The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies will host the tenth Gulf Studies Forum on 2-3 December 2023. Across 13 sessions and 2 lectures, participants will address the topic of “Relations between the Gulf States and China” in its international relations track, and of “Cultural Policies of the Arab Gulf States” in its domestic affairs track.

The first track includes six sessions that will examine the Gulf-Chinese relations and their challenges, and the development of interrelations between the Gulf countries and China. These sessions will also explore the international competition and its ramifications for the development of the Gulf-China relations, the questions of security and energy in these relations, and the Belt and Road Initiative and its significance for Arab Gulf states.

The second track includes seven sessions that will discuss the Gulf state and cultural affairs, identity and cultural policies, institutions and the building of a cultural strategy, the role of museums in the Gulf countries in the age of science, technology, and innovation, and the sociological framework of cultural policies in the Gulf countries and societal factors that helped elaborate them.

The Arab Center is also holding the Ostour symposium on 4 December 2023, which will explore “Historical Writing in the Gulf Countries”, given its remarkable development. However, the discipline is still defined by many features that prevent real progress. This has led to any critical review of historical writing in the Gulf, carried out by scholars in the field, remaining weak, except for some works by several historians.

The symposium’s agenda includes three sessions and 12 participants. They discuss the various trends in historical writing in the Gulf, as well as the prevailing narratives, patterns, and tools. The sessions also examine individual cases of narrators and historians, in addition to different approaches, intersections, and binaries in Gulf historical writing.

The Forum and the symposium will be held in person at the Arab Center in Doha. All sessions will be livestreamed on the Arab Center social media, and simultaneous translation between Arabic and English will be available throughout.

For more information, Gulf Forum booklet.