MBS in Washington: New Momentum for a Renewed U.S.–GCC Partnership
Featured Speakers: Ambassador Patrick Theros, Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Dr. Aziz Alghashian and Anna Jacobs.
Bios:
Ambassador Patrick Theros (moderator)
Strategic Advisor and a Senior Fellow, Gulf International Forum
Ambassador Patrick Theros is a Strategic Advisor and a Senior Fellow at the Gulf International Forum. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 1995-1998. Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, responsible for the coordination of all U.S. Government counterterrorism activities outside the United States. From 1991-1993, Ambassador Theros served as the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of Central Command (CENTCOM).
Ambassador Theros joined the Foreign Service in 1963, and served in a variety of positions in Washington D.C., Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Nicaragua and Syria, including charge d’affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. In 1999, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah Al-Thani awarded Ambassador Theros the Qatar Order of Merit for his efforts in service of the U.S.-Qatar bilateral relationship. His commitment to national service also earned him the President’s Meritorious Service Award and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service (1992). Ambassador Theros has also earned four Superior Honor Awards, the highest awards for distinguished service given by the Foreign Service. After his retirement from the Foreign Service Ambassador Theros assumed the office of President of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council in March 2000 until his retirement in 2017.
Ambassador Theros’ personal commitment to community and public service earned him the rank of Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (1999), as well as the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom (2005). In addition to his duties as President of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, Ambassador Theros is also active in the following organizations: The Middle East Policy Council, Board of Directors; The Council of Foreign Relations, Member; The Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, Member; and The American Academy of Diplomacy, Member.
Ambassador Theros graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1963. He has done advanced studies at the American University in Washington, D.C., the Universidad Centroamericana in Nicaragua, the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, and the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He is married to Aspasia (nee Pahigiannis) and has three children. He speaks and reads Spanish, Arabic and Greek professionally.
Dr. Aziz Alghashian
Senior Non-Resident Fellow, Gulf International Forum
Dr. Aziz Alghashian is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at Gulf International Forum. He is a researcher from Saudi Arabia who focuses on the kingdom’s foreign policy strategies. He is the geopolitics senior research fellow and Director of Research with ORF Middle East in Dubai. He is known, in particular, as a specialist for Saudi-Israeli as well as for Arab-Israeli relations. Aziz joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he underwent Officer Training before obtaining his undergraduate degree in International Relations and Global Security at Nottingham Trent University, followed by an MA in Diplomacy and International Relations.
Dr. Alghashian has taken his specific research focus on Saudi-Israeli relations to the next level by starting a PhD program at the University of Essex, examining the nuances of Saudi Arabia’s policies towards Israel. Over the years, he has gained vast teaching experience by conceptualizing lectures on Middle East Politics, International Relations of the Middle East, Theories and Concepts of International Relations, and Political Theory. From 2019-2021, Aziz was appointed as a lecturer of International Relations at the University of Essex. Alongside his research work, Aziz is a regular participant of various track-2 dialogue initiatives. He is invited frequently to provide analysis on current Saudi affairs in Saudi and international media.
Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Baker Institute Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Gulf International Forum
@Dr_Ulrichsen
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Ph.D., is a Baker Institute fellow for the Middle East. Working across the disciplines of political science, international relations and international political economy, his research examines the changing position of Persian Gulf states in the global order, as well as the emergence of longer-term, nonmilitary challenges to regional security. Previously, he worked as a senior Gulf analyst at the Gulf Center for Strategic Studies between 2006 and 2008 and as co-director of the Kuwait Program on Development, Governance and Globalization in the Gulf States at the London School of Economics (LSE) from 2008 until 2013.
Anna Jacobs
Gulf Regional Advisor, European Institute of Peace
@AnnaLeaJacobs
Anna Jacobs joined the European Institute of Peace as Gulf Regional Advisor in April 2025. She is a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and the former Senior Gulf Analyst at International Crisis Group. Prior to this, she was a Senior Political Officer at The Shaikh Group where she worked on Gulf regional dialogue, and the Senior Research Assistant at the Brookings Doha Center. She has lived and worked in the Middle East for nearly 15 years, including six years in the Gulf. Her research focuses on the role that Gulf Arab states play in conflict and mediation, as well as Gulf regional security and dialogue. She spends her time between New York and the Gulf.