The war that started on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran has since spilled over into a regional conflict, with Iranian missiles and drones targeting all six GCC states and energy supply disruptions causing global economic impacts. In light of this escalation, Fiker Institute’s Al-Khaleej Fellows, Dr Khalid Al-Jufairi, Ahmed Buhejji, and Rumaitha Al Busaidi, […]

On the 28th of February 2026, the ever-peaceful skies of the Gulf were invaded by a cowardly act of unjustified ‘retaliation’ from Iran. While shocked, people remained cautious and interpreted the attack as aimed at the United States’ bases, citing the previous ‘retaliation’ on Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base last year. This view was soon challenged by […]

It was a hot day in August 1990 when my cousins arrived from Kuwait. They had been made refugees due to Saddam Hussein’s forces’ invasion of their homeland. There was the kind Rasha, who was around my age, her older sister, the confident Alaa, and the innocent Mohamed Saad, who quickly became the closest to me. I ended […]

On January 1, 2027, the United Nations (UN) will have a new Secretary-General. The race to lead the organization is underway, and attention has focused on who should occupy the office. The harder question is what member states are prepared to do once the selection is complete. During the post-Cold War period, member states gave […]

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January of this year, environment-related risks fell in the global risk rankings, with geopolitical risks overtaking key climate ones. Many working in the climate sector chose to take the ranking with a pinch of salt. It was clear that, despite a number of ongoing hostilities across the world, […]

In a scale unprecedented since the Gulf War of 1990, the recent hostilities between the United States (US), Israel, and Iran have undermined the confidence and security of each and every Arab Gulf state. It may have been Israel and the US that started the war, but it was the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states who served as […]

While the West flourished post-Second World War, the Global South faced marginalization. Today, the international order is undergoing a realignment of power. More nations are standing against hegemony, and what once seemed permanent is shifting into a new reality: the rise of multipolar cooperation, a stronger voice from the Global South, and the recognition that the world’s future cannot rest in the hands of a single power.

Afaf Zurayk is one of the last figures of a generation of prominent Lebanese women artists who emerged in the 1960s–70s, when Beirut was an epicenter of art and creativity. Zurayk’s work and the artist’s life is a testament to resilience and the power of art in the face of adversity.

In 1938, Australian writer Alan Villiers traveled to the Gulf to document what he believed to be the last days of Arab sailing traditions. The neglect of Villiers’ account in academic research highlights how the Gulf’s cultural isolation is related to a deeper Orientalist structure of thought that overlooks the sea in its portrayal of the Arabian Peninsula. This Essay examines the legacies of Villiers’ work in the early history of Kuwaiti cinema and its preoccupation with the sea, pearl-diving, and pre-oil economic class distinctions to show what gives the seas such an allure in Kuwaiti film and literature.

The US is not simply withdrawing from multilateralism, it is increasingly bargaining through absence. It is re-pricing cooperation, reducing external constraints, and renegotiating the terms of global governance. Washington’s recent behavior toward multilateral institutions is not an episodic withdrawal, it constitutes a strategic repertoire used to renegotiate the terms of international cooperation.

With the paralysis of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), stakeholders in the international community are increasingly looking to economic, legal, and coalition-based alternatives. As the current global order undergoes a major transition, substantial UNSC reforms are necessary to remain relevant and to avoid further fragmentation in the international system.

Libyan artist Asmahan Elfergani’s work is largely absent from the formal record of art history, but she is remembered in oral histories and private collections. This Essay seeks to establish a preliminary biography of the artist and her work as it endures through homes, conversations, and the quiet persistence of remembrance.

Countries suffering from economic de-development continuously deteriorate, regardless of increases in economic output, & often face ongoing crises that strip citizens of their political, economic, and social agency. This explainer examines cases of de-development in Gaza, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Pan-Africanist ideals came to fruition circa 1860, paving the way for the development of the African Union (AU). This Explainer discusses the Union’s successes, the reasons for its shortcomings, and ways to advance in its future progression.

How has BRICS fared against predictions made in the early 2000s about its far-reaching potential? This Explainer discusses the evolution of BRICS from the late 1990s to this day, and explores its role as an alternative multilateral economic arrangement through its current initiatives.

