Matthew has two main research interests which he is focusing on while visiting CAIS. The first is a project, supported in part by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), looking at the nature and mechanisms of financial power in the Arab Gulf states, and linking this to his prior work on rentier theory and his more recent research on new forms of state capitalism in the Gulf. The second project examines the Middle East in the context of a reexamination of regional security complex theory (RSCT), looking at the extent to which the region forms a unique complex, and within that whether the Gulf and the Levant can still be considered sub-complexes. Matthew has been a professor in the School of International Liberal Studies (SILS), Waseda University, Tokyo, since 2016. Prior to that was at CAIS over 2005 – 2016, and worked for the Australian government in various roles over 1997 – 2005. Further details on him are available at: https://w-rdb.waseda.jp/html/100001423_en.html