# Arab Strategy Forum

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The '''Arab Strategy Forum''' is an annual conference, held in [Dubai](/source/Dubai), [United Arab Emirates (UAE)](/source/United_Arab_Emirates). It is managed by the Ruler of Dubai, [Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Leon_Panetta), former director of the CIA and former US Secretary of Defence, together with former British Prime Minister [David Cameron](/source/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](/source/William_Hague) pointed to the growing threat of [Daesh](/source/Islamic_State),<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](/source/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](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Hollande) and former US Defense Secretary [Robert Gates](/source/Robert_Gates) used the Forum as a platform to roundly condemn the US decision to open an embassy in [Jerusalem](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Arab Strategy Forum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Strategy_Forum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Strategy_Forum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.