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A Discussion Session between Researchers from Amsterdam University and the SCSS

A scientific delegation from Amsterdam University, headed by Dr. Paul Aerts, the professor of the international university, held a discussion session with the researchers of the Sheba Center for Strategic Studies on Sunday, December 13, 2009. A number of locally- and regionally-celebrated issues were discussed in the session.

Executive Director of the SCSS Dr. Ahmed A. Saif opened the session with extending a welcome to the visiting delegation and reviewing the research programs conducted by the Center and the issues which the Center's researchers are working on. Then, Professor Aerts, the head of the 24-researcher delegation, took the floor and talked about the impression which many western authorities and decision makers have of Yemen, explaining how such impression could be better created by researchers who monitor the events occurring on the local and regional scenes from a close distance and explain their effects on the interests of the western countries.
Following Dr. Aerts's comments, the discussion focussed on the security and economic conditions in Yemen and their vital and strategic significance for the western countries.
The attendees unanimously agreed that Yemen is facing challenges at different levels (economically, socially, politically, and in terms of security), and they realized that each side —the Yemeni government on one hand and the donor countries on the other— had its own calculations when it came to determining the priorities concerning reforms, which led to a disparity between the views of the Yemeni government and the donor countries, particularly the western donor countries.
Although both the two teams of the Yemeni and Polish researchers affirmed that Yemen needed more support on the part of the donors, they underlined that the Yemeni government should help itself first before soliciting others' assistance, especially in view of the fact that there are overlapping and intermixing in terms of the different economic, political, social and security affairs.
After the discussion session had been wrapped up, the visiting delegation expressed its appreciation for hospitality and the institutional structure of the Center, maintaining that the Center is an open platform necessary for scientific research and discussion.