Manama: The issue of countering extremism in the Middle East will figure high on the agenda of the Manama Dialogue, a security conference to be held in the Bahrain capital this weekend.
The conference has been held since 2004 and addresses mainly security issues related to the Gulf and to the wider region.
Amid the latest developments in the region, security is expected to be given greater attention than in the previous years at the event organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Issues likely to figure prominently during deliberations at the three-day event include regional security priorities for the US, strategic priorities in the Middle East and Iraq, Syria and regional security.
Simultaneous special sessions will also see delegates discussing the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group of global powers, humanitarian and geopolitical approaches to prevent state failure and regional military cooperation.
Collective approaches to current security issues will be reviewed at the fifth plenary session of the Manama Dialogue.
The inter-governmental summit seen as “a crucial pillar of the regional security architecture”, provides a platform for national security leaders from the Gulf, wider Middle East, North America, Europe and Asia to consult on key security and foreign policy challenges facing the region.
On May 14, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and US defence ministers held a landmark meeting, the first in six years. The meeting was proposed by former US secretary of defence Chuck Hagel at the 2013 Manama Dialogue.
“As I said at the Manama Dialogue last December, America’s engagement with Gulf nations is intended to support and facilitate, not replace, stronger multilateral ties within the GCC,” Hagel had said at the meeting in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
