On Wednesday, 22 February 2022, a delegation from the Omani National Defence College visited the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The delegation was headed by the Commander of the College, Major General Air Staff (Engineer) Saleh Yahya Masoud Al Maskari.

The Omani delegation was greeted by Azmi Bishara, Director General of the Arab Center, and Abdelwahab El-Affendi, Acting President of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. After welcoming the delegation, Dr Bishara presented the main objectives of the Arab Center and referred to the projects and programs it conducts in order to advance Arab academia and Arab knowledge production. Welcoming the delegation, Dr El-Affendi reiterated the joint mission of the Center and the Doha Institute to develop social sciences and humanities in the service of the Arab Academy, by reviving these disciplines, which have long been neglected in the Arab world despite their importance to the renaissance and the advancement of nations. Accordingly, the Institute aims to localize and revitalise the social sciences and humanities in the region through supporting research and tailoring it to suit the needs of the peoples and countries of the Arab region, with the goal of Arab research gaining global influence. He explained that the Institute and the Arab Center have made great strides in achieving these goals, through teaching, research, publishing, holding conferences, communicating with Arab and foreign educational institutions, and building partnerships with them, as well as educating more than eight hundred postgraduate students. He stressed that the Institute welcomes cooperation in the areas of knowledge acquisition, development, and production as well as on postgraduate programs in subjects such as critical security studies, conflict management and humanitarian work.

Mohammad Almasri, Executive Director of the Center, gave a presentation on the role of the Arab Center as a research institution specialized in social sciences and humanities from both a theoretical and applied perspective. He made note of all of the Center’s achievements to date, including its impressive publishing record and collection of peer-reviewed journals. Ali Al Kaabi, the media advisor, also gave an introductory presentation to the Doha Institute, which offers internationally accredited master’s programs. He added that the institute aims, through its academic programs and the research activities of its professors in the fields of social sciences, humanities, and public administration, to achieve its mission of contributing to the formation of a new generation of academics and intellectually independent researchers, who are well versed in international scientific standards and modern methodological research tools based on the principle of interdisciplinarity.

On behalf of the commander of the National Defence College and the delegation, Tariq Muhammad Al-Mandhari thanked the administration of the Center and the Institute for hosting them and providing lectures and praised the work of the Arab Center and Doha Institute. He reflected on the importance of these efforts to create a critical research environment and build bridges of dialogue and cooperation with Arab and international research projects.