Dynamics of U.S.-GCC Defense Cooperation

Posted on February 19, 2014 by NCUSAR

February 13, 2014 briefing in Washington, DC on “Dynamics of U.S.-GCC Defense Cooperation.”

On February 13, 2014, the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and the U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee hosted a briefing on “Dynamics of U.S.-GCC Defense Cooperation” featuring Ambassador (Ret.) James Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2009-2013) and Senior Counselor, The Cohen Group; Professor David Des Roches, Senior Military Fellow, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University and Malone Fellow in Arab and Islamic Studies to Syria; and Professor Paul Sullivan, Professor of Economics, National Defense University and Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University. Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, served as moderator.

A podcast of the program is available through the link below as well as in iTunes with recordings of other National Council programs: http://bit.ly/itunes-ncusar.

“Dynamics of U.S.-GCC Defense Cooperation” podcast (.mp3)

KSA2 Report on Program

Gulf in the News – February 19, 2014

Posted on February 19, 2014 by NCUSAR

Bomb attacks in Iraq kill at least 49

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Bombs exploded in different districts of the Iraqi capital and in the southern city of Hilla on Tuesday, killing at least 49 people, police and hospital sources said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

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Gulf in the News – February 17, 2014

Posted on February 17, 2014 by NCUSAR

Nuclear talks to focus on centrifuges, reactor: Iran

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

An Iranian negotiator said nuclear talks with world powers this week would focus on advanced centrifuges and the unfinished Arak heavy water reactor, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

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Intensive Arabic Language Programs at the Center for International Learning in Oman

Posted on February 3, 2014 by NCUSAR

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations is pleased to offer students a partial scholarship opportunity for intensive Arabic language study with our partner organization in Muscat, Oman, the Center for International Learning (CIL). Partial scholarships are available for intensive Arabic or study abroad, and thus can be used at virtually any time of the year. Scholarships are issued on a rolling basis throughout the calendar year.

Center for International Learning in Oman

CIL will host you to study in the Sultanate of Oman, an Italy-sized nation on the Arabian Sea. For years students have found this an ideal setting for their international study, a nation of warm and welcoming people who practice a form of Islam — Ibadhism — that practices tolerance and acceptance of others. CIL provides students with the learning experiences needed to become world citizens.

Gulf in the News – January 31, 2014

Posted on January 31, 2014 by NCUSAR

‘Ice is breaking’ in Syria talks: UN mediator

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

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“The ice is breaking, slowly, but it is breaking,” Brahimi told reporters after a fifth day of talks in Geneva, which both sides described as “positive.”

He acknowledged he did not expect “anything substantive” to come out of the initial round, which is set to conclude Friday.

But he stressed that simply getting the parties talking for the first time since the conflict erupted in March 2011 was an important step forward.

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Gulf in the News – January 30, 2014

Posted on January 30, 2014 by NCUSAR

Syria has shipped out less than 5 percent of chemical weapons

Source: Reuters (Read full story)

Syria has given up less than 5 percent of its chemical weapons arsenal and will miss next week’s deadline to send all toxic agents abroad for destruction, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The deliveries, in two shipments this month to the northern Syrian port of Latakia, totaled 4.1 percent of the roughly 1,300 tonnes of toxic agents reported by Damascus to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“It’s not enough and there is no sign of more,” one source briefed on the situation said.

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Gulf in the News – January 24, 2014

Posted on January 24, 2014 by NCUSAR

Assad regime threatens to withdraw from Syria peace talks

Source: The National (Read full story)

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Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem has told UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi “that should serious sessions fail to take place by tomorrow, the official Syrian delegation will leave Geneva”.

The regime accused the opposition National Coalition of being “not serious and not ready” for the talks, which opened on Wednesday.

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Gulf in the News – January 23, 2014

Posted on January 23, 2014 by NCUSAR

Syria peace talks stuck over Assad’s future

Source: Al Jazeera English (Read full story)

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Wednesday’s meeting at an hotel in the lakeside city exposed sharply differing views on forcing out Assad both between the government and opposition, and among the foreign powers which fear that the conflict is spilling beyond Syria and encouraging sectarian violence abroad.

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