Research Library

This research paper examines how underlying shifts in security dynamics in the Persian Gulf may evolve as regional states respond to the perception of receding U.S. leadership by further diversifying security relationships and internationalizing what until the 2010s had been a solidly Western-centric web of partnerships. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25613/n8xe-hj20

Energy fellow Jim Krane investigates the strategy of “security through investment,” in which states deliberately use foreign direct investment to balance against a regional hegemon. This working paper is part of a series titled “The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Resource-Rich Regions.”

The authors examine the recent attacks on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations to shed light on the current state of U.S.-Gulf strategic relations and the potential directions of its evolution in coming years.

This report analyzes political and religious authority in Saudi Arabia under the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The good news: we managed to get through June and July without war in the Persian Gulf. The bad news: the risk of conflict remains high. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2MKqWDS

"With the U.S. and Iran staggering toward war, it bears asking: How would U.S. interests be served by war with Iran?" writes fellow Jim Krane. Read his argument for why U.S. interests would be deeply undermined by any such war on the Baker Institute Blog.  This post originally appeared in the Forbes Blog on June 17, 2019.

A pending bill in Congress would hobble OPEC by opening the door to anti-trust lawsuits against government-owned oil companies. This brief examines the multiple ways such legislation, known as NOPEC, would undermine critical U.S. interests. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25611/rezh-fc53

As Persian Gulf countries consider a future in which hydrocarbons play a smaller role in their economies, much of the Arab world remains embroiled in conflict and political uncertainty. This report recaps a conference on the impact of these issues on both Houston and U.S. energy and security interests.

By Hamad H. Albloshi, Kuwait University The organization of the Kuwaiti political system is conducive to the successive rise and fall of pluralistic social movements, writes the author. This brief is the third of four resulting from a May 2018 workshop held in Kuwait by the Baker Institute in partnership with the Alsalam Center for Strategic and Developmental Studies. This work is part of a two-year project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York on “Building Pluralistic and Inclusive States Post-Arab Spring.”

Fellow Joe Barnes blogs on the Trump administration's new approach to Iran, as laid out by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo