Doha: Qatar University (QU) and the Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB) hosted a one-day workshop with international experts, examining the relations of Iran and Saudi Arabia with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The roundtable seminar titled “Exploring Iran and Saudi Arabia’s interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Stakeholders or spoilers – a zero-sum game?,” was co-hosted by the Gulf Studies programme at the College of Arts & Sciences. The seminar looked into CIDOB’s policy research project entitled “Sources of Tension in Afghanistan and Pakistan: A Regional Perspective”.
The CIDOB project explores the main sources of tension in Afghanistan and Pakistan, against the backdrop of the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan, and regional actors’ roles in relation to these. It maps their interests; produces specific policy analysis useful for UN, EU and European government stakeholders, as well as Afghan and Pakistani policymakers; and clarifies the type of regional, comprehensive approach required of the international community in this strategic region.
One of a series of meetings being held this year on the issue, the QU seminar focused on Iranian and Saudi Arabian perspectives on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and how these play out, given the role of ideology, national and foreign policy aims and geo-strategic considerations in Iranian and Saudi Arabian strategic policy in the region. “The seminar was a great opportunity to get together some of the best minds in the region to have a frank and informative discussion on these important issues,” Gulf Studies Director Dr Abdullah Baabood said.
Senior Research Fellow Associate at CIDOB and Director for the CIDOB project Emma Hooper said: “This was an excellent and most informative round table seminar, with a strong profiling of local perspectives and a wide-ranging exchange of views.”
The Peninsula
