The Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior (FRIDE), the Gulf Research Centre (GRC) and EGMONT - the Royal Institute for International Relations are organising a seminar to respond to the publication of the EU’s new energy security strategy and to debate those aspects of energy security related specifically to European foreign policies. More Details

April 15- 26, 2007 

Venue: Syria

The earth’s finite natural resources and the environment are under tremendous pressure today. Indifferent human activities are taking their toll and governments across the globe are fast realizing the need to stem this tide, introduce corrective policies and pursue a path of sustainable development. More Details

April 2 – 5, 2006

Venue: Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

As part of its programs, the Gulf Research Center conducts Executive Learning Programs aimed at providing leadership development opportunities in all aspects of public policy. It is the view of the GRC that programs in governmental processes and critical policy issues are essential to understand today’s environment and prepare emerging and established leaders to more effectively engage with individuals and institutions throughout the rest of the world.  More Details

The Gulf Research Center will hold two workshops at the Eight Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting of the European University Institute at Florence – Montecatini Terme, between 21–25 March 2007. More Details

Venue: Islamabad, Pakistan

The Gulf Research Center (GRC) and the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI) will hold a joint workshop on Pakistan-Gulf Strategic Relations on March 8-9, 2007 in Islamabad. The aim of the workshop is to assess current strategic relations and forecast future trends in terms of the political, economic and security aspects of relations between Pakistan and the GCC States.  There have been critical developments in these areas which not only impact inter-regional relations but also affect the political and economic environment within these states. More Details

Venue: JW Marriot Hotel, Dubai

The Gulf Research Center (GRC) will be a strategic partner of the Saudi Law Training Center in organizing the Second GCC Capital Market Forum 2007 in Dubai. The conference will be held on March 3 and 4 in JW Marriot Hotel in Dubai. After the severe stock market corrections of 2006, the Forum will discuss problems and prospects of the GCC stock markets.  Under the title “Managing the Crisis,” crucial topics like family businesses going public, internet trading, unification of Gulf stock markets and good governance issues will be addressed. More Details

As part of its GCC-EU Research Program, the Gulf Research Center, the Bertelsmann Foundation"s project "Europe and the Middle East" and the German Foreign Office are holding a on-day conference on the topic of “The EU and the GCC: Challenges and Prospects for Cooperation in 2007. ”  More Details

With the US strategy being at the center of the current policy debate in the region, the Gulf research Center will host a roundtable discussion on “US Policy in the Gulf Region” with Ambassador R. Nicolas Burns, third-highest ranking official in the US State Department. More Details

The Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research (BCSR) and the GRC signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in the areas of research and knowledge dissemination about the Gulf region.

The BCSR is an independent scientific institute established in 1981 and endeavors to develop scientific research and keep up-to-date with scientific research in order to serve the national interests of the Kingdom of Bahrain. 

The Institute of Diplomatic Studies, affiliated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia, and the GRC signed an agreement to work together in pursuit of creating greater national, regional and international awareness on issues pertaining to security and stability in the Gulf region. The two institutes agreed to collaborate and support each other in the areas of research, policy facilitation and implementation.

The GRC has agreed to be a part of the Paris-based Arab Reform Initiative, which is a network of independent Arab research and policy institutes, with partners from the United States and Europe. Its goal is to mobilize the Arab research capacity to advance knowledge and develop a program for democratic reform in the Arab World which is realistic and home grown. The Initiative also aims to produce policy recommendations that can help promote reform in the region.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich and the GRC agree to jointly develop an Arabic version of the ‘Facts on international relations and security trends’ (First) internet database system.

The GRC and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Germany, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a partnership for offering consultancy services for economic development planning, design of economic development strategies and long-term visions, definition of social and economic policies for development and improving the welfare of society in the six GCC countries, and Yemen.

GTZ is a public-benefit service enterprise for development cooperation with worldwide operations. Established in 1974 and owned by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, the organization operates as a private sector enterprise with a development policy mandate – to make sustainable improvements to the living conditions of people in partner countries and to conserve the natural resource base.

