As part of its series, "The Trump Administration and the GCC Countries," AGSIW hosted a roundtable conversation with H.R.H. Abdullah Al-Saud, ambassador of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC. Following Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Washington, this conversation centered on the future of U.S.-Saudi relations, and the challenges facing Saudi Arabia and the new U.S. administration in the region. Read more
Confronted with serious challenges, but also blessed with remarkable assets, the United Arab Emirates has developed a distinctive, and in some ways unprecedented, national security strategy. The UAE is one of the smaller countries in the world, especially demographically, with only about 1.5 million citizens, but is one of the wealthiest per capita. It is the seventh largest international petroleum producer, and possesses about 6 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. It is also located in a highly strategic and volatile neighborhood, along the southeastern coast of the Gulf, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman. Its northernmost point thrusts into the waters near a crucial maritime chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, and is separated from Iran by a narrow body of water. Read more
خلال أسبوع واحد انتقلت الولايات المتحدة من موقف مهادن لنظام بشار الأسد في دمشق متناسية سجله الدموي، إلى شنّ أول ضربة عسكرية عقابية لنظام واصل هجماته الكيماوية ضد المدنيين السوريين. السبب المباشر للضربة هو القصف الكيماوي لبلدة خان شيخون في محافظة إدلب يوم الثلاثاء والذي أدى إلى مقتل وجرح المئات من المدنيين بمن فيهم عشرات الأطفال اطلع على المزيد
In addition to original content, AGSIW.org in Arabic is regularly updated with new Arabic translations of AGSIW's analysis. New translations include:
After a virtually unbroken string of blunders since his inauguration, Donald Trump finally got a major policy decision right. Early on Friday, he launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Al Shayrat airbase in central Syria, in response to Bashar Al Assad’s latest chemical weapons atrocity in which at least 80 people were murdered by sarin gas. Read more
In the Media
Speaking with CNBC, AGSIW Executive Vice President Stephen A. Seche commented on the April 7 U.S. airstrikes on a Syrian air base: "Without a good overlying strategy, this could be a big minefield [that President Donald J. Trump is] walking into rather than a garland, and that's something that will continue to pay dividends for his foreign policy."
In light of the airstrikes, AGSIW Non-Resident Fellow Mark N. Katz commented on the Trump administration's relationship with Russia for The Washington Post. He noted that "This is not the first administration that has tried" the wedge strategy, which aims to divide Russia and Iran. Additionally, Stars and Stripes cited Katz's earlier commentary on the Russian view toward Libya for the Atlantic Council: "Perhaps the best they can hope to achieve by supporting [General Khalifa] Haftar is establishing a degree of security in eastern Libya, but even this will take considerable effort."
Outreach
On April 4, AGSIW Senior Resident Scholar Kristin Smith Diwan spoke at the Center for American Progress, discussing the U.S.-Kuwaiti bilateral partnership and how the Trump administration can deepen cooperation with Kuwait.
AGSIW Senior Resident Scholar Hussein Ibish spoke on the panel "Six Days that Shook the World: The War and How it Began," hosted by the Anti-Defamation League.
Gulf Affairs invites scholars to submit original analytical articles for its upcoming issue on the theme “Foreign Policy Trends in the GCC States.”
Gulf Affairs is a journal founded by the Oxford Gulf & Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum (OxGAPS), a University of Oxford-based platform. The journal is dedicated to furthering knowledge and dialogue on the pressing issues and challenges facing the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Each issue focuses on a particular theme, allowing for a comprehensive discussion from various analytical perspectives and fields of study. Accepted articles are reviewed and edited prior to publication. Read more
Position Title: Visiting Scholar Department/Team: Senior Resident Scholars Period: Fall 2017 Location: Washington, DC
Job Summary: Visiting Scholars are individuals who possess a PhD or equivalent professional experience, and whose primary purpose for residence at AGSIW is to conduct independent research. The length of stay for a Visiting Scholar is typically a semester or academic year. AGSIW is actively seeking candidates with significant regional experience and fluency in written and spoken Arabic. AGSIW will provide a stipend that can be used to cover living expenses, travel costs, or incidental research expenses. Read more
