Marc Frings, Director of the Country Office Palestinian Territories, opened the panel discussion “regional power dynamics and public perceptions in Jordan, Palestine, and Israel” by introducing the findings of a study that was recently published by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. The empirical data about public perceptions amongst Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians (see regional report in the right column, German only) formed the basis for four scientific presentations. Mohammad Yaghi (KAS Regional Programme Gulf States) focused on the Jordanian security situation that has to adapt to the new regional power dynamics. Lourdes Habash (Univerity Birzeit, Palestine) drew on international, regional and domestic developments to analyze possible scenarios for the unresolved Palestinian question. Given the shifting regional dynamics and especially the role of Iran in the region, Ahmad Hamad (University Birzeit, Palestine) focused on the Palestinian-Arab relations. The presentations where concluded by Khaled Abdelkareem Al-Shukran (al-Rai Center for Studies, Amman) who referred to questions of instability and research on extremism to present his thoughts about the nexus between regional developments and the domestic situation in Jordan. General (Retired) Mansour Abu Rashid (Jordan) discussed the four presentations and added his critical remarks. The conclusion of his remarks opened the stage for a discussion with the international audience.
A summary of the presentations in the form of short articles is forthcoming.