US still ultimate ‘offshore balancer’ in the Gulf
Posted: 10/12/2012 Filed under: Defence, Gulf and Middle East Security, Manama Voices, US | Tags: Bahrain, GCC, international relations theory, Iran, US, US pivot to Asia, Young Strategists Leave a comment »
General James Mattis, Commander of US Central Command, at the Manama Dialogue 2012
In this latest post by one of the ‘Young Strategists’ attending the Manama Dialogue, Jean-Loup Samaan, a researcher for the NATO Defense College, looks at US engagement in the Gulf through the prism of a Cold War concept.
Although Syria was undoubtedly the biggest issue on the agenda of the 2012 Manama Dialogue, another one was in the air: the seeming erosion of US leadership in international affairs in general and in the Gulf in particular.
Day 1 at Manama: view from the floor
Posted: 09/12/2012 Filed under: Gulf and Middle East Security, Manama Voices, US | Tags: Charles Ruppersberger, John McCain, Middle East, US foreign policy, William Burns, Young Strategists 1 Comment »
Every year, the IISS invites nominees from the next generation of strategists to attend the Manama Dialogue as part of its ‘Young Strategists Programme’. Here, one of this year’s Young Strategists – Alexander Vysotsky, Senior Secretary in the Office of the Mayor of Moscow – reflects on his highlight from Saturday in Manama:
‘I’m in the process of preparing a PhD thesis on Democratisation as an element of the US policy in the Middle East in 2001-2008, so I was especially looking forward to Saturday’s Plenary Session on “The US and the Region”.’
Taking part in the session were Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, former presidential candidate John McCain and Charles ‘Dutch’ Ruppersberger, who is the senior Democrat member of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
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