The U.S. Gulf Policy in A Changing Regional Order

Workshop Concept

The regional conflict that encompasses not only Hamas and Israel but also Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, is rewriting the geopolitical map of the Middle East and reconfiguring Gulf security. This is occurring as the global balance of power is shifting as well, with Chinese power rising and Russia playing an actively disruptive role.  While the past three American presidents all campaigned on platforms de-emphasizing the U.S. military commitment to the region, Washington has remained directly involved in the Gulf.  Not only has the infrastructure of American basing and troop deployments not changed, but the U.S. joined Israel in attacking Iran in June 2025.  How the second Trump Administration will deal with Gulf and broader Middle Eastern issues in the wake of the ongoing Gaza War remains to be seen, but it will involve decisions not only about bilateral relations with the GCC states, but also its approach to a wounded Iran, to an Iraq in flux, to the new government in Syria, to the persistent threat to Red Sea shipping presented by the Houthis in Yemen and to the Palestinian issue.  This workshop will examine American policy toward the Gulf in light of the changes wrought since October 2023 and consider the options Washington is facing for the immediate future.

The workshop invites submissions that combine academic rigor with policy relevance.  It is interested in examining both the overall changes in the regional power landscape and the specific roles of individual state and non-state actors in those changes, and how those roles have changed over time.  It thus invites submissions that take a systemic perspective along with submissions that deal with the empirics of bilateral and multilateral relations among the United States, Gulf states and other regional actors.

It is open to proposals that focus on how past regional developments and American policy choices have led to the current regional reality as well as proposals that suggest how American policy, particularly in conjunction with Gulf state partners, might contribute to the stabilization of regional politics and the solution of regional conflicts.

While the focus of the workshop is on the interplay of American policy and regional realities, understanding that dynamic requires a broader understanding of how the regional balance of power has been affected by the results of the Gaza War.  Has a new regional order has been created?  Is there simply a shift in power within an existing regional order?  Does the concept of a “regional order” makes any sense at all in the Middle East?  A focus on the overall framework of Middle East international politics, and the specific role of the Gulf in that framework, is a starting point for understanding the more specific ways that U.S. policy is affecting and is affected by the changes wrought by the recent conflicts.  The workshop invites papers on this broader set of questions.

Papers should reflect the reality of agency for all the parties involved in the international politics of the region:  great powers, regional states and non-state actors.  None of these actors are simply passive recipients of the actions of others, even though power differentials provide more room for maneuver to those with more military, economic, diplomatic and ideological resources.  The regional changes of the past few years in some cases constrain and in other cases empower Gulf actors and other regional actors.  While the notion of “spheres of influence” is normally invoked in discussions of great power politics, the workshop invites papers that examine how various Gulf regimes view their own “spheres of influence” in the region, and how those regional ambitions either are supported by or are in conflict with U.S. policy and the ambitions of other regional players.

The workshop seeks submissions on the range of subjects that affect and are affected by U.S. policy toward the Gulf. Topics include but are not limited to:

• Changes in the global balance of power and implications for the Gulf
• Regional powers’ “spheres of influence” in a changing Middle East
• Possible U.S. initiatives to stabilize Middle Eastern regional politics and solve continuing regional conflicts, particularly in conjunction with Gulf state partners
• Trump Administration “grand strategy” and the role of the Gulf in it
• The Second Trump Administration and the Gulf: New Paradigm for American Policy or More of the Same?
• Security implications and Gulf state response options to the possible emergence of Iran as a nuclear weapons state
• GCC-U.S. relations
• “Regional order” in the wake of the Gaza War
• Relations with the individual state members of the GCC
• Policy toward Iran in the wake of the June 2025 attacks
• Policy toward Yemen, the Houthis and the Red Sea in light of the Gaza War
• Policy toward the Palestinian issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly the expansion of the Abraham Accords to other Gulf states
• Policy toward Israel and evolving American public opinion on the Palestinian question under the Trump administration and beyond
• Policy toward Syria and Lebanon, particularly in light of Gulf state policies toward these countries
• Policy toward Iraq
• Regional geopolitical effects of the Gaza War
• Energy policy and relations with Gulf states
• Changing U.S. international economic policies and their effects on the Gulf
• American domestic politics and foreign policy in the Gulf

A specific publication plan must await a review of the submitted papers.  However, the workshop directors will prioritize quick turn-around and publication in outlets that are read beyond the ivory tower.  Given the timeliness of the topics, getting the articles in front of readers as soon as possible is the goal.  The chairs plan to approach journals that focus on the Middle East, that have both a policy audience and a good academic reputation, to propose either a special issue or a special section of an issue for the publication of the best and most policy-relevant articles submitted to the workshop.  The journal path is preferred to the edited volume path because the time-frame for publication in a policy-relevant journal is far shorter than the publication of an edited volume.  Policy-relevant articles could also be featured on the websites of various think-tanks dealing with the region.  The directors have track records of publishing with such policy journals and affiliations with a number of the relevant think-tanks, so are confident that a number of venues for publication will be found.