The RelVie Working Paper Series is produced in tandem with the activities of the Research Center for Religious Diversity. The topics covered by our online series lie at the intersection of religion, politics, and society.
The inaugural publication is “A ‘Zone’ for the EU and the GCC’s Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Engagement” by our colleague Dr Ghassan El Masri.
The paper highlights the return of religion as a determining factor in international relations, focusing on the future of cooperation between the EU and the Gulf states. It analyses the emergence of a new form of city-states in the Middle East, within free-economic zones, as the future sites for interreligious and cultural coexistence and exchange.
The working paper argues that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the most suitable geocultural platform for implementing EU–GCC cooperation.