expatriates living in the GCC countries, university students, academics, the press community, businessmen, and decision-makers. Gulf Research Meeting July

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