Security for the Middle East in a World of Competing Global Orders
GIGA Talk
IS NOT TAKING PLACE! Security for the Middle East in a World of Competing Global Orders
Date
17/02/2025
Is not taking place!
On 17 February 2025, GIGA intended to hold a “GIGA Talk” at our office in Berlin to discuss a recent report of the Quincy Institute on the prospects of multilateralism in a world of competing order narratives. At a time of growing power rivalry and diminished cohesion of international institutions, this issue is highly pertinent to multiple conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and the future of the region.
Protests against the programme have forced us to postpone, as we feel unable to guarantee the security of the event and panel members. We intend to discuss the pertinent topics of the report at one of our future events.
We share the concerns of many protesters about the authoritarian government in Iran and its regional role, but neither the role of Iran or any other specific country was the topic of this event. We look forward to having these very important conversations at a later date.
Current events in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Syria vividly demonstrate the Middle East’s continued pivotal role in the global security order as a region of strategic geopolitical significance, abundant energy resources, and persistent political and security challenges.
In response to these pressing realities, starting in mid-2023 the Quincy Institute’s Better Order Project convened more than 130 experts, scholars, and practitioners from over 40 countries – spanning both the Global North and South. Together, they crafted a comprehensive set of proposals aimed at stabilising a global security order in flux, with specific recommendations tailored to key regions. Their central argument rejects both the uncritical promotion of the rules-based international order (RBIO) and the emergence of a rival order dominated by competing great powers. Instead, they advocate for an inclusive global order rooted in enhanced norms, international law, multilateralism, and equitable participation of states.
At this GIGA Talk, contributors to the Better Order Project will engage with regional experts from academia and practice to examine the feasibility of these proposals for the Middle East. The panel will also explore potential pathways to a more stable and secure regional order in light of current dynamics.
Speakers:Dr. Trita Parsi is Executive Vice President at the Quincy Institute, Washington, D.C.
Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz is Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies and Professor at the University of Hamburg.
Diba Mirzaei is a Doctoral Researcher at the GIGA.
Discussant:Gregory Bledjian is Head of Division Middle East at the Federal Foreign Office.
The GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies is one of the leading institutes for Middle East research in Germany and Europe. Our scholars examine topics such as state and regime structures, energy security, violent conflicts, forced migration, Islamist movements, and the reshaping of the regional order.
The Global Orders and Foreign Policies Research Programme studies the development and maintenance of regional and global orders in contemporary world politics – along with challenges to those orders – as well as examining the agency and policies of established and emergent actors and structures that contribute to these ordering processes.
The Peace and Security Research Programme uses state-of-the-art methods to study the causes of violent conflict and the conditions that foster sustainable peace. In addition, it investigates sanctions and interventions as key tools in international security policy amid rising geopolitical tensions.
In nur zehn Tagen haben aufständische Gruppen unter Führung der islamistischen HTS die Diktatur von Präsident Assad gestürzt. Syrer:innen weltweit feiern und eine Rückkehr scheint in greifbare Nähe gerückt. Doch wie sieht die Zukunft Syriens aus? GIGA-Expert:innen diskutieren. Video jetzt verfügbar.
The GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies is one of the leading institutes for Middle East research in Germany and Europe. Our scholars examine topics such as state and regime structures, energy security, violent conflicts, forced migration, Islamist movements, and the reshaping of the regional order.
The Global Orders and Foreign Policies Research Programme studies the development and maintenance of regional and global orders in contemporary world politics – along with challenges to those orders – as well as examining the agency and policies of established and emergent actors and structures that contribute to these ordering processes.
The Peace and Security Research Programme uses state-of-the-art methods to study the causes of violent conflict and the conditions that foster sustainable peace. In addition, it investigates sanctions and interventions as key tools in international security policy amid rising geopolitical tensions.
In nur zehn Tagen haben aufständische Gruppen unter Führung der islamistischen HTS die Diktatur von Präsident Assad gestürzt. Syrer:innen weltweit feiern und eine Rückkehr scheint in greifbare Nähe gerückt. Doch wie sieht die Zukunft Syriens aus? GIGA-Expert:innen diskutieren. Video jetzt verfügbar.
The GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies is one of the leading institutes for Middle East research in Germany and Europe. Our scholars examine topics such as state and regime structures, energy security, violent conflicts, forced migration, Islamist movements, and the reshaping of the regional order.
The Global Orders and Foreign Policies Research Programme studies the development and maintenance of regional and global orders in contemporary world politics – along with challenges to those orders – as well as examining the agency and policies of established and emergent actors and structures that contribute to these ordering processes.
The Peace and Security Research Programme uses state-of-the-art methods to study the causes of violent conflict and the conditions that foster sustainable peace. In addition, it investigates sanctions and interventions as key tools in international security policy amid rising geopolitical tensions.
