Call to end Gulf crisis, maintain GCC unity

Thesixth Doha Forum for Policies and Strategies has stressed theimportance for major powers to exert their influence in the region andput pressure on the siege countries to end the ongoing Gulf crisis thathas harmed the interests of all, and ensure the unity of the GulfCo-operation Council (GCC), which is “collapsing under the influence ofthe continuation of the crisis and its painful social and humanitarianconsequences”.The forum emphasised in its final statement, which wasread out by the director of the Directorate of International Studiesand chairman of the Forum’s Preparation Committee, Brigadier (pilot)Rashid Hamad al-Naimi, the need to pay attention to changes in the mapof political and economic relations between the Gulf states and theirreflections on the map of regional and international alliances in theMiddle East, especially with the strategic equations changing.Thestatement called on the educated elite in the Gulf countries to play apositive role in preventing the negative impact of the Gulf crisis onpopular mentality and to protect communication between relatives.Inanother context, the statement stressed the need to preserve the legaland religious status of Jerusalem and to confront attempts to itsJudaisation as well as ending any differences that would distractefforts and the need to support the besieged Palestinian people.Italso called on the international community to shoulder itsresponsibilities to end the painful and escalating conflicts in theMiddle East, stressing that the resulting damage would not excludeanyone from their cross-border threat and the collective action theyrequired.The statement considered political and cultural elites andresearch centres responsible for the social analysis of conflicts andfinding ways to restore the values of coexistence between differentpeoples in areas of civil conflict.It pointed to the need to payattention to the changes taking place in the economic policies of somecountries, which represent a decline and a challenge to global economicpolicies and freedom of trade and globalisation.The statement saidmilitary institutions must respond to the new challenges of regulararmies such as urban wars, militia fighting, drone wars and cyberwarfare. It stressed the urgent need to develop new technologies and theestablishment of specialised departments in the security and militaryinstitutions to deal with so-called directed electronic armies, whichhas become a danger to communities, especially young people.At theend of the forum, Commander of the Centre for Strategic Studies at theMinistry of Defence, Major General Dr Hamad Mohamed al-Marri, praisedthe positive contributions of the forum participants. These includedpresenting ideas, analyses and discussions, which adequately andsatisfactorily covered most of the questions that were on everyone’sminds.He noted that the forum was an ideal platform from whichparticipants made valuable discussions, rich in analysis and futuristicvision on the issues raised through the event’s various sessions. Headded that the participation of representatives of important researchcentres and institutions in the area of policy making and analysis was agreat enrichment for the sixth edition of the forum. Dr al-Marriexpressed hope that the areas of co-operation between Qatar and thecountries participating in the forum would be extended to other levels,especially as Qatar believed in the importance of integration andco-operation in the field of scientific research in general andstrategic studies in particular.The forum was held under thepatronage of HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State forDefence Affairs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah with the theme “TheMiddle East: Reality and Challenges”.