Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 07/2013

10th GCSP/Crown Center/GRC Annual Conference: "The Middle East: Change and Upheaval 2012"

Christian Koch

April 2013

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy

Abstract

To analyze the events in the Middle East and put them in their proper context, the 10th Gstaad Roundtable under the theme of The Middle East: Change and Upheaval 2012 was held on June 15-17, 2012 in Gstaad, Switzerland. Hosted by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), the Gulf Research Center, and the Crown Center at Brandeis University, the meeting brought together 24 renowned regional, security, and policy experts in order to assess the overall situation in the Middle East. The meeting focused on seven major themes ranging from an overall assessment of the geopolitical and regional dynamics at play to the current state and implications of the Arab Revolutions to the more specific issues of the situation in the Levant, Turkey, the Gulf region, and Israel and Palestine. The roundtable concluded with a discussion on the implications of the US election for the Middle East and its consequences for US foreign policy.