Gulf-EU Relations in the Age of Strategic Isolation

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In cooperation with the Centre for International Policy Research (CIPR), the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and the Gulf Research Centre (GRC), this panel convenes high-level participants from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Italy to address the challenges and opportunities of Gulf-EU relations in the contemporary context. Whereas the dynamics of de-coupling, constant wars, such as in Ukraine or in Gaza, technological changes, geo-economic ruptures, and great-power competition have shaped the world and created a situation of poly-crises, the two blocs have shown some level of resilience when it comes to bloc functionality, conflict resolution, and the development of proposals to address key challenges in their shared neighbourhood. The future of the world is moving away from global order, and one of the possible trajectories would be regional orders, rather than global disorder, which is frequently discussed in policy and academic circles. The objective is for the panelists to help make sense of the current context and situation, then articulate high-level policy recommendations for the development of the two blocs and relations between them in key areas, including security, economy and inter-societal exchange.