An Emerging Commonwealth+ Model for International Scientific Capacity Building

The first MAST Forum has honoured Colonel Ali Ashour for his contribution to resilient future capability across Kuwait, the Commonwealth and the Gulf.

At its 2026 Glasgow Focus Forum, MAST recognised Colonel Ali Ashour, FRINA, FIMarEST, FIES, a senior officer at the Kuwait Ministry of Interior and OF-5 Captain in the Kuwait Coast Guard, for his contribution to critical national infrastructure resilience, scientific capacity, capability development and international cooperation linking Kuwait, the Commonwealth and the Gulf Cooperation Council.


Courtesy of MAST


The recognition was presented by Major General Martin Smith CB MBE DL, former Commandant General Royal Marines, and Major General Dr Volker Pötzsch, Chief of Staff of Germany’s Cyber and Information Domain Service Command, placing the honour at the intersection of the UK, European and Commonwealth+ experience in resilient future capability.

MAST brought together leaders from government, defence and national security with science, engineering, policy and industry. Ashour’s work has increasingly developed across the boundaries between these communities.

Coast guards occupy a distinctive position within national security. International models range from civilian, unarmed services to organisations carrying military capabilities across law enforcement, border security, intelligence and defence readiness. Between them lies an important question: where does the coast guard security envelope meet naval defence, and how should intelligence, technology and national resilience connect the two?

Under Commodore Sheikh Mubarak Ali Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah’s leadership, the Kuwait Coast Guard has been undergoing significant transformation at this interface. Combining law enforcement with the protection of sovereignty and a wider de-escalatory role reflects Kuwait’s commitment to a rules-based international order supporting peace, prosperity and coexistence.

The two Major Generals and other senior officials at MAST complimented Colonel Ali’s support of Commodore Sheikh Mubarak Ali Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah’s initiatives.

Its recent autonomous maritime surveillance programme, integrating uncrewed surface vessels, advanced sensors and command and control, reflects Kuwait’s growing investment in advanced ISR and maritime security capability, supporting wider national security, resilience and economic growth.

Colonel Ashour’s recognition at MAST reflects another layer in that transformation, complementing the Kuwait Coast Guard’s advance into autonomous ISR with deeper participation in sensitive strategic research, defence science and international scientific capacity building.

Ashour’s work connects practicality, operational experience and controlled experimentation with advanced numerical PeriDynamic modelling, defence science and evidence-based policy. His research spans PeriDynamic analytics, autonomous systems, digital twins, cyber assurance and C5ISR, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, examining dependencies, redundancy and strategic risk behind future capability decisions.

His trajectory has crossed several of these environments, including Australian defence science and a strategic defence research partnership with BAE Systems and the PeriDynamics Research Centre. As the first non-Commonwealth national within the partnership on autonomy, he brought a distinct GCC perspective into advanced research on strategic feasibility.

Future MAST events will reflect an emerging Commonwealth+ model focused on mature networks of expertise in critical national infrastructure, resilience, defence science and engineering. This will signal programme expansion beyond the original Commonwealth only scope – including partnerships and activities in non-Commonwealth countries (such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye).

For Kuwait, closer engagement with these communities creates an opportunity not simply to draw on their experience, but increasingly to contribute to it.

Location: Glasgow, UK