All Programs & Projects

I. Project Overview and Objectives

The Gulf Research Center Foundation (GRCF) with CARPO - Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient have partnered up to implement the project "Tafahum wa Tabadul - Enhancing Multi-Track Dialogue and Cooperation in West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula*". The aim is to generate further understanding (tafahum) among regional stakeholders and to foster cooperation (tabadul) on common interests in the region. The project started in December 2021 and is designed as a 3-year initiative. It is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and builds on the results of the Tafahum project, which was implemented between 2018-2021. 

II. Project Activities 

Officials on the political level (track 1/1.5) will be engaged with the aim of generating a political climate that is more conducive to regional cooperation and to develop a regional 'Tafahum for Peaceful Coexistence'. Stakeholders on the experts level (track 2) will include economists, environmental scientists and health specialists who will be brought together to collectively examine the energy-climate-health nexus - concept that entails economic and ecologic sustainability, as well as regional health resilience. On the societal level (track 3), GRCF and CARPO aim to foster people-to-people mobility in the regional through exchange activities in the fields of academia and civic education. With its multi-track approach, this project engages policymakers, economic and scientific circles, as well as civil society in all target countries. While each track will be engaged separately, links and fora for interaction and engagement between them will be established, as both their interdependence and need for interconnectivity is viewed relevant and essential. 

 *West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula (WAAP) encapsulates a sub-region of the Middle East that subsumed the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait) plus Yemen, Iraq and Iran. 

The Gulf Research Center Foundation is pleased to announce the cooperation with the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) on the Tafahum Project dedicated to generating an “understanding” (Tafahum) on a joined process towards regional security in West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

I. Project Overview and Objectives

Tafahum was launched in September 2018 and is designed as a 3-year project. It pursues the overall objective of developing a roadmap for regional security in West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula – a region that includes the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iran, Iraq and Yemen. The project aims to generate an overall “understanding” (or tafahum) among regional stakeholders on a joined process towards regional security in West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. This project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by CARPO – Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient and the Gulf Research Center Foundation.

II. Project Activities

In the course of this project, multiple workshops, dialogue fora and publications will pave the way to constructing ideational pillars for an overall agreement of how to define a regional security process.

Activities are held at three levels. On the first level, security experts from the main regional and extra-regional stakeholders are brought together in conceptional framework discussion to outline negotiable and non-negotiable security interests. These meetings have been held in Vienna in December 2018 and virtually in December 2020. 

Second, five working groups have been assembled to bring together experts from the GCC states, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Europe and elsewhere. The groups are work along the following themes: 

1) Trade and Energy; 2) Environmental Issues and Climate Change; 3) Security Sector Reform and Counter Terrorism; 4) Media Narratives and Discursive Integration; and 5) Reconstruction Efforts in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. 

The following working groups have been held in the project: 

• Working Group 2 – Environmental Issues and Climate Change – CARPO Offices, Bonn, Germany, March 2019

• Working Group 1 – Regional Economic Development and Energy Issues – Tiblisi, Georgia, April 2019

• Working Group 5: Reconstruction efforts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq – in cooperation with Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the Institute for Global Studies, Rome Italy, April 2019 

• Working Group 4 – Media Narratives and Discursive Integration: – CARPO Offices, Bonn, Germany, June 2019

• Working Group 3 – Counter-Terrorism and Security Sector Reform – in cooperation with the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations, Brussels, Belgium, July 2019

• Working Group 4 – Media Narratives and Discursive Integration: Enhancing Media Literacy and Creating a Regional Media ‘Comfort Zone’ – CARPO Offices, Bonn, Germany, October 2019

• Working Group 3 – Counter-Terrorism and Security Sector Reform: Constructing a Regional Security Paradigm and Enhancing Parameters for Engagement – in cooperation with Clingendael, Netherlands Institute for International Relations, The Hague, Netherlands, December 2019

• Working Group 5: Reconstruction efforts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq: Developing a ‘Regional Stability Paradigm’ and Enhancing Post-Conflict Reconciliation – in cooperation with Casa Arabe, Cordoba, Spain February 2020

• Working Group 2- Reassessing Environmental Challenges in Times of Corona: Health Issues and Water Security – Hybrid Meeting, CARPO Offices, Bonn, Germany, September 2020

• Working Group 1 – Trade and Energy Cooperation: From Shared Challenges to Joint Ventures – How the Energy Market and Entrepreneurial Initiatives have been impacted by and emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic – Hybrid Meeting, Bonn, Germany, October 2020 

• Working Group 4 - Media Narratives and Discursive Integration: Developing a Web-based Exchange Platform and a Code of Conduct for Media Professionals – Virtual Meeting, March 2021

• Working Group 3 – Counter-Terrorism and Security Sector Reform: Promoting the Involvement of Women in Security-related Roles – Virtual Meeting, May 2021

• Working Group 2 and Working Group 1 – Joint Workshop: Towards a Green Recovery and Sustainable Cooperation – Hybrid Meeting, CARPO Offices, June 2021

• Working Group 5: Reconstruction efforts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq (scheduled for August 2021) 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, additional virtual roundtables to look into the wider regional impact of the pandemic were also held in May, June and July 2020. 

