Dinaress
02-11-2005, 09:54 AM
The work of the Gulf Research Center(GRC) is animated by a vision that rests essentially on its deep conviction that the Arabian Gulf region does not merely represent a geographical mass made up of a number of adjacent states: rather, the GRC approaches the Gulf region as a geographical structure that incorporates a complex set of interwoven interests, policies, and relations. These are so closely inter-related that events in any one state in the region directly affects other states.
No doubt, the current situation in Iraq embodies the most dramatic and outstanding event in the Gulf Region, both at the present and in the near future, as ongoing developments in that war-battered country certainly carry wide-ranging ramifications for Iraq itself and for other countries across the region.
Setting out from this undeniable reality, the GRC has decided to convene a symposium entitled Iraq and its Neighboring Countries: Mutual Visions.
This is the second academic event in a series of annual symposia held by the GRC and devoted specially to the Iraqi file.
Debates at the symposium will examine and analyze as well as propound forecast on Iraq's relations with each state and within Iraq's proximate geographical sphere. An Iraqi researcher, and a peer researcher from a neighboring state, will each be assigned to write a research paper to be discussed and commented upon by a third scholar. The point is to ensure the greatest degree of objectivity and comprehensiveness in approach.
The symposium will be held on March 31,2005 at the GRC head office in Dubai. In fact, the timing is quite appropriate, as it coinicides with the second anniversary of the outbreak of the war against Iraq. By March 2005, many developments that appear today foggy and opaque might probably grow clearer, especially if general elections take place as scheduled, which would allow for deeper academic analysis and objectivity.
No doubt, the current situation in Iraq embodies the most dramatic and outstanding event in the Gulf Region, both at the present and in the near future, as ongoing developments in that war-battered country certainly carry wide-ranging ramifications for Iraq itself and for other countries across the region.
Setting out from this undeniable reality, the GRC has decided to convene a symposium entitled Iraq and its Neighboring Countries: Mutual Visions.
This is the second academic event in a series of annual symposia held by the GRC and devoted specially to the Iraqi file.
Debates at the symposium will examine and analyze as well as propound forecast on Iraq's relations with each state and within Iraq's proximate geographical sphere. An Iraqi researcher, and a peer researcher from a neighboring state, will each be assigned to write a research paper to be discussed and commented upon by a third scholar. The point is to ensure the greatest degree of objectivity and comprehensiveness in approach.
The symposium will be held on March 31,2005 at the GRC head office in Dubai. In fact, the timing is quite appropriate, as it coinicides with the second anniversary of the outbreak of the war against Iraq. By March 2005, many developments that appear today foggy and opaque might probably grow clearer, especially if general elections take place as scheduled, which would allow for deeper academic analysis and objectivity.