Category Archives: GCC

Gulf Cooperation Council: Role in Regional Dynamics – 2014 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations23rd Annual Arab U.S.-Policymakers Conference included a session on “The Gulf Cooperation Council: Role in Regional Dynamics” that featured Dr. John Duke Anthony, H.E. Dr. Abdullah I. El-Kuwaiz, Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, Ambassador (Ret.) Stephen A. Seche, Dr. Abdullah AlShayji, and Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla.

An audio and video recording of the session as well as a link to the transcript are available below. Videos of the entire 2014 conference are available on YouTube and podcasts of the conference are available through iTunes and FeedBurner.

Transcript (.pdf)

Audio (.mp3)

Dr. Anthony Responds to Questions Regarding the U.S.-GCC Relationship

National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Founding President & CEO Dr. John Duke Anthony periodically responds to questions posed by friends and followers of the National Council’s Arabia, the Gulf, and the GCC Blog. Below are three recent questions Dr. Anthony fielded regarding the U.S. relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).

“How might the U.S.-GCC relationship change, if at all, with the United States easing its reliance on Middle Eastern oil in tandem with increases in America’s domestic energy supplies?”

“How is it that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries retain good relations with the United States despite regional anti-American sentiment?”

“What aspects of U.S.-GCC cooperation are looked upon favorably by citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries?”

Dynamics of U.S.-GCC Defense Cooperation

February 13, 2014
Offices of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Washington, DC

 

Participating specialists:

Ambassador (Ret.) James Smith, Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2009-2013); Senior Counselor, The Cohen Group

Professor David Des Roches, Senior Military Fellow, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; Malone Fellow in Arab and Islamic Studies to Syria

Professor Paul Sullivan, Professor of Economics, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University

Moderator:

Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations

AUDIO (.mp3)

KSA2 PROGRAM SUMMARY

Gulf Cooperation Council: Role in Regional Dynamics – 2013 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL: ROLE IN REGIONAL DYNAMICS

Chair:

Dr. John Duke Anthony – Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and author, inter alia, of Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum; Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia; and The United Arab Emirates: Dynamics of State Formation.

Speakers:

Mr. Jason Buntin – Director for Europe and Middle East Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Dr. Abdullah AlShayji – Chairman, Department of Political Science, Kuwait University; author, Kuwait’s Ceaseless Quest for Survival in a Hostile Environment.

Dr. Ken Katzman – Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Mr. Michael Buonvino – Vice President for Global Development, Hill International.

Ambassador Richard Schmierer – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Bureau of Near East Affairs, U.S. Department of State; former U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

Bahrain: A Conversation About Its Challenges and Opportunities

May 21, 2013
Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC

 

 
Participating specialists:

Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, President, American Academy of Diplomacy; Former U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain, Afghanistan, and Algeria

Professor David Des Roches, Senior Military Fellow, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University

Ms. Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch

Professor Paul Sullivan, Professor of Economics, National Defense University; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University

Moderator:

Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations

AUDIO (.mp3)

Policymaking Opportunities and Lessons Learned From Regional Geo-Political Dynamics: The Arabian Peninsula (GCC Countries and Yemen) – 2012 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

POLICYMAKING OPPORTUNITIES AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM REGIONAL GEO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS: THE ARABIAN PENINSULA (GCC COUNTRIES AND YEMEN)

Chair:

Dr. John Duke Anthony

Speakers:

Dr. Abdel Aziz Abu Hamad Aluwaisheg – Assistant Secretary General for Negotiations and Strategic Dialogue, Gulf Cooperation Council.

Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla – Professor of Political Science, United Arab Emirates University (Abu Dhabi); lead author, 2008 Arab Knowledge Report.

Dr. Abdullah K. Al-Shayji – Chairman, Department of Political Science, Kuwait University; author, Kuwait’s Ceaseless Quest for Survival in a Hostile Environment.

VIDEO

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT

A Window onto the Gulf Cooperation Council, Together With a View Regarding Its Involvement Of Late With Yemen

A Window onto the Gulf Cooperation Council, Together With a View Regarding Its Involvement Of Late With Yemen – remarks by His Excellency Dr. Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, to the Gulf Research Center’s Third Annual Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Introduction by Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

From the National Council’s Arabia, the Gulf, and the GCC Blog

John Duke Anthony interview with KSA2 – June 14, 2012

Dr. John Duke Anthony spoke to KSA2 (Saudi Arabian, English-language TV) on June 14, 2012 about the 31st anniversary and growing international importance of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Anthony is the only American to have been invited to each of the GCC’s Ministerial and Heads of State Summits since the GCC’s inception in 1981.

 
Watch the segment on YouTube

The Gulf Cooperation Council at 31: Implications of Trends and Indications for GCC and US Interests

May 24, 2012
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, DC

 

 
Participating specialists:

Dr. Odeh Aburdene, President, OAI Advisors; and Senior Advisor, Capital Trust S.A.

Ms. Randa Fahmy Hudome, President, Fahmy Hudome International; and Member of the Board of Directors, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Mr. Andrew Rabens, Special Advisor for Youth Engagement, Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Bureau of Near East Affairs, U.S. Department of State Department.

Mr. Robert Sharp, Associate Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, U.S. Department of Defense/National Defense University.

Ms. Molly Williamson, former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S.
Departments of Commerce and Defense, former Acting Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State, former Senior Foreign Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy, and Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Mr. Joshua Yaphe, Arabian Peninsula analyst, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State.

Moderator:

Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; and Member, U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and its subcommittees on Sanctions and Trade and Investment.

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

AUDIO (.mp3)

Gulf Cooperation Council Dynamics – 2011 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) DYNAMICS (III)

Chair:

Dr. John Duke Anthony – Founding President and CEO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and author, inter alia, of Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum and Historical and Cultural Dictionary of the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirates of Eastern Arabia.

Speakers:

Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla – Professor of Political Science, Emirates University (Abu Dhabi); lead author, 2008 Arab Knowledge Report. (UAE)

Dr. Abdulla Al-Shayji – Chairman, Department of Political Science, Kuwait University, and author, Kuwait’s Ceaseless Quest for Survival in a Hostile Environment. (Kuwait)

Mr. Jeremy Jones – Author of Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East and the forthcoming Oman, Culture and Diplomacy; Senior Associate Member, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies; National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Distinguished International Fellow. (Oman)

Dr. Thomas Mattair – Executive Director, Middle East Policy Council; former Research Scholar, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research; author,The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa and Global Security Watch — Iran: A Reference Handbook. (Bahrain)

Commentator:

Mr. Robert Lacey – Historian, and author of, inter aliaThe Kingdom: Arabia & the House of Sa’ud (1982) and Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia (2009). (Saudi Arabia)

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)

Keynote Address: Ambassador Dr. Adnan Ahmed Al-Ansari – 2011 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Speakers:

H.E. Dr. Adnan Ahmed Al-Ansari – Ambassador and Observer, Permanent Mission of the Gulf Cooperation Council to the United Nations; former Director, Research Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sultanate of Oman.

H.E. Nasser Tammimi – Political Counselor to the Ambassador and Observer, Permanent Mission of the Gulf Cooperation Council to the United Nations; formerly, Senior Political Adviser to the Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

AUDIO (.mp3)

TRANSCRIPT (.pdf)