Iraq and the Neighbourhood with Vecdi Gonul, Mowaffak Al Rubaie and Bob Ainsworththe speaking at The 2007 IISS Manama Dialogue.
The IISS Manama Dialogue is the primary security forum for the Gulf. Convened annually, it brings together all elements of the national security establishments from the countries in the region - Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen - with the key external powers - Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States- IISS
Bio
Bob Ainsworth
Bob Ainsworth was Coventry City Councilor between 1984 - 1992 during which time he held the positions of Deputy Leader of the Council and Chairman of the Finance Committee. Elected to Parliament in 1992 and served on the Environment Select Committee. He was appointed a Whip in 1995.
In Government he has been; Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury 1997-2001 (Government Whip), Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions January 2001- June 2001, Home Office Minister with responsibility for Drugs and organized Crime 2001 - June 2003, Government Deputy Chief Whip 2003-2007, when he was appointed to his current position of Minister for the Armed Forces at the MOD.
Mowaffak Al Rubaie
Dr Mowaffak Baqer al-Rubaie is an Iraqi politician, and the current Iraqi National Security Advisor in the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He was elected to the Iraqi Council of Representatives in December 2005 as a nominee of the United Iraqi Alliance.
Dr. John Chipman
Dr. John Chipman is the Director-General and Chief Executive at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, England.
Vecdi Gonul
Vecdi Gonul was elected to the Turkish parliament for Kocaeli on 18 April 1999, and was always one of the leading lights of the ruling AKP, a candidate for party leadership when Tayyip Erdogan was barred from entering parliament, and in 2007 was a candidate for President of Turkey. As his wife is not head-scarfed, Gonul was often seen as the moderate face of the Islamic-leaning AKP.
He became minister of defense on 19 November 2002.