IISS Manama Dialogue Spotlight on International Experts and Senior Fellows: Nigel Inkster and Michael Crawford

In preparation for the forthcoming IISS Regional Security Summit, The Manama Dialogue, spotlights on IISS Senior Fellows and Experts will be distributed weekly. The IISS Manama Dialogue will be held in Bahrain from 3 to 5 December 2010.

This week, we are pleased to feature Nigel Inkster CMG and Michael Crawford CMG. Nigel Inkster and Michael Crawford are available for interviews now regarding the IISS Manama Dialogue. Please see below for information on these two gentlemen and also to spend ‘1 Minute’ with each of them.  To request an interview or receive accreditation to attend the Manama Dialogue security summit, email manama-press@iiss.org

Additional information on the IISS Manama Dialogue can be found at: http://www.iiss.org/manama-dialogue/

Nigel Inkster CMG

Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk

Expertise: political risk, counter terrorism, international crime, proliferation of CBRN, cross-border conflict and other transnational/global issues

1 Minute with Nigel Inkster CMG:

One of the underlying issues affecting the security of the Gulf region is transnational terrorism. It is the desire to prevent Afghanistan from reverting to being a safe-haven for al-Qaeda which has driven the current US –led military surge there and concerns about the transnational threat from groups located in Pakistan is also an issue of regional concern. And closer to home we have witnessed a resurgence of terrorist activities on the part of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen and by al Shabaab in Somalia. Meanwhile the Stuxnet attack on some of Iran’s nuclear facilities is a reminder that cyber security is a rowing preoccupation for all modern societies. Issues of food, water and energy security, though not part of the agenda for this year’s IISS Manama Dialogue, are all implicit aspects of the region’s security preoccupations.

Read more about Nigel Inkster

Michael Crawford CMG

Consulting Senior Fellow for the Middle East and South Asia

Expertise: Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism

1 Minute with Michael Crawford CMG:

The IISS Manama Dialogue takes place at a time when the economic outlook for the Middle East is brightening, but the political skies are darkening.  The Iran issue remains unresolved and has triggered major arms acquisition programmes in the Gulf.  The elections in Iraq have still not delivered a government and it remains unclear whether non-sectarian politics are viable.  The Sunni insurgency and al-Qaeda threaten to revive there, while al-Qaeda is taking advantage of governmental weakness in Sana'a and the Southern dissidence movement in Yemen to create a launch-pad for transcontinental attacks.  Meanwhile succession issues loom over several Arab governments creating uncertainty and preventing longer-term plans to tackle governance, social and economic challenges.  The dismal prospects for progress on Arab/Israel and tensions in Lebanon also cast a cloud.  The IISS Manama Dialogue presents an opportunity for major players in the region formally to explain how they see their way through this complex knot of inter-connected issues and to conduct quiet diplomacy in the informal margins of the conference.   

Read more about Michael Crawford