 Orient Research Centre's logo | |
| Formation | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Type | Decision Making Support Think Tank |
| Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates. |
| Location |
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General Director | Samir Altaqi [1] |
| Website | http://www.orientresearchcentre.com/ |
The Orient Research Centre (ORC) is a think tank based in Dubai that focuses on risks and geopolitical issues in the Persian Gulf and the MENA region.
ORC was first established in Syria as a decision-making support platform that worked for the Syrian government, then it was closed due to political reasons in 2010. Later in mid-2011, it was formed in the heart of the United Arab Emirates to support agencies and governments in the decision-making phase. The centre rarely publishes its researches due to confidentiality reasons. However, there are many blogs and other sister-centers through which it releases publications, such as the Middle East Briefing, Ixyria and many others. [2]
The Orient Research Centre's slogan is THINK ARABIC, and in other words those who conduct researches for ORC are Arabs and they give their point of view of what's happening around the world as Arabs. [3] ORC holds from five to eight closed seminars per year in which the subject varies depending on the needs of the political momentum. It also relies on conducting internal workshops and brainstorming sessions to analyse to understand and to predict to prevent.
The Orient Research Center works on the following research programs:
ORC publishes several types of research results and policy papers such as the Political Spectrum, Weekly Report, Tahawulate, [5] and other confidential monthly reports and annual yearbooks.
A daily informative and analytical report published in Arabic. It monitors all the research studies, policy papers and reports of other research centers and international and regional newspapers, and presents them in a compact analytical summary. [6]
A weekly private report that covers the most important news and events to analyse the momentum and their aftermaths on the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and the MENA region.
A weekly Arabic publication created by ORC and IAG that covers and analyses the most important news internationally. [7]
A semi-monthly English publication created by IAG [8] that covers and analyses the most important news in regards to the oil and gas industry internationally. [9]
Yearly, the Centre offers an opportunity for political science students and scholars to get involved and work with ORC experts and researchers on topics related to and in cooperation with relevant organisations and accredited institutions.
The Orient Research Centre headquarter is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The centre has two other branches in Gaziantep, Turkey, and in Washington, D.C., United States.
The Middle East is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions, and being seen as too Eurocentric. The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of West Asia, but without the South Caucasus, and additionally includes all of Egypt and all of Turkey.
The diplomatic foreign relations of the United Arab Emirates are conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The United Arab Emirates, or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East. It is located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula and shares borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, while also having maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran. Abu Dhabi is the country's capital, while Dubai, the most populous city, is an international hub.
The Arab world, formally the Arab homeland, also known as the Arab nation, the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western Asia and Northern Africa. While the majority of people in the Arab world are ethnically Arab, there are also significant populations of other ethnic groups such as Berbers, Kurds, Somalis and Nubians, among other groups. Arabic is used as the lingua franca throughout the Arab world.
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Al Riyadh is a Riyadh-based, pro-government Saudi daily newspaper. Its sister paper was Riyadh Daily that was in circulation between 2003 and 1 January 2004. Al Riyadh is one of the dominant papers in Nejd.
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The Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Cultural Understanding is a non-profit organisation which promotes awareness of Emirati culture, customs, traditions and religion among expatriates and foreign visitors in the United Arab Emirates, as well as aiming to remove cultural barriers.
Muhammad Bashar Kiwan, known as Bachar Kiwan, is a Syrian-French convicted felon, fraudster, and international fugitive. He is sought by the authorities in the Comoros Islands for criminal convictions for money laundering, fraud, and public funds embezzlement in connection with his role in masterminding the Comoros passport sales scandal and in Kuwait for criminal convictions relating to various white collar crimes including money laundering, criminal fraud, forgery, and bribery. He is a former businessman and Assad regime propagandist, having invested in and operated media companies in the Arab world that served as the propaganda arm of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. He previously held the positions of chairman of the Syrian Business Council in Kuwait, Honorary Consul of Comoros for Kuwait, and was a member of the Syrian-Iranian Business Council.