Twelfth Annual Gulf Studies Forum Concludes On A High Note

Doha, Qatar: The twelfth annual Gulf Studies Forum concluded in Doha yesterday. The forum was organised by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and held over two days.

This year's forum was structured around two parallel tracks: the first examining“Arab Gulf States and Transformations in the Arab Mashreq”, while the second addressed“Social Media in the Gulf: The Construction of the Political and Civil Sphere”. Across both tracks, 40 researchers from the Gulf and beyond presented their papers over a total of 16 sessions.

Continuing discussions within this track, the fourth session, moderated by Yousuf Al-Balushi, examined“The Impact of Transformations in the Arab Mashreq on Energy and the Economy”. In this session, Abdullah Baaboud presented“The Impact of Transformations in the Arab Mashreq on the Region's Energy Map and Economic Corridors”, exploring the effects of political, security, and economic transformations on regional energy maps and logistical transit routes in the Mashreq.

In his paper,“Energy Links between the Gulf and the Mashreq: Present Status and Future Prospects”, Naji Abi-Aad assessed the current state of energy interconnections between the Gulf and the Mashreq, identifying key successes, failures, and their underlying causes. Bader Alibrahim's paper,“The Challenge of Durability: Redefining Gulf Influence in the Arab Mashreq”, examined the reality of Gulf influence in the Mashreq and the prospects for transforming it into more sustainable leverage through the lens of“asymmetric interdependence”.

The fifth session, titled“Reconfiguring Gulf Agency: Political and Security Approaches”, was chaired by Mohammed Al-Mesfer. Dhafer Al-Ajmi's paper“How the Gulf Reintroduced Itself: From Financing to Political and Diplomatic Agency”, argued that the profound strategic transformations witnessed by the Gulf states over the past two decades have shifted them from a focus on internal security to active engagement in regional and international affairs, positioning them as influential mediators and key actors in managing regional and global crises.

Khalifa Alkuwari presented“Gulf Cyber Threats in Light of Mashreq Transformations: Toward a Regional Defence System and Effective Cyber Diplomacy”, addressing emerging cybersecurity challenges facing GCC states amid rapid geopolitical transformations in the Mashreq and highlighting the rise of what is known as the“grey cyber domain,” in which cyberattacks have become a primary tool of regional conflict. In his paper,“Gulf Security in Trump's Second Term: The Anxious Alliance and the Reconfiguration of Security Guarantees (2025–2029)”, Muhanad Seloom argued that the transactional nature of US foreign policy has reshaped Gulf alliance patterns, shifting from a model of collective security guarantees to one of conditional, differentiated guarantees based on each state's position within the regional system.

The final session in this track was titled“Arab Gulf States and Mashreq Transformations: Case Studies”, moderated by Abdulnabi Al-Ekry. Ahmad Jamil Azem's paper“Saudi Foreign Policy and the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution”, argued that the events of 7 October and the subsequent war and regional and international interactions constituted a real test for several existing regional projects and political programmes.

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