The role of Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in the Iranian-Saudi talks is a strong indication of the supreme leader’s direct influence over Iran’s foreign policy decision making.
Saudi Arabia is looking for an exit from Yemen. While a Saudi withdrawal is unlikely to end Yemen’s civil war, the Saudis are likely to proceed if Iran can keep the Houthis onside.
An immensely wealthy, pivotal energy supplier seeks to consolidate its regional position and retool its leadership ambitions.
Policy differences with the United States over Ukraine and Syria will continue as Gulf states’ strategic diversification and growing confidence in regional preeminence create a new Gulf norm for significant policy divergence, balanced by calculated security convergence.
The concept of neutrality is often stretched, but using the term to describe Oman’s foreign policy risks losing track of Oman’s peculiarities, interests, and objectives.
The FSO Safer is a ticking time bomb. The U.N. has a plan to address the issue of the decaying oil tanker, but it must be resolved now before it becomes an environmental tragedy.
If the United States wants to avoid a disaster scenario in Yemen, it should shift its focus from the failed attempt to resurrect a single Yemeni state to laying the groundwork for a divided Yemen.
Iraq’s criminalization of relations with Israel may be domestic political maneuvering, but it could come at a heavy cost for several constituencies.
Moves to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran are already creating ripple effects across the region.
Although the entry of women into the Gulf’s diplomatic and military ranks was slower than elsewhere, the region is in the midst of a sweeping transformation, largely due to top-down policies and social shifts.
Learn MoreThrough its careful examination of the forces shaping the evolution of Gulf societies and the new generation of emerging leaders, AGSIW facilitates a richer understanding of the role the countries in this key geostrategic region can be expected to play in the 21st century.
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