On Saturday, November 29, 2025, the Bahr Al-Uloom Forum for Dialogue organized a specialized seminar entitled “Towards an Iraqi Partnership between Think Tanks and Iraqi Diplomacy,” in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Fuad Hussein, a number of Undersecretaries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, new ambassadors, and a group of former ministers, academics, experts, and representatives of research centers, including the Baghdad Center, the Al-Bayan Center, the Al-Minbar Center, the Iraqi Group for Foreign Policies, and the Center for Leadership Development.
The symposium was opened with a speech by the President of the Bahr Al-Uloom Charitable Foundation, His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim Bahr Al-Uloom, in which he congratulated the new ambassadors, stressing the importance of employing the capabilities of research centers in supporting the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in order to create an effective foreign policy based on knowledge.
For his part, His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Fuad Hussein, expressed in his speech his appreciation for the efforts of the Bahr Al-Uloom Forum for Dialogue in organizing intellectual events that deal with strategic issues that touch the core of diplomatic work, calling for the involvement of think tanks in political decision-making, and stressing the importance of the topics raised in the symposium. He also emphasized the importance of the file of Iraqi communities abroad, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ endeavor to enhance its performance in this field, considering climate and water diplomacy as a crucial path to confront the challenges of water scarcity and the effects of climate change in Iraq and neighboring countries.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dr. Hisham Al-Alawi, emphasized in his speech the importance of institutionally involving research centers and think tanks in the diplomatic decision-making process, given their analytical and knowledge-based capabilities that enhance the state's strategic vision. Meanwhile, Undersecretary of the Ministry, Ambassador Shorsh Khalid, focused on the necessity of strengthening climate and water diplomacy in Iraq's regional relations, particularly with neighboring water-sharing countries, due to the complex challenges Iraq faces that require a proactive and effective diplomatic presence.
The symposium included three main themes: the integration of think tanks and official diplomacy in promoting Iraqi foreign policy, the role of diplomatic missions in caring for communities, protecting their rights and consolidating national identity, and climate and water diplomacy, and the need to develop diplomatic tools to confront climate challenges and the water crisis internally and regionally.
The participants agreed on the importance of building sustainable institutional partnerships between Iraqi diplomacy and research centers, which would enhance decision-making and contribute to a more effective and proactive foreign policy. The seminar concluded with extensive interventions and comments that deepened the discussion on the topics presented.
