IISS 2008 Regional Security Summit Press Coverage
- 13 Dec 2008 - - Wall St Journal - Gates Talk Suggests Relations With Iran to Remain Tense
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has long advocated diplomatic engagement with Iran, an idea that is also a top priority of the incoming Obama administration.
But a high-profile security summit here is offering a vivid reminder of how hard it will be for the U.S. and Iran to move past their mutual mistrust.
- 13 Dec 2008 - - Reuters - Gates warns enemies not to test Obama
Gates also said the United States would stay deeply involved in the Middle East and the Gulf under Barack Obama's administration.
"I can assure you that a change in administration does not alter our fundamental interests, especially in the Middle East," he told a regional security conference in Bahrain.
- 13 Dec 2008 - - New York Times - Gates Warns Against ‘Testing’ Obama
Mr. Gates, speaking at a conference on regional security here, said that Mr. Obama and his advisers had done more extensive planning across the government for the transition than at any time he could remember and asserted that they would therefore be prepared from day one. Mr. Gates, who is staying on as Defense secretary, has worked for seven presidents. Mr. Obama will be his eighth.
- 13 Dec 2008 - - Kuwaiti News Agency - Gulf's security vital for global stability -- Kuwaiti diplomat
Iraq should be embraced into the Arab fold and included in organisations such as the Gulf Co-operation Council, a move that will help to limit Iranian influence, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said at a regional security summit today.
Speaking at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, which has drawn policy makers from more than 20 governments, the defence secretary said that it is in the strategic interest of all to support Iraq’s new government, especially when it came to limiting “meddling” from Ira
- 12 Dec 2008 - Gulf Daily News - World leaders to attend key forum
SOME of the most powerful and influential people in the world will converge on Bahrain today for the start of a major security conference.
Prime ministers, national security advisers, intelligence chiefs and military officials from across the globe will attend the fifth annual Manama Dialogue, at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa.
- 12 Dec 2008 - - United Press International - War at sea swells to new heights
The IISS, one of the world's leading think tanks on intelligence, security and conflict, is holding the fifth Manama Dialogue meeting in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, Dec. 12-14. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Naval fleet operating in the area of the Persian Gulf. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is scheduled to lead an important delegation to the 2008 edition of the Manama Dialogue.
