Regional Security in a Turbulent World: A GCC Perspective

Over the past decade, the nature of the challenges and threats affecting the Middle East region have been among the most complex it has ever faced. The region’s political order is in a state of fundamental disequilibrium: from the unravelling of the Sykes-Picot architecture to the emergence of a nuclear Iran, and the unprecedented challenges to the legitimacy of the Arab political system. Each of these challenges is a potential threat to global peace and stability. In this lecture, Dr Al-Sabah will discuss how these challenges are being understood within the GCC and what responses might be taken in the context of the principles guiding its foreign policy. 

His Excellency Dr Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this he was the Ambassador to the United States and then the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Dr Al-Sabah has a Master degree and PhD in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. Upon graduating, he became a member of the economics faculty at Kuwait University. Throughout his career at Kuwait University, Dr Al-Sabah assumed several responsibilities including: Chairman of the Economic Committee in the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (1987), Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Foreign Trading Contracting and Investment Company (1988), and Member of the Reconstruction Committee of the Higher Consultative Council (1990-1991).

Dr Al-Sabah is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah Foundation. His vist to the ANU Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies is supported by the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) through its' International Speakers Program. The CAAR is a non-statutory, regional council in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).