The two-day top annual event on the UAE and region’s agenda, "The Third Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate 2016", concluded on a high note on Monday, November 14, at Emirates Palace.

The Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate (ADSD) brought together nearly 400 distinguished experts from the regional and international community, including decision makers, politicians, researchers, intellectuals and academics, to discuss a wide-range of pressing issues in the world at this moment.

The conference panels witnessed an outstanding interchange of ideas and visions through highly-specialised and in-depth conversations on topics including: The Gulf in a Changing Global and Regional Order; Traditional, Rising, and Declining Powers in a Shifting World Order; Regional Security Cooperation in the Gulf: Helsinki as a Model, Strategic Uncertainty in the Arab World: Shifts and Scenarios; American Foreign Policy under a New Administration; Cyberspace Security: Power Building and Geopolitical Impact and Counterterrorism: Assessing Policies and Exploring Scenarios.

The conference aimed at reaching a better understanding amongst regional and international actors, enhancing policy-making efforts and consolidating Abu Dhabi’s role as a hub for exchanging ideas and suggesting solutions and alternatives for all-scale issues.

The ADSD has gained a reputation as a prestigious platform at the regional and international levels, designed to discuss policy and strategy, geopolitical shifts, regional and global political ends, national security issues in the Arab world, as well as threats posed by an unprecedented pattern of terrorist and extremist groups.

The objective of the conference was to provide a clear vision of future trends of the international system, and to address these challenges in their various forms. The ADSD was organised by the Emirates Policy Centre (EPC), in co-operation with the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Atlantic Council, of the United States (US).