The Rome Dialogues

The Euro-Gulf Information Centre organized this conference to illustrate the rising sectarianism in the Middle East and its spill-over in Europe. Sectarian propaganda and its reflective violence have unleashed a tidal wave of challenges to the Middle East and, by extension, those areas - including Europe, including Finland - that are proximate. This seminar has addressed this key ideological threat to peace and stability in the region while reflecting on solutions to contain it.

The  fifth Rome Dialogue, held on 27 May 2016, was planned in part- nership with Women in International Security (WIIS) Italy, and was fo- cused on the theme of the importance of gender issues in peace and war strategies and the many roles of women on the frontline.

Although part of our Rome Dialogue series, this event was extraordinary. Held in the stunning Palazzo San Macuto (Chamber of Deputies) in Rome, and planned in partnership with the Rome-based Istituto Alti Studi di Geopolitica e Scienze Ausiliarie, the event gathered more than 100 attendees and an outstanding group of scholars.

Few things are as global as climate change and few challenges have the power to unite countries around the world as environmental challenges. As Europe lives in one of its hottest years, climate change in the Arabian Gulf is advancing deserti cation, threatening water supplies and food security.

While this round of the Rome Dialogues was focused on how identities are being affected – around the world – by a seemingly never-ending war on terrorism it quickly expanded to include discussions on political and social ethics, the struggle to retain political liberty in contexts of securitization and, importantly, specific elements of current dis- courses, narratives, and actors that typically fall below the radar.

The international political environment seems mired in interconnected conflicts. Nowhere is this clearer than in the wider Middle East where the seemingly never-ending story of ISIS, coupled with surging sectarian violence, increased Iran-Saudi tensions and the return to the Kurdish-Turkish war of attrition is paralyzing regional integration programs, generating trans-sector crises (economic, social, political) and spilling over into Europe. All in all, the Middle East’s prospects for future peace and economic growth are uncertain and liable to yet more sudden disruption.