logo
/Programs
/REGIONAL PROGRAMS
/AL-KHALEEJ

AL-KHALEEJ

With global power shifting towards multipolarity, the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar – have become increasingly central to global diplomacy, trade, and security. As their economies seek to play leading roles in emerging technological sectors, and governments gain increasing confidence in their autonomous foreign policy decision-making, Arab Gulf states have adopted different strategies to leverage new realities and develop more diversified economic and security arrangements. Gulf states have also positioned themselves as mediators in regional and international conflicts. This raises questions about the nature of Gulf mediation and how it can deliver sustainable political solutions where traditional approaches have failed. At the same time, the Gulf is at the heart of global economic security, with key trade routes passing through volatile areas. This has led the states to rethink their national security strategies and defense cooperation beyond historical allies. Fiker Institute’s Al-Khaleej Program sets out to analyze how Arab Gulf states will navigate an increasingly fragmented world order, how these dynamics will shape intra-Gulf relations, and what impact they will have on the Gulf’s foreign relations and domestic policies.
From the Arctic to the Gulf: The Contested Geopolitics of Chokepoints
Commentary

From the Arctic to the Gulf: The Contested Geopolitics of Chokepoints

Chokepoints have become an increasingly important topic in international affairs discourse. Edward Fishman wrote recently about financial and economic chokepoints and how oil pricing mechanisms, tanker fleets, and maritime insurance markets enable the United States (US) and other actors to target major petro-states like Russia and Iran. However, as recent events have demonstrated, shadow fleets […]

Klaus Dodds
The Gulf’s Bargaining Dilemma in the Next Phase of the War
Commentary

The Gulf’s Bargaining Dilemma in the Next Phase of the War

A shift in the Gulf’s narrative from crisis diplomacy to postwar bargaining is beginning to take shape. The next phase of the Iran War is currently being negotiated through a US-Iran coercive bargain, in which military and economic pressures are exchanged for reciprocal concessions to suspend hostilities, rather than a comprehensive peace settlement which could […]

Dr Khalid Al-Jufairi
Reforming the League of Arab States
Essays

Reforming the League of Arab States

INTRODUCTION The Arab region has experienced decades of political unrest, which is likely to persist; however, recent developments are indicative of the onset of a new regional order. Armed conflicts, shifting alliances, external interventions, and the increasing assertiveness of regional powers have produced a fragmented political order in which authority is dispersed among various state […]

Fadi Hachem
Beyond Polarity: The Middle East’s Emerging Strategic Alignments
Reports

Beyond Polarity: The Middle East’s Emerging Strategic Alignments

Amid the shifting strategic landscape of the Middle East and the changing relationships shaping the region, Fiker Institute hosted Dr Lina Khatib, scholar of Middle Eastern geopolitics and security, Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative, and Chatham House Associate Fellow, to discuss the implications of these pivots for regional security, diplomacy, […]

Will the Iran War Change the GCC States’ Grand Strategies?
Essays

Will the Iran War Change the GCC States’ Grand Strategies?

The 2026 United States (US)-Israel attack on Iran came as a profound shock to the Gulf states. Though far from a unitary actor, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states all shared to varying degrees three core assumptions: hosting US bases and cultivating close diplomatic ties to Washington would deter an attack by any hostile power; maintaining dialogue with […]

Dr Rob Geist Pinfold
Middle Powers & the Case for Foregoing Polarity
Commentary

Middle Powers & the Case for Foregoing Polarity

There is an ongoing debate about the rise of middle powers in the world, including in the Gulf, and where this rise fits in the mechanics of the international system. This debate sometimes places those middle powers in the context of what some observers see as rising multipolarity. But the notion of polarity itself, while […]

Dr Lina Khatib