The GRC and the Damascus-based Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) reached an agreement to work together in pursuit of creating greater national, regional and international awareness on issues pertaining to environmental and natural resource conservation and sustainable development in the Gulf region. The organizations agree to collaborate and support each other in the areas of research, policy facilitation and implementation.

The ACSAD is a specialized Arab organization working within the framework of the League of Arab States with the objective of unifying Arab efforts which aim to develop scientific agricultural research in the arid and semi-arid areas, help in exchange of information and experiences and make use of scientific progress and modern agricultural techniques in order to increase agricultural production.

The GRC and Freie Universitaet Berlin (FU Berlin) entered into an agreement to cooperate, collaborate and support each other in the areas of research, knowledge dissemination, the internationalization of higher education in the fields of international relations and global politics, networking, internships and events.

The agreement – signed by President of the Free University of Berlin Prof. Dr. Dieter Lenzen and GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager – includes instituting a distance-learning Master’s Degree Program in International Relations in Dubai with immediate effect. Students will be able to obtain a fully accredited degree certified by the FU, Berlin. The program is a two-year Internet-based online arrangement with teaching sessions conducted in both Dubai and Berlin.

Zayed University, GRC join hands to support regional research

Zayed University and the Gulf Research Center (GRC) signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in the areas of research and knowledge dissemination about the Gulf region. The agreement provides for full access to the GRC’s research and media websites for ZU faculty and students, internships for ZU students at the GRC, developing, supporting and enhancing research projects on Gulf issues, and facilitating information exchange amongst scholars and the wider community by convening joint conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures as well as through the sharing of relevant data and databases.

Zayed University was established in 1998 by the UAE federal government to educate Emirati women. It has campuses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and offers similar programs on both campuses to approximately 2500 full-time students. ZU is based on an international model of higher education and is organized academically into five colleges — Arts and Sciences, Business Sciences, Communication and Media Sciences, Education and Information Systems.  The primary language of instruction is English.

Istituto Affari Internazionali and GRC agree to cooperate

The Rome-based Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the GRC signed an agreement to work together in pursuit of creating greater national, regional and international awareness on issues pertaining to security and stability in the Gulf region, Middle East and Europe. The organizations agreed to collaborate and support each other in the areas of research, policy facilitation and implementation.

The IAI is a non-profit organization funded by individual and corporate members, public and private organizations, major international foundations, and by a standing grant from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its main objective is to promote an understanding of the problems of international politics through studies, research, meetings and publications, with the aim of increasing the opportunities of all countries to move in the direction of supranational organization, democratic freedom and social justice.

The GRC and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), an independent, policy-oriented, non-profit research and training institute in Athens, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together in pursuit of creating greater national, regional and international awareness on issues pertaining to security and stability in the Gulf region, the Middle East and Greece. The two organizations agreed to collaborate and support each other in the areas of research, policy facilitation and implementation.

The ELIAMEP pursues research pertaining to the European, foreign and security policies of Southeast Europe, Mediterranean and wider Europe, and issues related to international politics, security and economics, in order to contribute to and influence public debate.

On May 22 a group of Macquarie Capital Securities and other Australian fund managers visited GRC for a briefing about the GCC economies.

Nader Habib, Henry J. Leir Professor of Economics of the Middle East at Brandeis University in Massachusetts visited GRC to discuss future joint projects.

Fifteen final year students from the Department of Political Science at UAE University in Al Ain visited the Gulf Research Center and received a comprehensive briefing on international politics.

GRC received two guests from the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Brunei Darussalam – Mr. Hamzah Sulaiman, Director and Capt. Erwan Haji Ibrahim, Scholarship and Training Officer. Possible avenues of future cooperation were discussed

GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager gave an opening speech in Kobe-GRC Workshop, Dubai

GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager has participated and spoke in NATO Conference, Doha

GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager has participated in 11th Kronberg Talks Conference, Kronberg

GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager gave an opening speech in GRC Annual Conference – Gulf Forum 2008, Riyadh

GRC Directors Participated in Conference  on  "Information Technology & National Security" organized by  Saudi Arabia General Intelligence Presidency held in Riyadh.

