His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal calls for Inter-Regional Cooperation in the Arab World at NATO Defense College

(Amman. September 17, 2014). Delivering an address at the NATO Defense College, His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal has called for the countries of the Arab World to work together to address the pressing security problems facing the people of the region.

“We are living in times where one conflict gives rise to the next without a pause,” HRH said. “And even as these conflicts result in the hyper-Balkanisation of the entire region, we cannot attempt to find solutions through bilateral or binary agreements.”

HRH was invited to the NATO Defense College to address a significant conference organized as part of the Senior Course 125. The Senior Course is one of the most important educational projects organized by the NATO Defense College. Participants in the course include military professionals of rank Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel and their equivalent ranks in the diplomatic services. Participants belong not only to NATO member states, but also countries within the Partnership for Peace (PfP), the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), as well as some Global Partners.

HRH was accompanied by his wife Her Royal Highness Princess Sarvath El Hassan. NDC Commandant, Major General Janusz Bojarski greeted the royal couple at the event, which was also attended by many dignitaries including the Ambassador to Jordan, His Excellency Zaid Al Lozi, the former Deputy Secretary of NATO Ambassador Alessandro Minuto Rizzo and ambassadors belonging both to NATO countries and countries from West Asia and North Africa.

HRH spoke of the importance of involving all the partners of the region when it comes to addressing some of its most intractable conflicts, such as those between Israel and Palestine, and the escalating violence in Iraq and Syria.

“These conflicts threaten the human security of people across the region – and can only be solved by involving all of the key players in the region, be it Turkey, Iran or Israel,” he said.

HRH has long advocated that the West Asia and North Africa region has to leverage its entire carrying capacity to develop solutions for problems related to water, energy and the

human environment – difficulties that have been exacerbated in recent years by increased migration, lack of urban infrastructure and water scarcity. HRH believes that only by furthering human security – as opposed to focusing merely on military security—and by focusing on the human dimension of every conflict, will we be able to bring about lasting peace in the region.

“I’d like to ask everyone that even as we navigate these troubled waters, we look to human dignity as our Pole Star, and make it our centre of gravity even as we continue this battle for security on our forward defensive lines,” he said.