Conference on Gulf security agenda

A two-day conference on security changes in the Gulf, organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies and the

US-based Gulf 2000 Association Project ended in Doha yesterday.

The conference, entitled "The Changing Agenda of Gulf Security," was attended by nearly forty personalities from various countries involved in the security of the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Lebanon, United Kingdom, United States of America, France and others. Some of the participating personalities were former ambassadors, ministers or high-level government officials. Most foreign participants were experts on the Middle East issue.

The conference lasted two days, during which closed sessions were held to discuss a number of topics concerning security in the Gulf. Nearly a dozen papers were presented by their respective authors and discussed. The discussions dealt with topics such as military trends in the Gulf, conflict and cooperation in the region, fiscal challenges and changing markets, political trends and opposition and the necessity of reassessing the changing security in the Gulf.

Some of the participants were active officials in their respective governments and some were researchers or professors. Only a few journalists from agencies outside the Arab World were allowed to attend the sessions and no reports whatsoever were given about the outcome or details of the discussions. However, the general atmosphere indicated that cooperation in the field of security will boost between Gulf countries and the West in the coming years.