Third, the project holds annual conference in which the stakeholders from the different working groups are brought together to discuss how dialogue, cooperation and coordination can be brought about from a cross-sectoral perspective. The first annual conference was held in Berlin, Germany in September 2019 while the second was held virtually in December 2020. The third and final conference is scheduled for September 2021.

All results produced in the working groups will lay over a three-year period the basis for the articulation of a roadmap to regional security in West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula.

Policy Brief – An Ideational Fundament on which to Build a Security Roadmap for West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula

By Christian Koch and Adnan Tabatabai

This brief discusses the need to construct ideational pillars for a tafahum, or common understanding, of how to define a process towards regional integration and shared security architecture for West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula (WAAP)

view policy brief in English and Arabic

Tafahum team members profile

Funding Organization
The International Migration Initiative (IMI) of the Open Societies Foundation (OSF). Co-funding by the Gulf research Center (GRC) and the Migration Policy Centre (MPC) at the European University Institute (EUI).

Framework
The Project is implemented by the GRC and the MPC/EUI in the framework of their joint “Gulf Labour Market and Migration (GLMM) programme”

Direction
The Project is directed by Philippe Fargues (MPC/EUI) and Nasra Shah (Kuwait University) and coordinated by Imco Brouwer (GRC).

Description
This pilot project focuses in the first place on collecting, assessing, and analyzing legal data concerning migration in Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia and demographic and economic data concerning migration in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

This will be done by national and non-national experts based in the countries of focus as well as international experts. The data and analyses will be made publicly available through a website. Short analyses and policy papers will be produced. The results will be shared with GCC policymakers, human rights organizations, organizations that represent migrants, as well as with stakeholders in countries of origin.

This pilot project aims at demonstrating the enormous importance and potential of systematically collecting, analyzing and publishing of data in order to improve the understanding of migration in these countries and provide indispensible tools for all stakeholders to improve policies and migrants’ conditions.
The proponents aim at extending their efforts to all six GCC countries and to complement their work with similar efforts for the major countries of origin of the GCC migrants and are in the process of preparing proposals for submission to other funding agencies.

The outcomes of the project include the use of the data and analyses, both in terms of website visits, database interrogations and download and, to a more limited extent, the use of the data and analyses by stakeholders in statements, publications, policy proposals, and the use of data and analysis by the research community. Being this a pilot project (which explains its limited size and one year duration, it will first and foremost show its relevance.

Funding Organization: European Commission

Consortium Partners: Gulf Research Center (GRC ), Fundacion para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Dialogo Exterior (FRIDE), Institute for European Studies (IES), Free University of Brussels, Environmental Policy Unit of the National Technical University of Athens (EPU-NTUA)

Description:

“Promoting Deeper EU-GCC Relations” is a project in the framework of the Public Diplomacy and Outreach devoted to the European Union and EU-GCC Relations programme. It aims to reinforce cooperation between EU and GCC countries in a number of key strategic areas of mutual interest. The project contains two main areas of activities. Firstly a training part aiming to raise public awareness and understanding of the EU among the GCC society. Secondly, a series of workshops aiming to provide the framework for reflection and debate about EU-GCC relations. These actions are leading to information production which is disseminated as publications and on a devoted website platform.

A training session is held once a year in Brussels, the first one gathering GCC academics and focusing on European Studies at GCC universities and the second one gathering GCC youth focusing on a critically important sector of society in the Arab Gulf countries.

Up to six expert workshops are planned on key areas of potential cooperation between the EU and the GCC, dealing with topics such as enhancing cooperation in higher education, renewable energy, understanding political transformation in the Middle East and its relevance for EU-GCC relations, establishing a foreign policy dialogue; and the future of GCC integration.

Preliminary Schedule:

September 2012 First Training Module for GCC Academics (Brussels)

2013 (dates and place to be confirmed) Workshop on EU-GCC Higher Education Cooperation

March 3 to 4, 2013 Workshop on Political Transformation (Kuwait)

April 28 to 30, 2013 Workshop on Foreign Policy Dialogue (Qatar)

September 2013 Second Training Module for GCC Youth (Brussels)

2013 (dates and place to be confirmed) Workshop on GCC integration and the EU experience

December 2013 Workshop on Cooperation and Renewable Energies (UAE)

The Gulf Research Center Foundation has been selected as part of an Associated Stakeholder Network in the framework of the INFOCORE project.

