On July 21, 2016, the seminar of "The Middle East at Strategic Crossroads II: Joint Efforts to Deal with Challenges", hosted by Shanghai Institutes for international Studies (SIIS) and assisted by Shanghai Institute of International Strategic Studies (SIISS), was held at SIIS. Prof. Yang Jiemian, chairman of academic council and President Emeritus of SIIS delivered opening remarks and Prof. Wu Bingbing, Deputy Dean of Department of Arabic, Peking University gave closing remarks. Besides international participants from Russia, Europe, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey, former China’s Ambassador to Qatar, Mr. Gao Youzhen, as well as the scholars from Institute of West-Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS),  China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations(CICIR), Institute of History, Shanghai Academy of Social Science(SASS),  Institute for Middle East Studies, Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) and Institute for International Strategic Studies, SIIS, also participated in the discussion.
 
During the seminar, participants probed in the topic of Middle East mainly from the following three perspectives: the Middle East situation in general, the roles of external powers in the region and the prospects of Middle East hotspot. Most scholars contended that the Middle East is now at the strategic crossroads so that different countries should work together to deal with the challenges with joint efforts. The seminar not only encouraged studies on the topic of Middle East at home, but also promoted academic exchanges between domestic and international institutes in the future.