US, Arab world ties in focus

HE Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud al-Thani
addressing the session 

14 April, 2006

Staff Reporter

THE past, present, and future of the relations between the US and Middle East were discussed by a panel of experts at the inaugural symposium of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) and the Centre for International and Regional Studies.

Making the first presentation in the session on the historical record, the American University of Kuwait president Dr Shafeeq Ghabra, said the ‘ongoing love-hate relationship between the US and the Arab world was going to stay.’

Referring to the conflicting positions adopted by the US towards different countries in the region, he explained that while protecting some smaller states in the Gulf, the US supports Israel, inviting the anger of the Arab world.

Dr Ghabra described the present decade as that of transition in the US-Arab world relations, and that a failure of which like the previous ones could not be afforded.

The other speaker in the session, Dr Daniel L Byman, director, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, traced the changes in the US priorities from 1950.

The second session on the role of domestic policies heard the views of The Daily Star (Beirut) editor-at-Large, Rami G Khoury, and Georgetown’s Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies director Dr Michael Hudson.

The third session, on the new economy, had Kuwait’s former minister of finance, Dr Yousef al-Ebraheem, and Dr Tariq Yousef from the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies.

The chairs of the sessions were Qatar Foundation’s vice president for education, Dr Abdulla A al-Thani, Dr Samer Shehata from the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies, and Dr Ibrahim M Oweiss from SFS-Q.

Earlier, SFS-Q Dean Dr James Reardon-Anderson, Emiri Diwan chief HE Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud al-Thani and Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service Dean Robert L Gallucci gave opening remarks.