GU-Q event to discuss future of Gulf crisis

Experts from Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), Al Jazeera and HamadBin Khalifa University (HBKU) will gather to discuss the Gulf crisisand potential future developments at an upcoming seminar at GU-Q. Organised by Al Jazeera Centre for Studies (AJCS), the public event willbe held on Georgetown campus in Education City at 6pm today. Convened under the title ‘The Gulf Crisis, US Mediation, and FutureTrends’, the event will focus on the proposed visit by Gulf leaders tothe US for talks to resolve the dispute. Speakers include Abdullah binHamad al-Athbah, editor-in-chief of Al Arab, journalist and politicalanalyst Abdul Aziz al-Ishaq, GU-Q’s Professor Rory Miller; and ProfessorSteven Wright, associate dean for academic affairs and research atHBKU. It will be moderated by Al Jazeera Mubasher’s Salem Almahroukey. “In line with Georgetown’s commitment to fostering open dialogue andinformed debate, this event will bring broad perspectives ondevelopments in the Gulf to the audiences from Qatar and the region,”said GU-Q dean Ahmad Dallal. “We are happy to provide a platform toexpand the public’s understanding of these issues and possiblesolutions, as part of our ongoing contribution to the academicenvironment in Qatar.”Director of AJCS, Mohamed Mukhtar al-Khalil, said the seminar is being held as the Gulf crisis remains unresolved. “We at AJCS were of the opinion that it is necessary to reconsider thevariable factors of the crisis and to explore the prospects ofresolution. One of these prospects, if held, is the US-GCC Camp Davidsummit in May,” al-Khalil said.“By putting the matter to extensive discussion and analyses by expertsand professionals during the seminar, we hope new perspectives are laidout on how to tone down the negative impacts of the crisis on thepeoples of the region. It is also an opportunity to put forward moreviewpoints of any possible détente, even if not currently loominglarge,” added al-Khalil.Founded in 2005, GU-Q empowers students and shapes the human capacitythat the Mena region needs for the 21st century. As part of this effort,GU-Q “continuously produces major studies of regional and internationalsignificance, including multi- and inter-disciplinary researchinitiatives that study strategic, political, economic and socialrealities in Qatar, as well as the geopolitical reconfigurations of theregion and beyond”, according to a press statement. The university has organised several symposiums dedicated tounderstanding the geopolitics of the Gulf and the wider Middle Eastregion.