"Arab Strategy Forum Promotes Debate on Policy in Arab World"

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Spring 2007

Author: Rachel Wilson, Former Program Coordinator, The Dubai Initiative, 2006-2007

Several representatives of the Dubai Initiative at the Belfer Center participated in the 4th annual Arab Strategy Forum (ASF), which took place in Dubai in December. The Dubai School of Government (DSG) played a key role in developing the format and content for the ASF, a center of Arab strategic thinking and the main launch pad for regional programs and initiatives. The focus of this year's forum was "Creating Opportunity from Change." The Dubai Initiative is assisting the Dubai government in establishing the DSG as the region's leading institution of public policy and administration.

Ali Larijani, secretary general of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, was one of the featured speakers at the ASF, along with the Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the Prime Minister of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Assistant Director General of the Executive Office of Dubai Nabil Ali Alyousef.

The Dubai Initiative's Graham Allison, Juliette Kayyem, Ginger Dagli, and Vali Nasr, and Gowher Rizvi of the Ash Insititute took part in the ASF. Allison presented "Can the Region Live with a Nuclear Threat," and Dubai Initiative Senior Fellow Vali Nasr presented "Shifting Sands: The Changing Alliances in the Arab World" and "The Rise of Sectarian Tensions in the Middle East."

Members of DSG, including Dean Tarik Yousef, Executive Dean Yasar Jarrar, and Research Fellow May al-Dabbagh, moderated panels at the Forum. "Our alliance with ASF," Yousef said, "is part of our commitment to facilitate the exchange of ideas and promote analytical debate on public policy in the Arab world." The Dubai Initiative is assisting DSG to establish an institution for research and education in the Middle East to prepare the next generation of leaders.

For additional information on the Dubai Initiative, see www.bcsia.ksg.harvard.edu/?program=DI.

For more information about this publication please contact the Belfer Center Communications Office at 617-495-9858.

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