{"id":3833,"date":"2025-09-15T19:59:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulfif.org\/app\/gss-workshops\/?post_type=workshop&p=3833"},"modified":"2025-11-25T12:27:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:27:22","slug":"the-u-s-gulf-policy-in-a-changing-regional-order","status":"publish","type":"workshop","link":"https:\/\/gulfif.org\/app\/gss-workshops\/workshop\/the-u-s-gulf-policy-in-a-changing-regional-order\/","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. Gulf Policy in A Changing Regional Order"},"content":{"rendered":"

Workshop Concept<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

The workshop invites submissions that combine academic rigor with policy relevance.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Has a new regional order has been created?\u00a0 Is there simply a shift in power within an existing regional order? \u00a0Does the concept of a \u201cregional order\u201d makes any sense at all in the Middle East?\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The workshop invites papers on this broader set of questions.<\/p>\n

Papers should reflect the reality of agency for all the parties involved in the international politics of the region:\u00a0 great powers, regional states and non-state actors.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The regional changes of the past few years in some cases constrain and in other cases empower Gulf actors and other regional actors.\u00a0 While the notion of \u201cspheres of influence\u201d is normally invoked in discussions of great power politics, the workshop invites papers that examine how various Gulf regimes view their own \u201cspheres of influence\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n