remarks that the summit was designed to bring together the national security establishments of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, Yemen, Iraq and Iran and key outside powers that had a role to play in Gulf security.
The conference, held in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, built on the success of the first Gulf Dialogue, held in the same place a year earlier, as well as on that of the Asia Security Conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, convened annually by the IISS in Singapore. The Dialogues provide an informal setting in which security issues can be discussed both publicly and privately, in a unique format that would be difficult for participating governments to organise for themselves.
