Publications

Saudi Arabia seeks to adhere to its détente with Iran while taking a more resolute stance against the Islamic Republic’s proxies. While maintaining channels of dialogue with Tehran, in recent weeks Riyadh has demonstrated a willingness to employ military force against the Houthis in Yemen and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, and has even launched a regional security initiative to protect maritime shipping routes in the Red Sea. However, historical experience suggests that Saudi military assertiveness, which the Kingdom has sought to...

Saudi Arabia is in the midst of an unprecedented economic revolution, through which it seeks to position itself as a regional technological and economic power. At the same time, the entire Middle East is undergoing a process of transformation in terms of the balance of power and regional arrangements, a process involving states seeking to establish a regional order characterized by cooperation and stability, including the United States and the pragmatic Sunni states: Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

The nuclear agreement signed between the United States and Saudi Arabia marks a turning point in American nuclear policy and carries broad implications for the regional security architecture. After years in which Washington conditioned any nuclear cooperation on forgoing fuel-cycle capabilities, it is now adopting a more flexible approach that seeks to manage proliferation risks rather than prevent them entirely. In doing so, the agreement creates a significant precedent and raises questions regarding the future of the Nuclear...

This interactive map documents strikes by Iran and its proxies across the region, alongside U.S. strikes, from April 2026 onward. It is continuously updated and draws on open-source intelligence (OSINT), visual documentation, official statements, and media reporting. The project aims to provide an accessible, data-driven, and current picture of the conflict as it develops.

A decade after its launch, Vision 2030 remains the defining framework for Saudi Arabia’s political and economic transformation under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. While the initiative has delivered significant social change and political centralization, its economic achievements remain mixed, and the kingdom continues to rely heavily on oil revenues. The recent regional war with Iran further complicates the project, forcing Riyadh to divert resources toward security and risk management while undermining investor confidence. As a...

The war between Iran, the United States, and Israel has not, so far, improved the strategic position of the Gulf states; in fact, it may have even worsened it. Despite the damage Iran has sustained, the regime has demonstrated resilience while preserving key levers of pressure—namely, the ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and to strike “bypass” pipelines and land-based critical infrastructure in the Gulf states. At the same time, in the eyes of the Gulf states, the war has sharpened the limitations of the US...

The war with Iran has placed the Gulf states, against their will, at the heart of the confrontation. Iran identified the Gulf states as an “underbelly” and potential lever of pressure on the United States to shorten the duration of the campaign. Nevertheless, despite the Iranian attacks on their territory, they have thus far refrained from openly joining the campaign and have preferred a cautious policy: allowing other forces to operate from their territory while undertaking limited offensive actions with plausible deniability. This...

The campaign against Iran has expanded to the economic front, centering on Tehran’s attempts to harm the global energy market in order to force the United States to end the fighting. Yet an analysis of market conditions reveals a surprising picture. Although the global economy is showing resilience and can absorb rising prices in the short term, the real point of vulnerability may lie elsewhere. America’s allies in the Gulf could be forced to halt oil and gas production if storage facilities fill up. Should that be the case, the main...

Evidence of a shift in Saudi Arabia’s approach toward Israel and the normalization process emerges from an analysis of public opinion in the kingdom, the positions of the Saudi leadership, the intellectual discourse within it, and the diplomatic steps it has taken. This reflects a Saudi effort to shape a new agenda in which distancing from Israel serves both the leadership’s domestic legitimacy and its aspiration to consolidate regional leadership. The implication is not only that Saudi–Israeli normalization is currently off the...

Relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have shifted in recent years from a close partnership to open competition over leadership, prestige, and regional influence. Behind the façade of “Gulf unity” lies a deep rift stemming from differing threat perceptions and a struggle for economic and regional primacy. The rise of Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi aspiration to lead the Arab world clash with Abu Dhabi’s activist foreign policy, which has sought to free itself from Saudi hegemony. This competition is...

The possibility of a military confrontation between the United States and Iran poses weighty dilemmas for the Gulf states. On the one hand, they fear Iranian attacks on energy facilities, water-desalination plants, and US bases on their territory, as well as on oil and gas export routes from the Gulf. On the other hand, they are concerned about the consequences of a collapse of the Iranian regime, whose patterns of behavior are well known. From their perspective, a weakened and restrained Iranian regime is preferable to potential...

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and, to a more limited extent, Qatar bet on artificial intelligence as capable of replacing oil and gas in the future as a source of economic growth, regime stability, global power, and security relevance. By establishing computing infrastructure, forming partnerships with global technology giants, and developing large-scale human capital, the Gulf states aspire to control a significant share of global AI production and deployment alongside the major powers while acquiring independent...