 This is Amin Saikal, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University. I am with His Excellency Dr. Muhammad Al-Sabah, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Kuwait. Dr. Al-Sabah is visiting the Australian National University at the invitation of the University Center for Arab and Islamic Studies and under the sponsorship of the Australia Arab or Council of Australia Arab Relations and we are absolutely delighted to have him with us. Dr. Al-Sabah, welcome to the Anew Media. Thank you. I would like to really start off by asking you that the Middle East is going through a very difficult phase in its overall evolution. We've got so many conflicts going on in the region. What do you think are the main causes of this turbulent period? Well, you cannot really ascribe one singular cause. It's accumulative. There are numerous issues that have accumulated over the years that has produced such a turbulent period. But I can say with confidence that one of the main intrinsic causes is the Arab-Palestinian, the Arab-Israeli conflict that has produced such a hardship for the past 60 years. This wars took place in the Arab world and for 60 years Israel did not gain security and no single Palestinian got justice. So it's about time that we should concentrate our effort to solve this fundamental thought and issue. Dr. Al-Sabah, do you think that we are witnessing the emergence of a new order in the Middle East, which could really result in the redrawing of some of the boundaries? And I think many people would argue, or many analysts would argue, that's a very difficult note to put, for example, Iraq and Syria back together. And for that matter also Libya and some people would say the same thing about Yemen. Well we have this phenomenon of failed states where you, the non-state actors have gained enormous power and frankly international community has relinquished its role in safeguarding the regional security and stability paramount. The issues at hand is not really the borders, it's the viability of states whether they can survive. And currently we have civil wars in Libya, in Yemen, in Syria and lesser extent in Iraq. But how the international community will handle the outcome of this civil war will determine very much about whether these states going to be a viable state or not. Do you think that one of the reasons that we really have these conflicts is because, for example, power like the United States, which once had the Pax Americana in the region, has relinquished its responsibilities over many years and many analysts again would argue that the American role has really declined in the region and that has generated a major vacuum which could be really failed not only by states who are in conflict with one another but also sub-national groups which have really emerged particularly in the last many years. You're absolutely right, I mean there has been some lack of, it's not only American but the whole United Nations system has proved to be wanting and be engaging in addressing and resolving some of the regional issues. That also brings me to the question of the Gulf Cooperation Council in which you played a very important role in consolidating the Gulf Cooperation Council and of course for the information of our audience the Gulf Cooperation Council is composed of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and Sultanate of Oman. To what extent do you think that the Gulf Cooperation Council has been effective to bringing or contributing to peace and stability in the region? Well actually the Gulf Cooperation Council, the GCC remains the only viable coherent regional organization that has withstood all the turbulence in the past 30 years. We at the GCC have assumed a responsibility to not only to safeguard our security for the six countries but also to try to resolve some of the issues beyond our region. We have been quite involved as a unit in providing financial and economic assistance to countries around the world. We act in a harmonious way with international organizations be it in the refugee issues or in the humanitarian and international economic conferences. But also we have been quite active in consolidating or trying to resolve the inter-Arab conflicts. So I think that the experience of the GCC has proven to be a very successful one. What do you think are the chances of expanding the GCC to include countries like Iraq and Iran? Well the idea of the GCC is really to of six countries that have very much, they are very similar and we envisage ourselves as a unit within the broader Arab world, not separate and not distinguished from the Arab League. So we are part and parcel of the Arab world, of the Arab League. With respect to of course Iran is not an Arab country but we think that yes there ought to be some security structure for countries who are bordering the Arabian Gulf and this is something that has been called for by a United Nations resolution that ended the Iraq-Iran war. So we, yes, we aspire to have such a GCC and the other two countries that are overlooking the Arabian Gulf, Iraq and Iran in some sort of a security structure that maintain regional stability. So the GCC plus two is something which is under consideration? This has always been something that we have always talked about and also as a matter of fact it has been called for by the Security Council resolution that ended the Iraq-Iran war. I think one of the issues that really is concerning the outside world is the new fort line which is really developed in the Gulf especially. I mean the northern part of the Gulf has gone very much under the influence of Iran, Russia and some of their allies including Hezbollah and Lebanon and so on which I think is also a major source of concern for the Arab countries in the region. And the southern part is very much under the sway of the GCC and more importantly Saudi Arabia and its international allies. This is a new fort line which is added on a number of other fort lines in the region that the geopolitical, sectarian fort lines and so on. How do you think this issue can be really addressed? I mean to build really bridges between the north and the south and make sure that the Persian Gulf is a region very much operating on the basis of a wider cooperation between all the states? Well I tend to a little bit disagree on this characterization of fort lines. I can say with pretty much a confidence that we within the Arab world have voiced our concern about foreign interference in our internal affairs be it from international powers or regional actors. And in that sense I think that the upcoming now Arab League Summit that's going to take place in Jordan. I think certain issues are being currently discussed to be addressed at this Arab summit and one of the principal one is the Arab national security structure to protect the Arab world from foreign interference. So I think that you will also be very willing to inter-dialogue with Russia, with Iran and some of their regional allies in order to build really bridges right across that sort of divide. Absolutely, I mean this is we firmly believe in dialogue but as a matter of fact we have extended an invitation to our friends in Iran, Tehran to enter into a constructive serious dialogue between the GCC and Iran based on the principles of the golden rule as I call it of international relations and the non-interference in the internal affairs and the respect of 70 of nations. And we hope that we can enter into a dialogue with Iran, GCC Iran to safeguard our regional stability. We are just about to run out of time but I just want to ask you one last question and that is that the advent of the Arab Spring or the so called Arab Spring generated a lot of optimism about the emergence of political pluralism within the Arab world. But now we see that Tunisia is one of the countries which is pretty much on a shaky road of democratic development but the expectations of the people who instigated the Arab Spring have not been fulfilled to the extent it should have been. What do you think has gone wrong there? Well I think that the Arab world has been gone through a period of despair. People have been denied their basic human rights, denied their role as citizens to partake in determining their own future. That led to an eruption but it's unguided eruption. I don't think one can claim that the so called Arab Spring has failed. I think it has been misdirected. I think that the initial cause is still viable, it's still there and that is the yarning for justice, for freedom, for more participatory political system, more politics of inclusion. It becomes now the standard stickyard that we gauge ourselves against. So in that sense I think I'm very optimistic that the initial movement to regain respect to the Arab citizens are still there. Yes, some of these countries are going through very difficult times but I'm confident that at the end the Arab world is going to emerge much stronger. Your Excellency, thank you very much, many thanks.