Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani called for proactive and creative thinking about the future. He pointed out that the global and regional situation is getting worse and old tensions are still the same, with new challenges that have emerged on the arena. He stated that the ISIS is still representing the biggest challenge for all of us; Syria, in the midst of increasing destruction and bloodshed, is still waiting for our solution; and fierce violence in Libya is still ongoing. He added that the so-called peace process in the Middle East is in a stalemate; doubts about the destabilizing ambitions of Iran persist; and Yemen is on the brink of a serious conflict. He warned that the region is still described as the worst haven that embraces extremism and terrorism and at the same time is the largest importer of foreign fighters in addition to the sharp decline in oil prices, which did not contribute to strengthening the desired stability. The remarks came in a speech delivered by the GCC Secretary General today at the opening of the Gulf Research Forum, which is organized by the Gulf Research Center in the British University of Cambridge.
