Middle East Dossier

In his speech, Professor Ezra F Vogel outlines the main development tracks of five East Asian nations, identifying what he believes to be the critical turning points in their modernisation, and suggests the common strategies that enabled their success.

Instead of solely relying on a university degree as a marker of success, there is a need for education systems to develop multiple pathways for progressions and achievement, argues Mr Ong Ye Kung, Singapore's education minister. Mr Ong was one of the keynote speakers on the second day of the MEI Annual Conference on 16 January 2020.

In his speech, Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, UAE's minister of state for higher education and advanced skills, examines whether the UAE, and other countries in the Middle East, can learn from East Asia, and his answer is a definitive yes. One of the biggest lessons is that of adaptability, he said, citing Singapore as an example of a nation-state that recognises when change is required and can quickly implement it.

Dr Al Falasi argues that while the UAE is blessed with natural resources, it must change and adapt to the current market demands and invest in the one thing that really matters — its human capital. And this, simply put, could be achieved with education — always, everywhere and lifelong.

The Middle East and the global security architecture are undergoing rapid transitions that will change the future of war and conflict. In the first podcast of the series, Dr Sean McFate explains his theory of the world returning to a state of "durable disorder" and how private actors and mercenaries are replacing uniformed soldiers on the ground.

How has the oil price war and demand slump as a result of Covid-19 affected the global economy? In this lecture, Dr John Sfakianakis and Professor Giacomo Luciani explore the economic implications for the Gulf economies in the aftermath of the crises.  

In this second podcast, Mr Jamie Williamson, Executive Director of International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA), joins us to examine the role of the ICoCA in promoting transparency and accountability for the private security sector.

How has Saudi Arabia campaigned to propagate its brand of ultraconservative Islam worldwide after becoming oil-rich in the 20th century. In this lecture, journalist Krithika Varagur explores the Kingdom’s influence across the breadth of the Muslim World, from Nigeria to Indonesia to Kosovo.

How do complex geopolitical dynamics play out in the world’s oceans, which are theatres not under the sovereign control of any one actor but of great strategic importance to many? In this talk, MEI Chairman Mr Bilahari Kausikan, RSIS Research Fellow Dr Collin Koh and MEI Visiting Research Professor Dr Abdullah Baabood discuss security and maritime conflicts in the South China Sea, the Persian Gulf and beyond.

Travelling by land is the best way to develop a deeper understanding of the differences between cultures and languages due to the richness of personal interactions, said Ms Juvena Huang who travelled solo on a motorbike around Asia and the Middle East.

Listen to our panel of seven speakers dissect and unpack the rationale and motives behind the UAE’s foreign policy moves, and why it is becoming the centre of attention regionally and internationally.