The Gulf in 2023: Challenges and Priorities
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Release Date: 02/23/2023
Book Talk with Dr. Cinzia Bianco "The Gulf Monarchies After the Arab Spring"
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Featured Speakers: Dr. Cinzia Bianco and Professor Luigi Narbone. About the Book: The post-Arab Spring collapse of decades-old regimes inaugurated a decade of re-shaping for the geopolitical order in the Middle East and North Africa region. A multipolar disorder ensued, solidified by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Amid general bewilderment, the small monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) spent the decade between 2011 and 2022 trying to re-shape regional equilibria as protagonists. This book applies an original theoretical framework to unpack...
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Book Talk with Dr. Dania Thafer "Creative Insecurity: Institutional Inertia and Youth Potential in the Gulf"
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Featured Speakers: Dr. Dania Thafer and Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen. About the Book The Middle East is experiencing the world’s most prominent youth bulge. Yet many MENA economies’ institutional designs, both formal and informal, favor the power of business elites, systematically discriminating against young people joining the workforce or opening businesses, and thus limiting their ability to contribute to innovation. Large youth populations can be a boon or a curse: nurtured and integrated, they can jumpstart stratospheric growth; but if alienated and confined, they can drain a...
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Post-Raisi Iran: Succession, Domestic Politics, and Regional Implications
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Featured Speakers: Ambassador Patrick Theros, Holly Dagres, Dr. Abdolrasool Divsallar, and Dr. Hamidreza Azizi. Event Synopsis On May 19th, a tragic helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan border resulted in the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and several other officials. In response to this devastating event, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would assume the role of interim president. According to Iran’s constitution, a new presidential election must be held within 50 days, with...
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The Future of Kuwait: Consequences of Long-Term Parliamentary Absence
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Featured Speakers: Ambassador Patrick Theros, Dr. Courtney Freer and Dr. Michael Herb. Synopsis: In a dramatic shift in Kuwait’s political landscape, on May 10, 2024, Emir Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah declared the dissolution of the nation’s parliament and suspension of key constitutional articles for up to four years, only weeks after recent legislative elections. During this period, the emir and the cabinet will wield the legislative powers traditionally held by parliament. This marks the third instance of such a suspension in Kuwait in the last four decades. The emir cited...
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How Far Could it Escalate? Israel and Iran's Shadow War
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Featured Speakers: Ambassador Patrick Theros, Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, Dr. Ali Vaez and Natasha Hall. Synopsis On April 1st, an Israeli airstrike in Syria notably escalated tensions by targeting an annex of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. This strike resulted in the deaths of seven leaders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), among the casualties were Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the Quds Force commander for Lebanon and Syria, and his deputy, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi. Their deaths represent the highest-level IRGC losses since the killing of Qassem...
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Book Talk with Dr. Courtney Freer "The Resilience of Parliamentary Politics in Kuwait"
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
About the Book The first English language political history of the Kuwaiti parliament, this book provides an unprecedented holistic treatment of grassroots contemporary Kuwaiti politics in English in over two decades, incorporating the country’s political dynamics into broader debates about the limits of authoritarianism and the practice of democracy in the Arab world, particularly in oil-wealthy states. Author Courtney Freer uses the lens of parliamentary elections as a means of understanding the political ideologies that have dominated in Kuwait since independence. As such, it situates the...
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Sixth Panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference “Soft Power in the GCC: Sports Diplomacy, Mediation, and Cultural Industries”
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Sixth panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference hosted on November 16, 2023 at the National Press Club between 3:20 PM ET – 04:30 PM ET. Panel title "Soft Power in the GCC: Sports Diplomacy, Mediation, and Cultural Industries." Speakers: Khalid Saffuri (moderator), Founder and President of the National Interest Foundation Dr. Courtney Freer, Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Emory University; Senior Non-Resident Fellow, Gulf International Forum Dr. Khalifa Al Suwaidi, Research Fellow, Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy Fatima Al-Dosari, Executive...
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Sixth Panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference “Soft Power in the GCC: Sports Diplomacy, Mediation, and Cultural Industries”
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Sixth panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference hosted on November 16, 2023 at the National Press Club between 3:20 PM ET – 04:30 PM ET. Panel title "Soft Power in the GCC: Sports Diplomacy, Mediation, and Cultural Industries." Speakers: Khalid Saffuri (moderator), Founder and President of the National Interest Foundation Dr. Courtney Freer, Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Emory University; Senior Non-Resident Fellow, Gulf International Forum Dr. Khalifa Al Suwaidi, Research Fellow, Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy Fatima Al-Dosari, Executive...
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Fifth Panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference “The Gulf’s Ambitious Climate Action: Renewables, Green Policies, and Emission Reduction”
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Fifth panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference hosted on November 16, 2023 at the National Press Club between 3:20 PM ET – 04:30 PM ET. Panel title "The Gulf’s Ambitious Climate Action: Renewables, Green Policies, and Emission Reduction." Speakers: Dr. Wafa Al-Daily (moderator), Board Member, Gulf International Forum Princess Noura Bint Turki Al Saud, Founding Partner, AEON strategy Ben Cahill, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies Dr. Sara Vakhshouri, Adjunct Professor of Energy Security and Director of the Center for Energy...
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Fourth Panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference “The Future of Knowledge Production in the Gulf: Media, Social Media and Artificial Intelligence”
Gulf International Forum's Majlis
Fourth panel at the Fifth Annual Gulf International Conference hosted on November 16, 2023 at the National Press Club between 2:00 PM ET – 03:10 PM ET. Panel title "The Future of Knowledge Production in the Gulf: Media, Social Media and Artificial Intelligence" Speakers: Zaid Benjamin, Journalist and Blogger (moderator) Dr. Khalid Aljaber, Director, MENA Center Dr. Mohammad Alrumaihi, Professor of Sociology, Kuwait University; Board of Directors Member, Gulf International Forum Joyce Karam, Senior News Editor, Al-Monitor Abderrahim Foukara, Bureau Chief for the...
info_outlineFeatured speakers: Ambassador Patrick Theros, Alia Moubayed, Dr. David Pollock, and Dr. Jean-Loup Samaan.
Synopsis:
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its second year, the conflict has decisively shaped political and economic issues in the Gulf. The rapid increase in oil and gas prices in the aftermath of the invasion has come as a boon to the GCC states, giving some of them a sizable budget surplus for the first time in years and easing pressures for economic reform. High oil and gas prices have also increased the Gulf’s strategic importance, giving its governments greater stature in international affairs. Both the United States and China have taken high-profile visits to the Gulf in the past year, encouraging GCC leaders to lower oil prices and increase strategic partnership. Each of the GCC capitals, and Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in particular, have used their newfound status to seek concessions from the two superpowers, playing them off against each other for their own interests.
At the same time, Iranian assistance to Russia during the conflict—providing the Kremlin with Iranian-made missiles and drones—has dashed early hopes that the United States and Europe would attempt to renegotiate the JCPOA in order to allow Iranian oil to flow once more. Instead, Tehran’s crackdown on its ongoing protest movement has made the agreement politically untenable in the West. Negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have also failed to make progress in resolving the two rivals’ longstanding disputes, although further negotiations are planned for the coming year.
What does 2023 hold for the Gulf? Will the region’s windfall from high hydrocarbon prices decrease the odds of successful economic diversification? What role will the United States and China play in the region? Will Iran’s political crisis make it less likely to engage in regional adventurism, or will it seek to fight foreign enemies to distract from its problems at home? At a time of relative prosperity, could intra-GCC tensions flare up once again?