Gulf in the News – August 31, 2012

Greater unification of Gulf states in focus

Source: Arab News (read full story)

Abdulatif Al-Zayani, GCC secretary general said: “The initiative to move from a GCC bloc to a Gulf Union will be discussed in detail by GCC foreign ministers.”
Gulf States are already tied through unified policies, militarily, politically and economically under the mandate of the GCC Charter.
Al-Zayani said, “Unification is meant to empower GCC bloc countries and empower members to come to the aid of one another in times of threat,” he said.

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Gulf in the News – August 30, 2012

UAE urges for peaceful solution to occupied islands

Source: Gulf Today (read full story)

TEHRAN: The UAE is committed to all the principles on which the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was established, in particular respecting the sovereignty of states, the settlement of conflicts through peaceful means as well as the rejection of foreign occupation, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammed Gergash said in a statement at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Tehran.

“Based on this, and in emphasis of cementing the historic relations and good neighbour policy, the UAE calls on Iran to respond to its calls to find a peaceful and just solution to the issue of the UAE’s islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb which are currently occupied by the Islamic Republic of Iran either through bilateral negotiations or by referring the case to the International Court of Justice,” Gergash added.

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Seventeenth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program — February 13-27, 2013

Applications Now Being Accepted for the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’

Seventeenth Annual
Oman Cultural Immersion Program

February 13-27, 2013

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations is pleased to offer, through its Joseph J. Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies Program, the Seventeenth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit to the Sultanate of Oman February 15-27, 2013. Fellows are required to participate in and complete a pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C. to be held on February 13-14. This unique opportunity will provide a privileged first hand exposure to one of the Arab world’s most demographically, geographically, and socially diverse countries.The National Council is currently accepting applications to participate in this study visit. APPLY NOW!

American professionals in academia, government, the military, non-governmental organizations, business, religious institutions, the media, civic associations, as well as the fine arts, humanities, and the social sciences are invited to apply.

The Seventeenth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit will provide participants an educational experience that few Westerners and even fewer Americans have had. The program is choreographed to provide Malone Fellows an unparalleled diverse exposure to Oman — one of the most historically and culturally rich of all Arab and Islamic societies. Until relatively recent times, the Sultanate languished in its status as one of the most forgotten corners of all Arabia. Anyone in doubt about the extraordinary opportunity that being able to visit Oman in this manner presents need only consult any of the several National Geographic Magazine features on the country in the past two decades.

 

End Pictures: inlaid Islamic niches at the Grand Mosque in Oman's Capital Territory; Middle Pictures: Bedouin Omani girls in the Sharqiyyah Sands.

End Pictures: inlaid Islamic niches at the Grand Mosque in Oman's Capital Territory; Middle Pictures: Bedouin Omani girls in the Sharqiyyah Sands.

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Gulf in the News – August 27, 2012

U.S. Arms Sales Make Up Most of Global Market

Source: The New York Times (read full story)

These Gulf states do not share a border with Iran, and their arms purchases focused on expensive warplanes and complex missile defense systems.

The report was prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress. The annual study, written by Richard F. Grimmett and Paul K. Kerr and delivered to Congress on Friday, is considered the most detailed collection of unclassified arms sales data available to the public.

The agreements with Saudi Arabia included the purchase of 84 advanced F-15 fighters, a variety of ammunition, missiles and logistics support, and upgrades of 70 of the F-15 fighters in the current fleet.

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Gulf in the News – August 24, 2012

US sends aircraft carrier back to Gulf to face Iran

Source: Kuwait Times (read full story)

The US Navy is cutting short home leave for the crew of one of its aircraft carriers and sending them back to the Middle East next week to counter any threat from Iran, according to the official Navy News Service. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the USS Stennis in their home port of Seattle on Wednesday they were needed back in the Middle East soon, after approving calls from the US Central Command for Stennis to return to the region. “Obviously, Iran is one of those threats,” the US military news service quoted Panetta as saying during a sendoff event at a military base on the US West Coast. “Secondly, it is the turmoil in Syria,” he said. “We’re obviously following that closely as well.”

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Gulf in the News – August 23, 2012

Saudi King’s efforts to unite Ummah applauded

Source: Arab News (read full story)

King Abdullah has presented an effective solution to end the division and disruption in the Islamic world. “In his speech at the Islamic summit, King Abdullah warned against sedition, which has been the main reason for blood-shedding in the Islamic world. He said King Abdullah’s speech presented a roadmap for Muslim unity. He hoped the Muslim Ummah would accelerate its efforts to implement the king’s proposal.

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NCUSAR Student Study Visit to Lebanon, Summer 2012

From June 21-July 3, 2012, the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, in partnership with the Lebanon Renaissance Foundation, organized and escorted ten students on a study visit to Lebanon. The delegation was made up primarily of alumni from the Council’s Model Arab League Student Leadership Development Program. Through the study visit the students gained direct personal experience in Lebanese culture, society, and economics, and came away with a more deeply informed knowledge of Lebanon’s strategic aims and requirements as they pertain to Lebanese-U.S. relations and Lebanon’s role in regional and world affairs.

Student Study Visit to Lebanon, July 2012