WASHINGTON, October 5, 2015 – The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW) is pleased to announce that H.E. Yousef Al-Ebraheem, Dr. Bernard Haykel, H.E. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Mr. George R. Salem, Mr. Maroun Semaan, and Mr. Khaled Sifri, have joined the AGSIW Board of Directors.
“It is a great honor to welcome such a strong group of new members to our board,” said Frank. G. Wisner, AGSIW Board Chairperson. “Each of them brings special expertise and unique experience to the mission of serving as the stewards of AGSIW.”
Complete biographical information on all of AGSIW’s new members of the board can be accessed here. However, we have provided abbreviated biographies below.
H.E. Yousef Al-Ebraheem has served as Kuwait’s minister of finance, minister of planning, and minister of state for administrative development affairs. Prior to that he was the minister of education and higher education. Dr. Al-Ebraheem has served as the dean of the school of business at Kuwait University.
Dr. Bernard Haykel is a professor of Near Eastern Studies and the director of the Institute for Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia at Princeton University. He has written extensively on Saudi and Yemeni culture and politics, Wahhabism, Salafism, and aspects of the Islamic doctrine and law.
H.E. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, having served as secretary general of NATO, prime minister of Denmark, Danish minster of economic affairs and, at one point, the youngest member of Denmark’s parliament, has been at the center of European and global politics for the better part of three decades. In 2014, he established Rasmussen Global, a geopolitical and strategic consulting services firm.
George R. Salem serves as strategic advisor with DLA Piper, where he is focused on assisting in the development of DLA Piper’s Middle East and U.S. Department of Labor practices. During the course of his 38-year career, Mr. Salem has negotiated some of the most significant settlements in the field of labor law.
Khaled Sifri is the CEO of Emirates Investment Bank. He joined the Dubai-based bank in 2008. Prior to joining Emirates Investment Bank, Mr. Sifri held senior positions with Shuaa Capital, a regional investment firm.
“The institute has taken great strides forward in the months since our inaugural board meeting,” said Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba, president of AGSIW. “AGSIW will benefit greatly from the ideas and energy of its new members of the board, and I look forward to engaging with them as we seek to fulfill our institute’s mission.”
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The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW), established in 2014, is an independent, non-profit institution dedicated to increasing the understanding and appreciation of the social, economic, and political diversity of the Arab Gulf states. Through expert research, analysis, exchanges, and public discussion, the institute seeks to encourage thoughtful debate and inform decision makers shaping U.S. policy regarding this critical geo-strategic region.
