Fiker Institute Hosts a Lecture on Gulf Foreign Policy Trajectories

Dubai, UAE – January 11, 2026 –

As part of Fiker Institute’s Al-Khaleej Program, Fiker Institute hosted a lecture by inaugural fellow Dr Khalid Al-Jufairi on the foreign policy trajectories of Gulf states. The session discussed how the Gulf has emerged as both a crossroads & a rule-shaper, balancing between great powers while projecting its own influence. Framed through the lens of strategic autonomy, the lecture unpacked how foreign policy of the GCC states leverage mediation, soft power, and geoeconomic statecraft to transform the Gulf from a regional player into a global agenda-setter.