Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
It is a great pleasure to join my dear brothers His Excellency Dr. Manouchehr Mottaki, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and His Excellency Professor Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey, in this Plenary Session on Regional Security Cooperation. This year further consolidates the Manama Dialogue as being one of the most important security forum in the world scene, a development which would certainly not have been possible without the support and commitment of my dear friends Dr. John Chipman, Director-General and Chief Executive; Professor François Heisbourg, Chairman; and the rest of the IISS team.
The Gulf is one of the most important and strategically-vital regions in the world, yet is one infused with many challenges, and one in which intra-regional linkages are so important to the balance of security - a recognition which underpins the basic rationale for the establishment of the GCC, of which we are a proud member. The GCC is both a continuation of old prevailing realities, and a practical response to the security and economic challenges in the region.
It is within this context that our key foreign policy priority lies: our commitment to the GCC, and moving it forward from strength to strength. Our relationship with our allies, and our determination to explore ways to further consolidate our partnerships with them is another key priority, as is fulfilling our duty as an active, reasonable, responsible player in the international arena.
Today, these priorities are exercised in tandem (and at times pushed to the limits) when dealing with issues such as the situation in Yemen, piracy, the Iranian nuclear file, the rise of extremism, the challenges in Iraq, human trafficking and demographics to name but a few.
Dear Friends,
Among these challenges, the most immediate is the economic and security issues facing Yemen. This challenge is one which is the responsibility of the international community at large but in particular the GCC, given that we share borders with Yemen and as Secretary Clinton stated in her remarks at the opening dinner last night, it would be helpful for the GCC to use its outreach and resources to assist Yemen. All of us must support the unity and stability of such an important neighbour. We simply cannot afford to have it succumb to extremism and continued unrest. The Friends of Yemen is an important platform to galvanize political will and take stock of the progress made. We last met on a Ministerial level in September in New York, where UK Foreign Secretary William Hague took on a leading role in the discussions, and I look forward to the upcoming Ministerial meeting next February in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to consolidate and streamline our efforts with the Government of Yemen.
A further key challenge in our neighbourhood is that of piracy. Naval forces from more than 20 countries, including Bahrain, have been deployed; the United Nations has established a contact group that meets regularly; and private security contractors have offered their services to ships traversing areas off the Somali coast. We need to redouble the efforts and urgency dedicated to this matter, so as to deter pirates from going to sea, reduce their chances of successfully seizing a vessel, and detaining them if they attempt any seizure. We also need to identify and prosecute the various criminal associations that finance pirate gangs, and who reap the benefits of their activities.
Another significant challenge is the Iranian Nuclear File. We have good relations with our neighbour across the Gulf, and in fact I was in Tehran only last month. Iran is an important player in the region and its prosperity will only add to that of the region. We reiterate its right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as well as the right of anyone else, including our nascent program in the GCC, and reaffirm the importance of transparency in the process. The P5+1 will meet with Iran next week and this is a real window for relieving this area from a cause of such tension and instability.
What lies at the very heart of the issue, is not so much that engagement or sanctions are the wrong approach, rather that neither side's proposal is acceptable to the other. More simplistically, there are diametrically differing views on the issue that uranium enrichment capability can be adapted to develop nuclear weapon material. "Enrichment" is the key word here, and this is what should be addressed. An idea worth considering is the development of an international civilian nuclear-fuel bank, proposed by the United States, that is supervised by the IAEA could be an important step forward in negotiating a solution. It can also address Iran’s concerns about security of fuel supply, serve as a first step towards efforts to prevent the abuse of nuclear-fuel-cycle technology, and could help realize a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East.
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What I would like to do now is to focus on the underlying connectionsbetween the internal and external challenges and threats, and the necessity of incorporating Gulf security within a broad comprehensive regional picture.
In today’s interconnected world, traditional narrow approaches to security need to shift from national towards regional and international viewpoints. The globalisation of markets and free flows of capital, information, and to some extent labour, has brought tremendous opportunities but also new globalised threats, including cyberwarfare, systemic financial risk, cross-border money laundering, intellectual property issues, drugs and human trafficking, piracy and illegal migration, all of which exacerbate the challenges we already face.
Moreover, the days where security is viewed purely through the traditional military lens are long gone, and today’s foreign and security policies are increasingly shaped by international, regional and national economic issues. I am in no way seeking to belittle or undermine the importance of military cooperation, which is and will remain a crucial pillar of security and defence, but am instead urging us to look beyond this approach.
Essentially, security in its broadest sense rests on a national, regional and international interplay of issues such as development, trade, education, and employment. In short, countries need to shift from a fragmented approach to security towards an integrated holistic approach that recognises and incorporates these broader perspectives, and accepts that regional co-operation is not just a means of developing military alliances, but also a fundamental requirement of comprehensive and sustainable national security.
These complexities and interconnections have been brought into sharp focus by the events of recent years. The global financial crisis was a dramatic example of how a symptom which initially appeared only to affect one part of a single country’s economy can fundamentally impact the entire global economy. Moreover, while the immediate crisis demonstrated that actions of a few individuals or institutions can have detrimental global effects, its aftermath has shown how national issues can impact the entire world, a lesson that can be read-across to the dangers of poor or fragile states, not only to themselves but also to the wider world.