INFOCORE is an international collaborative research projectaiming to investigate the role of media in the emergence or prevention, the escalation or de-escalation, the management, resolution and reconciliation of violent conflict. It is composed of nine leading research institutions from seven countries providing the knowledge of leading experts in all social sciences. INFOCORE’s focus on conflict coverage mainly concentrates on three conflict areas: the Middle East, the West Balkans, and the African Great Lakes area. By analyzingthe dynamics of these conflicts' news content over time, INFOCORE will assess the roles of media for shaping conflict perceptions and responses to ongoing conflicts.

The INFOCORE project receives funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for Research,Technological Development and Demonstration. It officially started on January 1st, 2014 and invites the collaboration by interested researchers and practitioners during and beyond the project duration. INFOCORE's findings and selected data will be accessible to all public, under the website http://www.infocore.eu.

The role of the Gulf Research Center in this project will be as an element of the INFOCORE dissemination network. We will therefore be able to disseminate information to our networks about the topic of coverage of conflicts in media by alerting our followers on INFOCORE's findings and publications which can be of interest for them. This information willof course be visible on our GCR website, but also on our various social media webpages and on our EU funded program's website "Promoting Deeper EU-GCC Relations" ( http://eu-gcc.kcorp.net).

The project consists of four main components. First to create a network of GCC and EU entities including universities, research institutes, industries and utilities, to support and work on topics of mutual interest in the area of clean energy. Second, to operate and develop the activities of the network including capacity building events and joint research activities. Third, to disseminate information and advice for an increased knowledge among GCC on EU policies in the area of clean energy, and the promotion of joint demonstration projects being mutually implemented in this area. Fourth, to set-up a sustainability strategy for the established network to continue legally and financially.

Gulf Research Center and the Ministry of External Affairs of India have joined forces for an eighteen month joint research project on ‘GCC-India Relations’. The primary objective of the study is to assess the current trends and patterns of GCC-India relations from economic, political, security, educational, cultural, environmental and international political economic perspectives; and projecting a near and medium term horizon for deepening multifaceted relations. Particular emphasis would be given to identify the potentials as well as challenges to visualize a future trajectory in order to devise enabling policy regimes. The broad themes to be covered in the study can be identified as follows:

• Economic Relations: Trade, Investment and Labor Supply
• Political Relations in terms of the changing Geopolitical Spectrum and Foreign Relations
• Security and Strategic Aspects including
• Energy and Environment
• Social and Cultural issues such as education ties, the social implications of the large Indian presence in the Gulf and the need for a new public diplomacy strategy to enhance understanding and build people-to-people contact.

The project output will focus on the medium (5-year) and long-term (10-year) scenario for GCC-India relations and will work out policy recommendations to be implemented to take advantage of the scenarios as laid out. Within the project framework, there will be several workshops in both the GCC states and India

The following is the composition of the relevant composition of the teams:

The GCC Team

Mr. Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman, Gulf Research Center

Prof. Abdel Karim Al Dekhyel, Professor of Administrative Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Dr. Mustafa Alani, Senior Advisor & Research Program Director, Security & Terrorism Studies Program, Gulf Research Center

Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh, Vice-Rector, King Saud University; Dean of the King Abdullah Research and Studies Institute, King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Dr. Christian Koch, Director for International Relations, Gulf Research Center (Project Director)

Dr. Abdullah Al-Shayeji, Associate Prof. of Int’l Relations and US Politics, Kuwait University

Dr. Eckart Woertz, GCC-Economic Program Manager, Gulf Research Center

Prof. Baqar Al Najjar, Professor of Sociology, Bahrain University, Bahrain

Prof. Baqar Al Najjar, Professor of Sociology, Bahrain University, Bahrain

Prof. Isam Al-Rawas, Dean of the Art and Social Sciences College, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman

Dr. Samir Pradhan, Senior Researcher - GCC Economics and Gulf-Asia Program, Gulf Research Center

Dr. Fatima Al-Shamsi, Secretary-General, UAE University

Prof. Giacomo Luciani, Director, Gulf Research Center Foundation, Geneva

Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud, Director, Center for Strategic Studies, Ministry of Defense, Qatar

Dr. Mohammed Aly Raouf, Program Manager – Gulf Environment Research Program, Gulf Research Center

The Indian Team:

Ambassador Ranjit Gupta, Project Director

Mr. Kapil Kaul, Deputy Director, National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), New Delhi, India

