Central Asia & GCC: Cooperative Opportunities - Mohammed Baharoon
The video highlights the shifting global dynamics shaped by regional conflicts and an emerging emphasis on economic priorities over political disputes. Central Asia is identified as a critical region due to its strategic location and resources, including energy, rare earth minerals, and food security potential, which are essential for global transitions toward renewable energy and diversified supply chains. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries see opportunities for collaboration with Central Asia, leveraging historical ties and shared interests to enhance energy, food security, and trade corridors. Amid intensifying competition among global powers like the U.S., China, and Russia, Central Asia plays a pivotal role, navigating its position as both a resource-rich hub and a key player in the evolving global economic matrix.
This video is part of the Center’s series on Responsible Business. The series explores economic factors and business initiatives that can be used to create more productive and peaceful economies.
Speaker Biography
Mohammed Baharoon is the director of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center (b’huth) which he co-founded in 2002. Before that, he worked as editor for Gulf Defense Magazine and a number of media outlets. He focuses on the interplay between geostrategy and policymaking in governance, stability, capacity-building, and future-proofing. Mohammed has also worked as deputy director of Watani (UAE’s first initiative on national identity). He was also a founding member of the board of Bussola Institute, a think tank in Brussels that focuses on the changing and emerging aspects of the partnership between the EU and the GCC member states.
As part of his interest in the emerging geostrategic space of the Arabian Peninsula, Mohammed looks at the interconnected world order and the global connectivity agenda UAE is developing across the region through arteries of trade, money, people, and data; and the impact this had on its regional and global partnerships including regional and trans-regional initiatives like the Abrahamic Accords & I2U2.