Meanwhile, in the GCC, we face significant and unique challenges to our shared economic security, closely related to our dependence on hydrocarbons and our lack of food security. Our job as governments, both individually and collectively, is therefore to focus on strengthening education and building human capital, so as to promote innovation, raise productivity, and thus ensure sustainable and more diverse domestic growth and development. Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 embodies these key pillars. At the same time, we need also to work to ensure social security through support systems that reinforce identity and create a sense of community, as part of our overall comprehensive vision which also includes diversifying our trade and investment overseas.
In doing so, we can leverage our security and economic concerns to develop both local and regional initiatives that can both build resilience against threats, and enhance economic efficiency.
How do we do this?
Conceptually, through the idea of “Networked Power”: the power inherent in social relations particularly when understanding globalization. This framework demonstrates how our standards of socio-political coordination both gain in value the more they are used and enhance other well-established forms of cooperation.
We can use network analysis to develop new capabilities that are better adapted to contemporary, interconnected challenges. It is a question of thinking in terms of how activities are connected, by linking individual or group participants, bringing into play different types of exchanges and playing a role in the distribution of various types of resources.
A networked vision can also be a way to rethink the idea of citizenship - by broadening and deepening our linkages within the GCC and creating a more solid network, we can further engage our citizens, and effectively establish a new norm of understanding and cooperation on many levels. This will add cohesion and strength to the GCC and will facilitate the rest of the world to deal with us as a single entity.
Practically, by drawing from the recent Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, spearheaded by Singapore and first announced during the 13th ASEAN Summit in 2007 in that beautiful country, and adopted by the ASEAN Leaders at the 17th ASEAN Summit on 28 October in Hanoi. This Master Plan identifies key strategies and actions to enhance the connectivity of ASEAN in three dimensions: physical, institutional, and people-to-people, not just for the ASEAN 10, but also involving the region's closest neighbours - among them China, Japan and South Korea – as well as their private sectors.
Esteemed Guests,
The GCC could consider a similar plan, and establish a well-connected region that will build a more competitive, resilient and secure Gulf by developing infrastructure and communications, and bringing together peoples, goods, services, and capital. Such improved linkages will not only strengthen and intensify relations with external partners, they will also promote deeper ties among the peoples of the Gulf, foster a sense of shared cultural and historical bonds and, as a result, intensify and strengthen community-building efforts.
The ultimate long-term goal is realizing a truly Gulf wide Economic Community, which could reduce the risks of conflict and encourage stability and economic development by rendering conflict as simply too expensive in any calculation of national interest. To state it simply, through economic deterrence, it can be an effective conflict prevention strategy.
Even in the context of unresolved disputes, working toward such a framework is possible and necessary, contingent on the fact that all parties should ensure and adhere to the principles of good neighbourliness, free trade, respect for human rights, and commitment to international law, and should assiduously avoid resorting to the use of force or provocation.
Dear Colleagues,
The crux of the matter is that regional fragmentation, along whatever lines, is a key driver of regional instability. This recognition lies at the heart of the GCC’s mission, and in the efforts of its member states to ensure the stability of the Gulf. In this context, I want to highlight and commend the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in working to bring internal cohesion in Iraq, demonstrating how things should be done, and underlining our shared realization and common principle that that regional stability will benefit all, while sectarian or other division means everyone, ultimately, will lose.
What we need, therefore, is to continue to move forward along these lines, leveraging national advantages for the common regional good, and building on reliable international support for the home-grown, domestically-driven development and political evolution of regional countries. Such reforms are the cornerstone of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's vision in Bahrain and which our development is contingent on. They are also already an everyday reality in the GCC, and are well-recognised as being essential to our security and stability.
Moreover, it is time for us in the GCC to extend our regional security co-operation by forging still stronger relationships with our allies, partners, and neighbours and basing such partnerships on a wide range of issues. Everyone has a stake in economic cooperation, in protecting the environment, in maritime security, in combating piracy, and in fighting trafficking of humans and narcotics. By cooperating on these efforts, we consolidate an interconnected web that builds on reassurance, good faith and reaps tremendous benefits in terms of peace, security, and development.
This I believe is the good news: harnessing together the various networks that are at our fingertips to realize a regional community, enabling the states of this region to work genuinely and effectively together comprehensively to cement regional stability, and to consolidate their individual and collective capacity to play a meaningful and constructive role on the world stage.
Dear Friends,
This picture that I laid out before you includes many important challenges and opportunities. The most important challenge and opportunity, I believe, is "enrichment". This word is a very powerful word which has been undermined given its "nuclear" context. We certainly need to focus more on enrichment; but enrichment in cooperation, and in drawing a strategic lasting security architecture. These "enrichment programs" are far better, and far more beneficial than enrichment of a fuel cycle that may lead to catastrophic warfare capabilities.
Thank you.
