The Gulf

The Gulf

As many of the Arab Gulf states make strides to reduce their dependence on oil and implement social and economic reforms, they continue to face political and security challenges from external and internal threats. The Gulf states must respond to evolving external relationships, threats from Iran, terrorism, and civil conflict spillover while also harnessing the powers of technological advances and innovative reforms to modernize their economies. A new generation of leadership must adapt to a booming, educated, and globally-connected youth population, often unemployed and increasingly raising concerns about the rule of law and their role as citizens.

Featured commentary & analysis

Khoury on the Developing Situation in Yemen

MENASource
May 18, 2026

How Gulf investments are responding to the US-China critical minerals competition

By
Chenjie Song and Jonathan Fulton

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are seeking to maximize return on investment while maintaining strategic optionality.

China
Critical Minerals

Khoury on the Developing Situation in Yemen

MENASource
Apr 20, 2026

The Iran war has forced the US-Gulf alliance out of the shadows

By
Eric Alter

The Iran war is testing whether the informal strategic system the United States has assembled with its Gulf partners and Israel is strong enough to hold up amid a regional conflict.

Defense Policy
Iran

Khoury on the Developing Situation in Yemen

MENASource
Apr 20, 2026

‘They have been exposed’: The Iran war upends Gulf states’ security and business model

By
Stefanie Hausheer Ali

The Iran war threatens the sense of security, prosperity, and opportunity that the Gulf states have spent years cultivating as they seek to diversify their economies away from oil.

Critical Infrastructure Policy
Geopolitics & Energy Security

Podcast series

Listen to the latest episode of the China-MENA podcast, featuring conversations with academics, government leaders, and the policy community on China’s role in the Middle East.

Listen

Programs

Gulf Security Task Force

The Gulf Security Task Force is revisiting the question of how to best protect US interests in this sensitive, always relevant region. Our goal is to provide US decision-makers with an updated, fact-based strategy for protecting US interests in the air and maritime domain from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, and ensuring Gulf partners’ ability to assume this responsibility, with the assistance and leadership of the United States.

EXPLORE THE GULF SECURITY TASK FORCE

Learn more about the Middle East programs

Middle East Programs

Working with our allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

EXPLORE THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL’S MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMS

Content

In the News

Mar 25, 2015

Khoury on the Developing Situation in Yemen

By Nabeel Khoury

Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Nabeel Khoury joins NPR’s All Things Considered to discuss Yemen’s president fleeing the country and the withdrawal of US personnel from the country: Listen to the full interview here.

Yemen

Regional Security Initiative

Mar 23, 2015

Artful balance: The future of US defense strategy and force posture in the Gulf

By Bilal Y. Saab and Barry Pavel

A strategic review of US defense strategy and force posture in the Gulf is long overdue. In Artful Balance: Future US Defense Strategy and Force Posture in the Gulf, Bilal Y. Saab, Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, and Barry Pavel, Vice President and […]

Maritime Security Middle East

In the News

Mar 20, 2015

Khoury on the Violence in Yemen

By Nabeel Khoury

Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Nabeel Khoury joins PBS NewsHour to discuss rising violence, ethnic tensions, and power struggles in Yemen:

Yemen

MENASource

Mar 13, 2015

US Policy in Yemen: Creating Leverage

By Nabeel Khoury

In case there were still any doubts about Iran’s growing influence in Yemen, Tehran put that issue to rest with a hostage rescue operation last week, a pledge to provide the Houthis with a year’s worth of oil and electricity, and newly established daily commercial flights between Tehran and Sana’a.

Yemen
Gen. Martin Dempsey and Gen. Pierre de Villiers aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, March 8, 2015

NATOSource

Mar 9, 2015

For the First Time, France Puts Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle Under US Command

By Missy Ryan, Washington Post

When Gen. Martin Dempsey’s plane touched down Sunday on the deck of this ship, he became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in recent history — perhaps ever — to set foot on a French aircraft carrier, a sign of the two nations’ increasing operational unity in the campaign against the Islamic […]

France Iraq

In the News

Mar 6, 2015

Saab on the Military Capacity of UAE

By Bilal Saab

Bloomberg quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab on the military capacity of the United Arab Emirates and what it means for the fight against ISIS:

The Gulf

Defense Industrialist

Feb 26, 2015

The Ukrainian-Emirati Connection

By James Hasik

Sharply different histories of two armaments industries have led to a confluence of political and commercial opportunity.   No doubt, as Derek Chollet wrote Tuesday on Defense One, “Ukraine’s Military Needs More Than Just Arms”. Training and organizational reform will be essential for recovering its fighting efficiency. But as we should remind Washington and Paris and Berlin, […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

In the News

Feb 25, 2015

Khan on the Deteriorating Economic Situation in Yemen

By Mohsin Khan

Bloomberg quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Mohsin Khan on how the deteriorating economic situation in Yemen could lead to an even worse political crisis:

Yemen

MENASource

Feb 13, 2015

Anti-Houthi Protests in Yemen

By Victoria Heckenlaible

Thousands of men, women, and children flooded the streets this week in Sana’a and across Yemen protesting the Houthi takeover. The demonstrations came on the fourth anniversary of protests that forced former President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.

Yemen

MENASource

Feb 10, 2015

Lessons for Sinai from Yemen

By Nervana Mahmoud

Following the recent major attacks by militants that killed at least twenty-seven people, mostly soldiers, in Sinai, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made two important decisions. He has established a unified military command east of the Suez Canal to fight radical groups in the Sinai Peninsula. He has also pledged $1.3 billion to develop the […]

North Africa Yemen
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Experts

Millennium fellow

Sharif Abdelrazeq

Sustainability and Innovation Engineer, Consolidated Contractors Company

Millennium Leadership Program

Economy & Business Middle East

Fellow

Ahmed Aboudouh

Former Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Arabic China

Fellow

Osamah Al Rawhani

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Middle East Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

Fellow

Yesar Al-Maleki

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Geopolitics & Energy Security

Fellow

Perrihan Al-Riffai

Nonresident Senior Fellow

empowerME Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Economy & Business

Fellow

Samir Altaqi

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Middle East
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Events

Online Event Tue, July 28, 2026 • 11:30 am ET

Transforming IMEC in response to the Iran war
Critical Infrastructure Policy Europe & Eurasia India Iran