Contributor
Sigurd Neubauer is a former non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He specializes in U.S. policy toward the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf region. His expertise includes: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Persian Gulf security, inter-GCC dynamics, Arab-Israeli relations, and Afghanistan.
Neubauer is also an opinion columnist for Al Arabiya English where he writes about Middle East security, U.S. policy toward the Middle East, and occasionally U.S. politics. He is frequently quoted by the international media and has contributed to Al Jazeera, CNN, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, and The New York Times, among others. His work has also been translated into Arabic and Farsi.
He is a frequent lecturer at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute and has addressed a number of international conferences, including in Europe and the Middle East.
Neubauer has eight years of experience in the U.S. defense industry; he has worked for a northern Virginia defense consultancy since 2009.
He received his BA and MA from Yeshiva University in New York.
Oman’s established links to both Tehran and the political leadership of Yemen’s Houthi insurgents – clearly valued by the administration of former President Barack Obama – may be seen now as reasons to keep Oman at arm’s length.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman appointed on March 2 Sayyid Assad bin Tariq al-Said as deputy prime minister for international cooperation. The appointment triggered immediate speculation among Western observers that Assad is being groomed to become Qaboos’ successor.
Since winning the greatest political upset in modern American history, Donald Trump has since taken on the US defense industry by publicly questioning whether Boeing was overcharging the American taxpayer for its government contract to build the next version of Air Force One, the presidential jet.
This week’s terrorist attacks in Ankara, Berlin and Zurich underscore once again that Syria’s entrenched conflict extends well beyond Syria’s borders and that the failure to pursue a comprehensive political solution, which is required to bring the war to an end, is bound to increase the flow of refugees seeking a better future in Europe.
The first British Prime Minister to ever address a Gulf Cooperation Council summit, Theresa May, pledged on Wednesday in the Bahraini capital, Manama, to enhance security and defense cooperation with the alliance.
In a radio address to the residents of Mosul on Tuesday October 4, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi pledged that the city would soon be liberated from ISIS.
As the 71st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) wraps up, it is time to reflect on the headline-grabbing speeches and powerful stances expressed by world leaders.
The G20 summit got underway in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou on September 5, where the focus is expected to be on global economics and finance.
In August, the United Arab Emirates agreed to accept 15 detainees released by the Obama administration from the U.S.
US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter hosted on Wednesday counterparts and senior military leaders from more than 30 nations at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C.
Days after Tunisian-born truck driver Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed at least 84 people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice last Thursday, French PM Manuel Valls confirmed that the authorities now know that the killer underwent a “fast radicalization.”
The past 30 days have seen a string of high-profile terrorist attacks that have provided shock factors in regards to their timing, location and magnitude.
Frustrated with the international community’s inability to prevent the Syrian government from committing mass atrocities against its own people, especially after President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against civilians, Saudi Arabia took the unusual step in 2013 to forgo its hard-won seat at the United Nations Security Council.
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is in the United States this week for talks focusing on bilateral security cooperation and his strategy to diversify the Kingdom’s energy-dependent economy.
Five years after al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces, the terrorist group seems to be temporarily shifting its tactics away from primarily focusing on large scale attacks.
That US policy towards the Middle East has dramatically fluctuated over the past decade is an understatement, especially considering the sharp differences between President George W.
In anticipation of UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed that Yemen’s Houthi movement would participate after receiving assurances that pro-government forces would respect a ceasefire.
Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has emerged as the symbol of Saudi Arabia’s quest to reshape its policies within an ever changing region plagued by geopolitical rivalry, changing alliances and dwindling energy revenues.
Amidst an unpredictable U.S. election campaign, a populist revolt against Washington’s political establishment is in the making.
Within a region growing increasingly dangerous by the year, Oman stands out as a state that has successfully preserved its sovereignty and protected its domestic stability by actively maintaining a neutral position in an increasingly polarised regional contest.
A week after the United States and Russia reached a landmark ceasefire agreement over the Syrian conflict, now into entering its sixth year, the fragile truce appeared to be holding despite initial reports that the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies had stepped up airstrikes targeting various positions throughout the northern province of Aleppo.
In wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, in which the ISIL, killed 130 people, the French government confirmed on February 10 that it would extend the country’s state of emergency powers with an additional three months.
On November 18, 2015, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took the highly unusual step of attending the Omani national day celebration in Washington, DC.
Amid uncertainty over whether U.N.-sponsored talks will take place in Geneva on Friday, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) – representing 35 opposition groups – insists it will not participate unless the Syrian regime stops its barrel-bombings and starvation policies against rebel-held areas.
During King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s first year on the throne, he has transformed Saudi Arabia from a status quo power to one that actively seeks to reshape the region’s complex power dynamics.
Amid increasing tensions in the Middle East – with potential consequences for the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen – North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear bomb on Wednesday.
On November 19, less than six months after Iran and the P5+1 reached a historic nuclear deal, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed two agreements with Russia to finance and build Egypt’s first nuclear power plant.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz will meet with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss regional security, including the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between Iran and world powers over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.
With the passing of Prince Saud Al-Faisal, 75, Saudi Arabia lost its iconic foreign minister who had for over 40 years helped shape the Kingdom’s foreign policy while maintaining his personal commitment to a robust U.S.-Saudi strategic alliance.
Abstract Norway and Qatar could help defuse future conflicts between Israel and Hamas by establishing an expert advisory group that could consult with Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Israel on how to develop a strategic roadmap in order to prevent the all too familiar on-and-off conflict pattern between Israel and Hamas.
Despite Washington’s initial support for Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s air campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, recent U.S.-Houthi talks in Muscat, Oman, may suggest a shift in U.S.
Most observers of the current nuclear negotiations with Iran have focused on the scope and timing of sanctions relief.
Less than three weeks after Houthi militants forced the resignation of Yemen’s president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa evacuated its staff on Wednesday February 11 after UN mediation attempts failed to bring the country’s various political factions to the negotiation table.
The death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sparked immediate speculations over how his successor, Salman, would navigate multiple foreign policy challenges presented by an increasingly volatile region.