Participated in panel discussion at the 2nd Saudi IPO Summit on November 11, 2007 in Riyadh about the economic prospects and dynamics after the stock market crash in 2006.

The GRC was invited to participate in the Fourth International Conference on Federalism (Unity in Diversity - Learning from Each Other), in New Delhi, India.

The event was organized by the Inter-State Council Secretariat, Government of India and the Forum of Federations. This conference is the fourth in a series organized in partnership between host governments and the Forum of Federations (an NGO created and supported by the government of Canada).

GRC took part in the workshop and discussions on the sub-theme focusing on Water Issues and Federalism. Some case studies from India and Australia showed that water can sometimes cause conflicts or unity and showed different policies pursued at federal and regional levels to handle water scarcity and quality. This big event was attended by around 900 participants, experts from various fields like politics, education, economics, environment, besides government representatives and civil society organizations.

Gave lecture about “The Economic Potential of the GCC Countries” at the Regional Swedish Exporters Conference, November 5-6, 2007 in Dubai.

Gave lecture about “The Gulf and Worldwide Energy Demand” at a conference of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation “Global Common Challenges and Regional Trends – the Arab World in Times of Change” in Amman/ Jordan on November 3-4, 2007.

As part of the activities to celebrate the 20th Arab Environment Day, GRC made a presentation titled "Economic Instruments and Environmental Policy of GCC Countries" in the Faculty of Health Science, Sharjah University, on October 31, 2007. The presentation showed the important role of economic instruments in promoting better environmental practices by individuals and corporation as well as the relation between economic instruments and legislations and multilateral environmental agreements. The GRC was presented with a plaque for its participation in this event.

The GRC was invited to participate in the "Ecological Footprint-UAE" workshop organized by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi and Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS).

Delivered a lecture titled "Environmental Legislation and Environmental Policy in GCC Countries" at the American University of Sharjah for students of the School of Engineering and School of Science.

AUS excels in environment youth conference

Dynamic Alliances: Strengthening ties between GCC and Asia ,Workshop (English)

GRC Third Annual Conference :Gulf Yearbook 2005-2006   (English) (Arabic)

Green Gulf Workshop  (English)  (Arabic)

Will Oil Prices Set New Records in 2006?

Half-day Media Energy Workshop. (English) (Arabic)

Zayed University, GRC join hands to support regional research

Zayed University and the Gulf Research Center (GRC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Dubai on Saturday to collaborate in the areas of research and knowledge dissemination about the Gulf region. 

“We are very pleased to have secured this arrangement with the Gulf Research Center, which provides our faculty and students with access to some of the best ongoing research and data in the region,” said Dr. Larry Wilson, Provost of Zayed University. “Zayed University delivers innovative research to support the national development of the UAE, and working with the GRC will help us to secure our position as one of the top research universities in the Gulf region.”

The agreement provides for full access to the GRC’s research and media websites for ZU faculty and students, internships for ZU students at the GRC, developing, supporting and enhancing research projects on Gulf issues, and facilitating information exchange amongst scholars and the wider community by convening joint conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures as well as through the sharing of relevant data and databases.

GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager said: “In line with our mission of ‘knowledge for all’, the agreement aims to enhance information dissemination about the Gulf region openly and as widely as possible. This also involves interacting with and answering the needs and requirements of individuals and/or corporate organizations, including university students and academics.”

ZU faculty uses their diverse international research experience to address contemporary issues of the UAE as the nation undergoes significant economic, social and cultural change. The research emphasizes outcomes that will provide policy recommendations to the decision-makers of the UAE. ZU conducts its research in collaboration with national and international research partners, UAE government agencies and international funding agencies.

Oil Prices – Past, Present and Future

Half-day Media/Energy Sector Workshop (English) (Arabic)

The Gulf Research Center and the Arab Association for Political Science joint symposium

The Role of Centers for Research, Political and Strategic Studies in the Arab World: Challenges and Prospects   (English) (Arabic)

The Experience of Political Reform in the GCC States: Evaluation & Analysis

Joint Workshop sponsored by the Gulf Research Center (GRC) and The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (English) (Arabic) 

Book release by the Gulf Research Center (English)   (Arabic)