Arab Strategy Forum to explore global geopolitical landscape
Series of high-profile panels and discussions planned
Dubai: Dubai is all set to host the 12th edition of the annual Arab Strategy Forum (ASF 2019) at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre, on Monday.
To be held under the patronage of Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
the event will run under the theme ‘Forecasting the Next Decade 2020-2030’. A series of panels and Q&A sessions with some of the world’s leading personalities on the political and economic stage, including former US Vice President Dick Cheney and former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, will examine the world’s geopolitical landscape in the 10 years ahead.
Within the context of current socio-political tensions, conflicts and issues, the forum will analyse their likely consequences to forecast what the world will look like by 2030 with the aim of charting a roadmap for today’s and tomorrow’s leaders in their preparations to achieve lasting stability, peace and harmony. The agenda reaffirms Dubai’s position as a pioneer in convening the globe’s prominent decision-makers to engage in meaningful dialogues that will shape the world that future generations inhabit.
ASF 2019 will also release three reports offering insights into the future: ‘The World in 2030 – Trends, Transformations, Opportunities and Challenges’, ‘11 Questions for the Next Decade’, and ‘Mosque & State: How Arabs See the Next 10 Years’.
Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, President of the Arab Strategic Forum, said: “With its future-focused approach, ASF continues to consolidate its reputation as a global open platform for the exchange of ideas and visions among elite thinkers, experts and prospective global leaders. Through an annual scrutiny of the region and the world at large in the next decade, the Forum is a valuable resource that gains momentum year on year given the dynamic global geopolitical transformations we continue to witness.”
He added: “The forum provides information and recommendations related to the future of economy and politics from the world’s leading experts to support decision makers in learning and building realistic action plans and flexible strategies to overcome challenges and turn them into opportunities.”
Packed agenda
ASF 2019 will include six panel discussions and two lectures. In a session entitled ‘Top 5 Risks – 2020’, Nick Allan, CEO of Control Risks, will discuss global political and security risks that 2020 may bring to help public and private sector institutions identify major economic and political developments.
In the following lecture, titled ‘The World in 2030’, Sean Cleary, Executive Vice-Chairman of FutureWorld Foundation, will share insights on the major transformations, developments and trends likely to emerge at the political, economic and social levels over the next decade.
Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, will moderate a session titled ‘The Future of Islamism in the Next Decade’. Omar Saif Ghobash, Assistant Minister for Cultural Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and author of Letters to a Young Muslim, and Ed Husain, founder of Quilliam and author of The Islamist, will discuss the expectations of political Islam over the next 10 years.
World economy
The next session, moderated by CNBC News Anchor Hadley Gamble and titled ‘Is the World Heading Towards a Global Economic Recession?’, will host global economist Dr Vikram Mansharamani, Lecturer at Harvard University and author of Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst. He will analyse the prospects of a global economic recession at the onset of the new decade, where it will break out, which countries will be affected and how.
A panel discussion titled ‘Economic Transformations in the Arab Region in the Next Decade’ will explore the progress of Arab economies under new visions, the role of oil and gas in the region’s future in light of global energy trends, as well as the future of unemployment and indebtedness in the region and their impact on political stability.
Dubai TV presenter Zeina Soufan will moderate the session. Panelists will include Dr Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, Director General and Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, Alain Bejjani, Member of the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council, Dr Abdulmonem Said, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies and the international oil economist Dr Mamdouh Salameh, Professor of Energy Economics at the ESCP Europe Business School in London.
CNN’s Becky Anderson will moderate a panel discussion titled ‘The Race for Relevance and Influence in the Region: GCC, Iran, Turkey & Russia’. The panel will comprise Dr Abdulaziz Bin Sager, Founder and Chairman of the Gulf Research Centre, Dr Elena Suponina, Advisor at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, Karim Sadjadpour, chief Iran expert and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Professor Dr Hüseyin Bağcı, Professor and Chair of International Relations Department at M.E.T.U and Deputy Director of Foreign Policy Institute in Ankara.
His Excellency Fouad Siniora, former Prime Minister of Lebanon, and Dr Marwan Muasher, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan, will jointly host a session titled ‘The Future of the Arab Region 2030’.
Former US Vice President Dick Cheney and former Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will headline a session titled ‘The Global Order 2030: China and the United States’. Together, they will address the place of the US in the future world order, the vision and motives of China’s foreign policy over the next 10 years, and the roles of the two superpowers in the Arab region over the next decade.