Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, led a roundtable discussion at CAIS on 1 November. Dr Coates Ulrichsen's research examines the changing position of Persian Gulf states in the global order, as well as the emergence of longer-term, non-military challenges to regional security. Coates Ulrichsen has published extensively on the Gulf. His most recent book is 'The Gulf States in International Political Economy', ( Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). Currently, he is completing a book entitled, 'The United Arab Emirates: Power, Politics, and Policymaking', (Routledge, late 2016).

Dr Ulrichsen  discussed the rise of the Gulf States as interventionist regional powers for policy-making in the Middle East and North Africa as the region emerges unsteadily from the Arab Spring. The evidence that Gulf officials are prepared to ‘go it alone’ and act unilaterally or, at best, as a loose regional bloc to secure their interests in transition states, is evident most visibly in coalition military operations in Yemen since March 2015 but also a feature of Gulf policies elsewhere as well. Dr Ulrichsen explained how different GCC states backed different sides at various points and aid was provided not impartially but was instead linked indelibly to particular political currents rather than being tied to outcomes such as reforms to governance or improvements in transparency. While the emergence of the Gulf States as visible global actors predated the Arab Spring, it acquired a potent new dimension once the initial shock of the upheaval had subsided, and explored in detail the practical implications of the alignment of growing capabilities (in the political, economic, and security arenas).