A number of senior officials, military leaders and experts participating in the 21st Regional Security Forum “Manama Dialogue 2025”, organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, praised the pivotal role played by the Kingdom of Bahrain in consolidating diplomacy, peace and regional cooperation.
In their statements to Bahrain News Agency (BNA), the participants appreciated the role of the Manama Dialogue Forum and the vital platform it provides for international diplomatic dialogue and the exchange of visions on current issues.
Yalçin Raviv, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, stressed that the Manama Dialogue represents “a useful platform that brings together practitioners in the fields of security and foreign policy to discuss the most pressing issues on the global agenda.”
He pointed to the comprehensive nature of the dialogue, explaining that it includes representatives from academia, civil society and the private sector, which enriches discussions and enhances diversity of viewpoints, indicating that such meetings gain special importance in light of the challenges facing multilateral diplomacy, saying: “We are going through a very difficult phase for international diplomacy, and any dialogue that takes place here will undoubtedly contribute to building bridges of understanding and creating a supportive environment for the work of diplomacy.”
For his part, Lieutenant General Jimmy Lareda, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of the Philippines, expressed his appreciation for the spirit of cooperation promoted by the Manama Dialogue, stressing that “one of the pillars of conflict resolution is cooperation, and we can build this cooperation through dialogue. We should not build walls that separate us, but rather bridges that unite us.”
The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of the Philippines praised the selection of speakers for the Manama Dialogue 2025 and the depth of the discussions and analyzes that addressed the political, economic and strategic challenges the world is witnessing.
As for Muhammad Hawash, senior researcher at the Middle East Council for Global Affairs, he stressed the importance of the plenary sessions and side meetings held by the forum as an essential tool for international diplomacy, pointing to the shift from a unipolar system to a multipolar system, and the increasing role played by major regional powers and global actors such as the European Union and China.
