Category Archives: Qatar

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)

NCUSAR Rings NASDAQ Opening Bell

September 26, 2014
NASDAQ MarketSite, New York, NY

 

 

A delegation from the State of Qatar, led by Qatar’s Minister of Economy and Commerce His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, joined Dr. John Duke Anthony and the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations along with Mrs. Matilda Cuomo to ring the NASDAQ Opening Bell on Friday, September 26, 2014.

Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, shares a robust economic, defense, cultural, and educational relationship with the United States. The National Council is a Washington, DC-based non-profit, non-governmental, educational organization dedicated to improving American knowledge and understanding of the Arab world. Dr. John Duke Anthony is the Founding President & CEO of the Council. The delegation was joined by the former First Lady of New York State and longtime advocate on behalf of women, children and families, Mrs. Matilda Cuomo, to ring the Opening Bell.

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?”

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

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

Op-Ed by Ambassador Joseph LeBaron, U.S. Ambassador to Qatar

U.S. EMBASSY DOHA, QATAR

Less than two months ago, at the Forum for the Future in Doha, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton challenged the region’s political leaders, civil society, and the business community to move beyond slogans. She called for “a real vision for [the region’s] future that comes from each of you, from governments that must deliver on their promises, from civil society and business leaders who must build their people up, and, of course, from the people themselves.”

In Qatar, we see the fruits of success that naturally grow out of a dedication by Qatar’s leadership to build a solid future for Qatar, one based on educating the people, combating corruption, enabling the open debate of ideas, and giving citizens a voice in the affairs of the country.

The United States government commends His Highness for moving forward on implementing the elections outlined in Qatar’s Constitution. We applaud the recent announcement by His Excellency the Prime Minister on elections for the Consultative (Shura) Council. These elections will be a major step forward for Qatar, and they will help make Qatar a regional model for giving citizens an effective voice in governance at the national level. For matters and issues at the local level, the municipal council elections this May will be a key opportunity for citizens to be heard.

The United States similarly welcomes the reports of progress on legislation for the media and the registration of associations, societies, and non-governmental organizations. Such progress will strengthen Qatar’s civil society. It will help promote transparency and accountability.

His Highness the Amir and his government know that resource wealth can be squandered, it can even destabilize a country, unless a country’s citizens understand, debate, and participate in the fundamental decisions that affect their lives and the lives of their children. Secretary Clinton noted that the citizens of the Middle East “are demanding reform to make their governments more effective, more responsive, and more open.” Qatar’s leaders need no convincing on this account, and they have been proactive in personally reaching out to their people to understand and respond to their needs and concerns.

“The Middle East is brimming with talent,” Secretary Clinton said recently. “It is blessed with resources, enriched by strong traditions of faith and family. This rising generation of young people has the potential to achieve so much, and we need to give them the chance to do so.” Qatar’s leadership has an advanced understanding of this truth, and the United States welcomes the commitment by the leaders of Qatar to the elections and reforms that will fulfill the democratic promise of Qatar’s visionary Constitution.


تحدت وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية هيلاري كلينتون في منتدى المستقبل الذي عقد في الدوحة منذ أقل من شهرين الزعماء السياسيين في المنطقة والمجتمع المدني ومجتمع الأعمال بالمضي إلى ما هو أبعد من الشعارات. هذا ودعت إلى “رؤية حقيقية لمستقبل (المنطقة) تنبع من كل منكم، ومن الحكومات التي يجب عليها تنفيذ وعودها، ومن المجتمع المدني وروّاد الأعمال الذين ينبغي عليهم بناء شعوبهم، وبالطبع من الشعوب أنفسها”.

وفي قطر، نرى ثمار النجاح التي تؤتي أكلها بالطبع من تفاني قيادة الدولة في بناء مستقبل راسخ لها؛ وهو مستقبل قائم على تعليم الأفراد ومحاربة الفساد وإفساح المجال أمام عقد مناقشات علنية للأفكار، وكذلك إعطاء المواطنين الفرصة للتعبير عن آرائهم فيما يتعلق بشؤون البلاد.

هذا وتثني حكومة الولايات المتحدة على سموه لما قام به من المضي قدمًا في إجراء الانتخابات المنصوص عليها في دستور دولة قطر. كما نطري على الإعلان الأخير لسعادة رئيس الوزراء حول انتخابات مجلس الشورى. وستكون هذه الانتخابات خطوة هامة إلى الأمام لدولة قطر، كما ستساعد على جعل قطر نموذجًا إقليميًا بإعطاء المواطنين صوتًا مؤثرًا في الحكم على المستوى الوطني. وفيما يتعلق بالأمور والقضايا المحلية، فستكون انتخابات المجالس البلدية التي ستجري في مايو/أيار القادم فرصة هامة لسماع أصوات المواطنين.

ترحب الولايات المتحدة كذلك بالتقارير التي تتحدث عن تقدم في التشريعات بشأن الإعلام وتسجيل المؤسسات والجمعيات والمنظمات غير الحكومية. إن هكذا تقدم سيقوي المجتمع المدني القطري ويساعد في تطوير الشفافية والمحاسبة.

إن سمو الأمير وحكومته يعلمان أن مصادر الثروة يمكن تبديدها ومن الممكن كذلك أن تقوض الثروة استقرار البلد ما لم يتفهم مواطنوه القرارات الجوهرية التي تؤثر في حياتهم وحياة أبنائهم ويناقشوها ويشاركوا فيها. لقد ذكرت وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية كلينتون أن مواطني الشرق الأوسط “يطالبون بالإصلاح من أجل جعل حكوماتهم أكثر فعالية واستجابة وانفتاحا”. إن قادة قطر ليسو بحاجة لإقناعٍ في هذا الصدد, لقد كانوا وما يزالون سباقين في التواصل مع شعوبهم لفهم حاجاتهم وهواجسهم والاستجابة لها.

وقالت وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية كلينتون مؤخرا: “إن الشرق الأوسط يعج بالموهوبين”. وأضافت: “إنه زاخر بالموارد وغني بتقاليد قوية في المعتقد والعائلة. إن هذا الجيل الصاعد من الشباب يملك الإمكانيات لتحقيق الكثير وإننا بحاجة لإعطائهم الفرصة لتحقيق ذلك”. إن القيادة القطرية لديها فهم أوسع لهذه الحقيقة, وترحب الولايات المتحدة بالتزام قادة قطر بالانتخابات والإصلاحات وفاءً للوعود الديمقراطية التي يستشرفها دستور قطر.