The Group of Seven (G7) still serves as the anchor of global governance, but there is increasing skepticism about its ability to sufficiently constrain the currents of today’s multipolar world. Despite these doubts, the G7 has increasingly served as the center of global governance since its annual summit first convened in 1975. Its most recent […]

The nuclear non-proliferation regime has evolved from a patchwork of agreements into an important architecture of nuclear restraint globally. Yet, the regime now faces some formidable challenges. Deep structural fractures, including inequality, the disarmament deficit, and the tolerance of nuclear latency, are compounding threats of geopolitical rivalry, lack of universality, and the challenge of new disruptive technologies.

In November 2025, Brazil will host COP30, the annual UN climate conference. International climate governance has witnessed uneven progress in recent years, with North-South tensions and geopolitical instability threatening vital action against deteriorating climate conditions. What can we expect from Brazil’s COP and how does the summit highlight deeper problems in global climate governance?

The US and Israel’s strikes against Iran since February 28 mark a pivotal moment in the Gulf’s security architecture. They transformed what had previously been a gradual recalibration of alliances into an immediate strategic dilemma for the GCC states. Iran’s direct attacks targeting Gulf territory and infrastructure exposed the double-edged nature of hosting US military assets, which […]

States are increasingly reverting to economic coercion in international politics. The sweeping use of sanctions and – particularly since President Trump’s second term in office – tariffs to influence other states is evidence of its growing salience. Economic coercion refers to the use of economic tools – specifically economic restrictions – to coerce a foreign government, actor, or entity […]

For much of the 20th century, Arab oil-exporting states were defined as rentier economies, where a small percentage of the population – often just 2-3% – was involved in producing wealth that accounted for up to 80% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).1 According to modern interpretations of Adam Smith’s rentier theory, state revenue in such […]

Geopolitical tensions, economic sanctions, tariff mechanisms, and selective trade settlement in non-dollar currencies have prompted renewed scrutiny of the United States (US) dollar’s global role. Yet, despite gradual diversification trends, the dollar remains the dominant reserve, invoicing, and settlement currency worldwide. Rather than the imminent displacement of the US dollar, the resurgence of debates around de-dollarization reflects broader shifts in […]

Cuba has faced severe power outages since President Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade on the Caribbean island earlier this year. With his executive order on January 29, 2026, he declared Cuba “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the US and authorized extensive tariffs against any country that directly or indirectly provides Cuba with oil. On May […]

In the early weeks after the US-Iran escalation around the Strait of Hormuz, the crisis was narrated through a familiar vocabulary of oil flows, gas markets, tanker movements, price volatility, and insurance risk. The language was immediate, recognizable, and not wrong. Energy is the first lens through which the world understands the Gulf. Yet the region’s modern resource system […]

Fiker Institute hosted Sarah El-Abd, PhD candidate in political science and international relations at Sciences Po, Paris for a lecture on competing approaches in humanitarian policies, exploring how a single institutional ecosystem engages with multiple humanitarian and political mandates.

Fiker Institute’s Working Group on Gulf Foreign Policy held its second meeting and discussed the implications of the ceasefire announcements and the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis.

As part of its Al-Khaleej Program, Fiker Institute launched the Working Group on Gulf Foreign Policy in March 2026 in response to the ongoing Iran War. The Group seeks to establish a coordination mechanism that convenes expert voices from the six GCC countries to exchange views on the current developments and the future policy trajectories of the GCC states. 

Fiker Institute’s Working Group on Gulf Foreign Policy held its fourth meeting and discussed the announcement of MOU between Iran and the US and its implication for regional security.

The Syllabus of Proposed Works is a non-exhaustive list of novels, plays, academic articles, podcast episodes, films, and visual artworks that speak to ongoing debates of identity and conflict as they relate to Arab Gulf states. It is designed to encourage dialogue and facilitate critical discourse in the context of ongoing developments in the region. […]

Fiker Institute’s Working Group on Gulf Foreign Policy held its third meeting and discussed prospects for a negotiated settlement of the crisis.