IISS Manama Dialogue Spotlight on International Experts and Senior Fellows: Oksana Antonenko and Christian Le Mière

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 Oksana Antonenko and Christian Le Mière. Oksana Antonenko and Christian Le Mière are available for interviews now regarding the IISS Manama Dialogue. Please see below for information and also to spend ‘1 Minute’ with Oksana and Christian.  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/

Oksana Antonenko

Senior Fellow (Russia and Eurasia)

Expertise: Russian foreign and security policy, Russia/CIS military reform issues, regional politics in Russia, Caucasus and Caspian Sea Region (security issues, regional conflicts, political and energy issues), Central Asia (political and security issues), Ukraine (political and security issues)  

1 Minute with Oksana Antonenko: 

This year’s IISS Manama Dialogue is taking place at the time when we observe changes in Russia’s policy towards the region.  On one hand, on the wave of the positive ‘reset’ in the US-Russian relations, Moscow has supported stronger sanctions on Iran at the UN Security Council and cancelled the sale of S-300 systems to Tehran.  On the other hand, Russia is emerging as an important regional player in the Gulf not only in the energy sphere but increasingly in the civil nuclear cooperation, which has been established with many regional states.  These topics will be a subject for discussion at the 7th IISS Manama Dialogue and we are extremely happy to welcome as a participant Michael Margelov, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Upper House of Parliament.

Read more about Oksana Antonenko

Christian Le Mière

Research Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security

Expertise: Naval procurement, maritime strategy and security, Asian military developments

1 Minute with Christian Le Mière:

The piracy season is once more upon us, but despite an unprecedented deployment of international naval assets, this year has once again seen a record number of successful attacks in the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean. The attacks have been displaced further out into the ocean, at times 1,000 nautical miles from the coast of Somalia, stretching the resources of international naval deployers. The question therefore remains to what extent these multinational and independent deployments are worth the cost of their presence. Further, are there better ways for them to work together to counteract the activities of pirates, or are their actions merely dealing with the symptoms of a much more ingrained illness? And finally, what strategic shifts are we seeing with China’s rolling deployments and Japan’s first permanent overseas base since the Second World War in support of international counter-piracy operations? The IISS Manama Dialogue will aim to discuss these various issues and seek answers to these pressing questions.

Read more about Christian Le Mière