In June 2019, CARPO and the Stimson Center have started their new EU-funded project “Iraq and its Neighbours – Enhancing Dialogue and Regional Integration in West Asia”. The project envisions Iraq as the center-point for regional dialogue and cooperation, rather than as a theater of regional proxy wars and conflict. It envisages a series of bilateral and multilateral workshops to facilitate dialogue between civil society advisors from Iraq and its immediate neighbours Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait, with the aim of identifying and operationalising tangible avenues for cooperation and coordination on issues of shared interest and concern. They will also discuss the current and future role of the European Union both in Iraq and the region as a whole.
Duration: June 2019 – August 2021
Team: Adnan Tabatabai (contact person), Jan Hanrath, Mirjam Schmidt
Partner: Stimson Center
Donor: European External Action Service
Get more information on this project through our Press Release
by Kawa Hassan, Adnan Tabatabai and Desirée Custers
Reports of a meeting held in Baghdad on the 9th of April 2021, between Iranian and Saudi security and intelligence officials, may herald a rare positive development in a region characterized by deep mutual mistrust, ongoing armed conflict, and proxy wars.
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