The Arab world has a pivotal role to play in an emerging global future
Over two days in Abu Dhabi, remarkable minds gathered to draw up a new and forward-looking blueprint of regional co-operation and international engagement
Raghida Dergham
The preoccupation of citizens of the Arab region with political news does not mean they are not concerned about other fateful issues, beginning with the challenges of their daily lives and not ending with the alignment of their nations in the international sphere. The things that President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin say and do also concern Arab citizens, not for the sake of entertainment, but because they radically impact their collective future.
The US relationship with Arab Gulf countries is also the focus of existential concern among Arab citizens, in a way that is profoundly different from the US interest in this relationship, in government, media, and public opinion. The same applies to Russian policies in the Middle East, especially in relation to addressing Moscows bias towards Iran in the wake of the alliance on the ground in Syria, or Russian-Israeli relations. On the surface, US and Russian priorities focus on regional conflicts and geopolitical competition, but they are also fundamentally about economics. The question that repeatedly imposes itself here is whether the role of Arab leaders is confined to passive reception, and if so, what needs to be done to render this role proactive.
In this context, the recommendations issued this week by the Beirut Institute, as the outcome of its second-edition summit in Abu Dhabi, titled Constructing the Arab Regions Engagement in the Emerging Global Future, did not stop at highlighting the requirements for strengthening the forces of order, but tackled other fundamental strategic imperatives including accelerating connected regional economic development, promoting good governance for better integration of Arab citizens and communities, empowering the diverse people of the Arab region through an inclusive forward-looking vision, and embracing technology by strengthening Arab integration with global innovation networks with focus on leadership and entrepreneurship.
These are not fancy buzzwords but the summary of a rich interactive dialogue that brought together around 150 global figures with invaluable experience and expertise on a broad range of fields, who met for two days in May to come up with a roadmap for policymakers and the public opinion, producing these important recommendations.
Before I expand on the content of the recommendations, I am the founder and executive chairman of the Beirut Institute, a think-tank for the Arab region with a global reach. The second edition of the Beirut Institute Summit held in Abu Dhabi was co-chaired by Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia, in addition to myself. His royal highness is the backbone of the institute. The recommendations were drafted by the strategic knowledge partner AT Kearney, led by Rudolph Lohmeyer. Mr Lohmeyer achieved an incredibly difficult task by summarising the outcomes of the incredible brainstorming of the remarkable minds that took place at the summit during closed policy-drafting sessions and discussions between global leaders (see beirutinstitute.org for further details, as well as the full text of the recommendations). Credit must be given to all those who contributed to these recommendations and made them possible, particularly the UAE capital for hosting the summit.
The first theme of the recommendations was strengthening the forces of order, and tackled candidly the lack of strategic alignment and institutional integration between the key Arab countries, while noting the important exception of the deepening ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which represents a powerful source of momentum that can now be extended to inspire and align the rest of the region. It noted that great power rivalry has returned globally and is being played out in the Middle East in ways that not only are contributing directly to regional instability and vast human suffering, but that also in many ways do not serve the long-term strategic interests of the external powers themselves.
Nevertheless, the recommendations noted that the very complexity and uncertainty of this context creates significant opportunities for regional leaders to break the momentum of the forces of disorder and strengthen the forces of order. One way to do this, according to the recommendations, is to build a new and sustainable regional structure and for Arab leaders to drive a diplomatic effort to identify a framework of shared strategic interests among the great powers, the United States, Russia and China centred on stabilising the Middle East. The second strategic imperative is deepening Arab strategic integration, driving meaningful economic integration as well as security co-operation, including in integrated missile defines to counter the growing ballistic missile threat, maritime navigation, military training, counter terrorism and longer-term efforts to counter extremism. In addition, Arab leaders must push for proactively delivering services and support to those most in need and thereby preventing the emergence of strategic vacuums that others in the region have so skilfully exploited.
The writer is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut
Institute, Lebanon
