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.

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 […]

Through its curriculum, a society transmits its memory, shapes collective identity, and prepares the next generation not only to work but to think. Beyond domestic social policy, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries should view education as an instrument of soft power: a means to shape preferences through attraction rather than coercion.1 What happens in […]

The current war on Iran has exposed structural vulnerabilities in the United States (US)-Gulf security alliance. This is exemplified by the basing paradox: the hosting of US forces increases deterrence while simultaneously elevating exposure to retaliation. Iran’s retaliatory strikes on US regional assets and Gulf infrastructure have drawn Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states into the conflict, demonstrating how forward […]

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.

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. […]

Rather than solely a cessation of hostilities between Iran and the United States (US), the two-week ceasefire between the two parties, brokered by Pakistan, is an attempt to establish a framework for mediating a wide range of issues in the Middle East. Since its declaration, however, it has been extended, continuously contested, and brought close to collapse. Tehran and […]

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

As the war with Iran is entering its third month, the opportunities for a timely and long-lasting resolution of the conflict remain slim. Even though both the United States (US) and Israel have reduced the scope of their armed attacks in Lebanon and Iran, neither side appears willing to commit to a long-term ceasefire. Moreover, […]

Fiker Institute hosted the Director General of b’huth (Dubai Public Policy Research Centre) Mohammed Baharoon and Associate Professor of Political Science at NYU Abu Dhabi Adam Ramey to discuss what is at stake for Gulf security, shifting alliances, and the broader balance of power.

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.

Fiker Institute hosted the President of the Observer Research Foundation Dr Samir Saran to discuss the wide-ranging economic, energy, and diplomatic implications of the Iran War.