The Great Rivalry series examines the evolution of geopolitics in the wider Middle East. High-level scholars and policy-makers gather in Rome, annually, to provide multilayered analyses for the multidimensional dynamics at play so sense can be made and policies adjusted to suit unfolding realities. The 2018 chapter gravitates around the question of how the security and defence configuration has changed in conjunction with the revised power-positions of local, regional and international actors involved in the unfolding rivalry. Perspectives from NATO, the US, UK, Russia, the EU and Italy’s very niche involvement will be provided together with a regional perspective to paint a more complete picture.

Programme

 

09:45h  —   Registration

 

10:00h  —   Welcome Remarks

                  Dr. Paolo Messa (Director of the Center for American Studies)

 

10:15h   —   Keynote Speech

                  Col. Filippo Bonsignore (Director of the Middle East Faculty, NATO Defence College)

 

10:30h  —    Moderated Interventions

 

                  Prof. David Des Roches (Senior Military Fellow, National Defense University)

 

                  MEP David Campbell Bannerman (Member of the European Parliament, Chair of the Iraq Delegation)

                  

                  Hon. Vincenzo Amendola (Undersecretary of State of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy)

 

                  Dr. Gumer Isaev (Head of the Center for the Contemporary Middle East Studies, Saint Petersburg)
 

          Dr. Ashraf Kishk (Head of the Strategic Studies Program Bahrain Center for Strategic, International &                 Energy Studies)

                

 

12:00h —      Closing Remarks

                   Dr. Mitchell Belfer (President of the Euro-Gulf Information Centre)

 

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