Prof. Girijesh Pant, Vice Chancellor, Doon University, Dehra Dun, India; Former Director of the Gulf Studies Centre at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Prof. Zikrur Rahman, Director, Indo-Arab Cultural Centre and Officiating Director, Centre for West Asian Studies, Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi, India

Prof. A K Pasha, Director, Gulf Studies Programme, Centre for West Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Dr. Prasant Pradhan, Associate Fellow, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, India

Violent Non-State Actors in Contemporary World Politics - a volume edited by Dr. Klejda Mulaj - has as its overarching theme the relations of violent non-state actors (VNSAs) with the state. In exploring the correlation between VNSAs and the environment that creates and nurtures them, this project seeks to unravel conditions which give rise to violent non-state actors and afterwards sustain them with a view to identifying suitable policy responses.

Violent non-state actors are non-state armed groups that resort to organized violence as a tool to achieve their goals. Whereas non-violent actors have received extensive attention in the literature, violent non-state actors have only recently attracted sustained interest. Yet, given that our era is being defined by a US-led war on terrorism, the understanding of violent non-state actors (some of which are targets of the said war) is crucial in order to ensure that sound policy responses are devised and implemented.

The Al-Jisr project’s main objective is threefold. Firstly, it aims to enhance public and well as professional knowledge and understanding of the European Union, its policies and institutions, among GCC citizens. Secondly, it strives to strengthen reflection and debate about EU-GCC relations and contribute to the future of policy-making between the two regions. Finally, closer links between the EU and the GCC will be ensured through the dissemination of information on the EU.

The project consists of five main components which will tackle the question of the promotion of GCC-EU relations to its fullest by addressing all aspects possible from training, debating, research, translating and dissemination.

The Gulf Research Center conducts a feasibility study on the further development of sustainable economic development of three regions, i.e., Rabigh, Al Qunfudah, and Al Leith regions in the Makkah Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The major focus of the study is on agricultural development and cluster-based economic and industrial growth. Specific attention is being paid to infrastructural requirements as a framework for sustainable development of backward regions. It is believed that, while, on the one hand, the booming Saudi industrial economy sets the opportunities and limitations for the local community in these regions, the cities are themselves facing significant challenges for further growth on the other hand. Therefore, it is pertinent to strive for holistic development strategies in order to integrate the backward regions with mainstream national development plans and simultaneously address the imminent challenges facing the major cities.

The “Politics of Tribalism in post-Saddam Iraq” Project main objective is manifold. It aims to enhance professional knowledge and fill an important gap in the existing Iraq literature. While the Influence of the transformation of tribes in the political processes and political parties in Iraq is acknowledged only lukewarm research has been undertaken with reference to the dynamics of such influence. Given the composition of the current Iraqi parliament, tribal affiliation and loyalty is currently not visible as factor in decision making process. On the other Hand the question of insurgency and counter – insurgency is perceived but still little attention is paid to the issue of the sectarian dimension of violence. The major political blocks in the parliament are based on sectarian and ethnic identity including Sunni and Shia division and Arab-Kurdish identities. These same identities prevent the tribal structure and identitys from emerging as a factor of political power.

The project consists of two main components which will tackle the Question of political pluralism, the role of the civil society organizations and the relationship between the state and the society, particularly where the state is a totalitarian one, and where the society is divided within itself.

The Gulf security environment is a sensitive one. Major conflicts have taken place in the region over the past two decades, tensions exist over suspected proliferation initiatives and the region remains the primary source of energy for much of the world. Though many analysts look at events within and between the countries of the region, there is also a critical maritime dimension to Gulf security. The region, indeed, can be characterized as one in which maritime events play a – if not the – critical role in overall stability.

In addition to the indigenous navies of the region, several extra-regional navies operate there routinely – most notably the U.S. Navy, which maintains a Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain. The British and French Navies maintain a continuous presence, and others operate in the region frequently in support of UN and other mandates.

But it is not just the volume of naval and general maritime activity which poses the danger. It is the twin facts that: a) the bulk of the world’s vital supply of crude oil moves through narrow straits in the region; and b) that considerable antagonism exists between one regional state (Iran) and several others which are maritime powers in the region, including the U.S. Added to this, the waterway is a vital lifeline for the countries of the region, as there is no rail or road transportation network of any significance.

The Gulf Research Center is the Middle East regional focal point for the Global Trade Alert Project. Global Trade Alert provides real-time information on state measures taken during the current global downturn that are likely to affect foreign commerce. It goes beyond other monitoring initiatives by identifying the trading partners likely to be harmed by these measures. For more details, browse

http://www.globaltradealert.org/about