CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie presents the second podcast in a series marking the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring. In this podcast, Charlotte examines the continuing tragedy of Syria with Simon Collis, UK Ambassador to Damascus in 2010 and Rime Allaf, the Syrian born writer and political analyst.

A decade on from the day Tunisian man Mohamad Bouazizi set himself on fire in despair and protest, instigating a movement that would become known as 'The Arab Spring', CMEC speaks to two British Ambassadors in the region at the time: Christopher O'Connor OBE was Ambassador to Tunisia, and James Watt CVO Ambassador to Egypt. They talk to us about The Arab Spring, what they saw, and what it means for British policy making today.

An oil-spill 4x larger than the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 threatens Yemen's red-sea coast. The FSO SAFER is a 1200 footer tanker, holding more than a million barrels of crude oil - and she is disintegrating. If we do nothing, the humanitarian and environmental costs of the oil-spill, not only to civil-war-stricken Yemen, but the whole region and the world's seas will be immeasurable. Maritime Security Expert, Dr. Ian Ralby, CEO of IR Consilium tells us about this impending humanitarian catastrophe you will not have read about in the papers - and what we can do about it.

In an exclusive CMEC three-part series this week, former UK Defence Minister and Foreign Office Minister and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, speaks to the UK’s top defence experts about the imminent Strategic Defence and Security Review, and the UK’s future global role.

'3. From East to West: Tobias Ellwood in conversation with Dr Karin von Hippel, Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)'

In an exclusive CMEC three-part series this week, former UK Defence Minister and Foreign Office Minister and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, speaks to the UK’s top defence experts about the imminent Strategic Defence and Security Review, and the UK’s future global role.  

1. The Global Picture: Tobias Ellwood in conversation with Professor Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence Studies and author of 'Tipping Point: Britain, Brexit and Security in the 2020s.'

In an exclusive CMEC three-part series this week, former UK Defence Minister and Foreign Office Minister and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, speaks to the UK’s top defence experts about the imminent Strategic Defence and Security Review, and the UK’s future global role.

'2. The Middle East: Tobias Ellwood in conversation with Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall, former British Army Officer and Middle East Advisor to the Ministry of Defence.'

On February 24, the island Kingdom of Bahrain recorded its first COVID-19 case when a school bus driver tested positive for the coronavirus.

A few weeks prior to that, Bahrain’s Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa had seen an interview on Sky News with Professor John Ashton, a former regional director of public health in England. Shortly after that, Professor Ashton boarded a flight to Bahrain to advise the island state on its coronavirus response.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie speaks to Professor John Ashton and Dr Jameela alSalman for this special episode on the global fight against Covid-19 and asks what the United Kingdom could potentially learn from the Middle East?

Professor John Ashton:

Professor Ashton was North West Regional Director of Public Health

and Regional Medical Officer from 1993 to 2006 and Director of Public Health and County Medical Officer for Cumbria from 2006 to 2013. He is well known for his work on Planned Parenthood and healthy cities and for his personal advocacy for public health. He was a member of the British delegation to Macedonia during the Kosovo emergency and played an influential role in resolving the fuel dispute. He has been prominent in the fight for justice for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough football disaster.

John holds chairs in the Liverpool Medical School, Liverpool John Moore’s University, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Manchester Medical School, the Valencia Institute of Public Health in Spain and the universities of Central Lancashire, Lancaster and Cumbria.

He is the author of many scientific papers, articles and chapters in books and of several books including The New Public Health which has been the standard textbook on public health.

Dr Jameela al Salman:

Dr Jameela is a consultant in infectious diseases, geriatrics and internal medicine at Salmaniya Medical Complex in Bahrain. She is a member of the national task force combating COVID-19 in Bahrain

Dr Jameela graduated with honors form the medical school at the Arabian Gulf University. She joined the Salmaniya Medical complex in 1996. Dr Jameela holds triple American Board certification: in internal Medicine, geriatric Medicine, and in Infectious Diseases.

She was awarded by His majesty the king of Bahrain for her achievements in improving clinical services and for the achievement in the antibiotic stewardship program and received the medal of competency in the first degree from his majesty on Bahrain’s national day in 2016.

She has done special training in infection control at Yale University and has many publications in peer reviewed journals. She is an associate professor at the Arabian Gulf University and has received several honours and awards for her scientific contributions internationally.

CMEC’s women’s programme has been slowly building, and we are pleased to present the launch of a schedule of podcasts, webinars and articles which will run throughout the course of the year reflecting on the often-overlooked roles that women play in diplomacy, business, sport, arts and culture throughout the Middle East region.

Our first podcast sees CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie in conversation with the brilliant Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa.

Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa is a pioneering lawyer and diplomat from Bahrain. As ambassador to France (1999-2004) she became Bahrain’s first ever female ambassador. She was one of the first two women in Bahrain to practice law when she was admitted as a lawyer in Bahrain in 1979. She is also Bahrain's permanent delegate to UNESCO. She served as the President of the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which closed in September 2007. She is the third woman to hold the position. She is the recipient of several notable awards, the most recent of which include the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Special Award, 2007, in recognition of her work in promoting the set of global anti-poverty targets, the Path to Peace Award 2007, from the Path to Peace Foundation, in recognition of acts of individual leadership in the international community, and the Social Creativity Award, representing appreciation for Arab women, at the Sixth Conference of the Arab Thought Foundation. Sheikha Haya is the principal and founding partner of Haya Rashed Al Khalifa Law Firm.

In this podcast, former UK Middle East minister Alistair Burt concludes his series on the issue of annexation with historian and journalist Ian Black, author of many books on the Middle East, the most recent being the seminal 'Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017' which was published in 2017.

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers alone.

In this podcast, former UK Middle East minister Alistair Burt discusses with Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, UN perspectives on the upcoming Israeli annexation of parts of the Occupied Territories.

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers alone.