Recently, the Saudi capital, Riyadh, hosted a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council leaders. In the meeting, there were serious discussions about forging closer relations among the GCC member states. The GCC members were looking for political integration to counter the many challenges in the area. The meeting came at a time when all political, economic and intelligence observers were focusing their analyses on the GCC member states.
This week SUSRIS provided the six panel presentations from the “Gulf Cooperation Council at 31: Implications of Trends and Indications for GCC and US Interests,” a symposium presented n Washington, DC, on May 24th by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. The half-day panel presentations touched on a wide range of topics and challenges on the minds of GCC and American leaders. We conclude this series with the transcript from the question and answer session moderated by Dr. John Duke Anthony, President of the National Council. The panelists included Ms. Molly Williamson, former senior official in the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State and Energy; Dr. Odeh Aburdene, President OAI Advisors and authority on international monetary issues; Ms. Randa Hudome, former Energy Department Associate Deputy Secretary; Mr. Joshua Yaphe, State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research; Mr. Andrew Rabens, State Department Bureau of Near East Affairs; and Dr. Robert Sharp, Defense Department Near East and South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. SUSRIS thanks the NCUSAR for organizing timely and insightful sessions such as this to share the perspectives of knowledgeable officials and specialists.
