28 Sept 2009 - IISS Press Release - Middle East

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), headquartered in London, is delighted to announce a major expansion of its Middle East initiatives and programmes with the establishment of a regional branch office for the Middle East in Manama, Bahrain. The other overseas offices of the IISS are in Washington and Singapore.

28 September 2009 : IISS

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), headquartered in London, is delighted to announce a major expansion of its Middle East initiatives and programmes with the establishment of a regional branch office for the Middle East in Manama, Bahrain. The other overseas offices of the IISS are in Washington and Singapore. 

The IISS has had a successful relationship with the Kingdom of Bahrain through the development since 2004 of the IISS Manama Dialogue. This annual meeting has become the key regional security summit involving prime ministers, defence ministers, foreign ministers, national security advisors, intelligence chiefs and chiefs of defence staff drawn from all countries of the Gulf region brought together with counterparts from key outside powers. The 6th IISS Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue will be held 11–13 December 2009.

HE Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Foreign Minister of Bahrain, and Dr John Chipman CMG, Director General and CEO of the IISS in London, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that facilitates and supports the establishment of an IISS-Middle East office in Manama. 

The office will be the base for the IISS’s many research programmes and activities throughout the region and will serve to connect IISS activities in Europe, North America and Asia with those in the Middle East. The IISS will build at its office in Bahrain a strong cohort of experts and administrative staff who will work closely with the entire IISS global network to provide not just first class information and analysis on Middle East and broader international strategic issues, but also strengthen links between the strategic community in the Middle East and those in other parts of the world. 

IISS activities in Bahrain will serve to widen global understanding of Middle East perspectives on international issues and also bring to the region the best available analysis of global strategic and geo-economic trends.

‘The Middle East is vitally important strategically and economically. We are delighted to establish our regional office in Bahrain because of our strong and close ties with the Kingdom, and because of Bahrain’s enlightened leadership on regional and international issues’, said Dr John Chipman.

‘The IISS is the world’s leading think tank in its field and a vital facilitator of international diplomacy. The Kingdom of Bahrain is proud that the IISS chose Manama for its regional headquarters and looks forward to an exciting collaboration that will benefit the region’ said HE Shaikh Khalid.

For further information please contact:

IISS Switchboard: +44 (0)20 7379 7676

Email: IISS-middleeast@iiss.org or Mark Allworthy at allworthy@iiss.org  

International Institute for Strategic Studies
Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX, UK.

About The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)

The IISS is an international membership organisation based in London, and is both a limited company in UK law and a registered charity. It has offices in the US and in Singapore that operate under its name with charitable status in each jurisdiction. Founded in 1958, much of the Institute’s early work focused on nuclear deterrence and arms control, and the Institute was influential in setting the intellectual structures for managing the Cold War. Over the last decade the IISS has become a truly global organisation, with individual and corporate members in over one hundred countries. The Institute’s high-profile publications are universally regarded as providing the best independent, internationally sourced information and commentary on the main strategic events touching on national, regional and global security. The IISS owes no allegiance to any government, or to any political or other organisation. The Institute's conference activities are considered to be at the forefront of public policy development, given that its convening power is such that it can often bring government officials and others together in forum that they could not easily manage for themselves.