DOHA: The 6th Doha Forum for Policies and Strategies stressed the importance for major powers to exert their influence in the region and put pressure on the siege countries to end the current Gulf crisis that harmed the interests of all, to ensure the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is collapsing under the influence of the continuation of this crisis and its painful social and humanitarian consequences.
The sixth Doha Forum emphasized in its the final statement, which was read out by Director of the Directorate of International Studies and Chairman of the Forum’s Preparation Committee, Bridger (Pilot) Rashid Hamad Al Naimi, the need to pay attention to changes in the map of political and economic relations between the Gulf States and their reflections on the map of regional and international alliances in the Middle East, especially as the strategic equations change cautiously.
The statement called on the educated elite in the Gulf countries to play a positive role in preventing the negative impact of the Gulf crisis on popular mentality and to protect communication between relatives. In another context, the statement stressed the need to preserve the legal and religious status of Jerusalem and to confront attempts to its Judaization as well as ending any differences that would distract efforts and the need to support the besieged Palestinian people. It also called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to end the painful and escalating conflicts in the Middle East.
The statement considered political and cultural elites and research centres responsible for the social analysis of conflicts and finding ways to restore the values of coexistence between different peoples in areas of civil conflict. The statement said that military institutions must respond to the new challenges of regular armies such as urban wars, militia fighting, drone wars and cyber warfare.
It stressed the urgent need to develop new technologies and the establishment of specialized departments in the security and military institutions to deal with so-called directed electronic armies, which has become a danger to communities, especially young people.
At the end of the forum, Commander of the Strategic Studies Center at the Ministry of Defense, Maj. General Dr. Hamad Mohammed Al Marri praised the positive contributions made by the participants in the forum, which included presenting ideas, analyzes and discussions, which adequately and satisfactorily covered most of the questions that were in everyone’s minds.
He pointed out that the forum was an ideal platform in which participants made valuable discussions, rich in analysis and the futuristic visions on the issues raised through the forum’s various sessions. He added that the participation of representatives of important research centres and institutions in the area of policy making and analysis was a great enrichment for the sixth edition of the Forum, which organisers were keen on involving participants of high levels of expertise, knowledge and relation to the topics discussed.
Commander of the Strategic Studies Center at the Ministry of Defence expressed the hope that the areas of cooperation between the State of Qatar and the countries participating in the Forum will be extended to other levels, especially as the State of Qatar believes in the importance of integration and cooperation in the field of scientific research in general and in the field of strategic studies in particular.
The Sixth Doha Forum for Policies and Strategies was held under the patronage of HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, under the title “The Middle East: Reality and Challenges” and with the participation of a group of specialists, experts, policy makers and analysts from all over the world.
