The '''Arab Strategy Forum''' is an annual conference, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is managed by the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arab Strategy Forum – Pixel House |url=http://pixelhouse.ae/cubez_portfolio/asf/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120140026/http://pixelhouse.ae/cubez_portfolio/asf/ |archive-date=2018-11-20 |access-date=2018-11-20 |website=pixelhouse.ae |language=en-US}}</ref> It stated aim is to be a platform for public and private sector leaders to develop future strategies.thumb|Mohammed bin Rashid, Hamdan bin Mohammed, Saif Bin Zayed and Mohammad Al Gergawi attending the Arab Strategy Forum 2018 == Launch == Launched in 2004, originally as a biennial three-day event<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pbOYuGWKJgC&pg=PT180|title=Dubai: The Story of the World's Fastest City|last=Krane|first=Jim|date=2009-12-01|publisher=Atlantic Books|isbn=978-1-84887-394-0|page=180}}</ref> titled the Dubai Strategy Forum, the Forum was conceived to promote debate on policy in the Arab world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/arab-strategy-forum-promotes-debate-policy-arab-world|title=Arab Strategy Forum Promotes Debate on Policy in Arab World|website=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs|language=en|access-date=2018-11-20}}</ref> It was renamed the Arab Strategy Forum in 2006. The keynote address at the inaugural forum was given by former US President Bill Clinton.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/259481|title=Arab Strategy Forum to Focus on Future Challenges|date=2004-12-12|work=Arab News|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en}}</ref> It was relaunched in 2009 under the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tradearabia.com/news/EDU_168836.html|title=Arab Strategy Forum relaunched|website=www.tradearabia.com|access-date=2018-11-20}}</ref>
In 2015 it published a report costing the Arab Spring at $833.7 billion (attributing this to losses in GDP, drops in tourism; stock and financial market losses and drops in Foreign Direct Investment).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/business/cost-of-arab-spring-put-at-8337b-1.1638167|title=Cost of Arab Spring put at $833.7b|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en}}</ref> In 2016, addressing the forum, Leon Panetta, former director of the CIA and former US Secretary of Defence, together with former British Prime Minister David Cameron, jointly called for a regional alliance against terrorism. Panetta asserted such a coalition “could be a powerful signal to Iran that it can’t go into countries as it did in Yemen and Syria.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/going-out/society/terrorism-not-yet-defeated-arab-strategy-forum-highlights-1.1945200|title=Terrorism not yet defeated, Arab Strategy Forum highlights|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en}}</ref> The forum has often hosted contradictory views. In 2015 former British Foreign Secretary William Hague pointed to the growing threat of Daesh,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/uks-william-hague-warns-of-growing-daesh-threat-1.1638088|title=UK’s William Hague warns of growing Daesh threat|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en}}</ref> while in 2014 Francis Fukuyama claimed the threat posed by the group had been overblown by media and the US.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/daesh-threat-overblown-by-media-us-francis-fukuyama-1.1426649|title=Daesh threat overblown by media, US: Francis Fukuyama|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en}}</ref> In 2018 both former French President Francois Hollande and former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the Forum as a platform to roundly condemn the US decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/dubai-hollande-gates-condemn-jerusalem-announcement-arab-strategy-forum|title=Hollande, Gates condemn Jerusalem announcement|last=Zakaria|first=Sherouk|work=Khaleej Times|access-date=2018-11-20}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Organized events in Dubai Category:International conferences in the United Arab Emirates Category:Recurring events established in 2004