Expert Interviews is an exclusive series provided by The Gulf Nashra, where we sit down with leading researchers, policymakers, and analysts to examine the political, economic, and geopolitical dynamics shaping the Gulf, and what they mean for the rest of the world.
Today, we share our conversation with Professor F. Gregory Gause III. He is a Visiting Scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., and a Professor Emeritus of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service in Texas A&M University. Between 2014 and 2022, he served as Head of the School’s Department of International Affairs. His work focuses on Middle East politics and international relations, with particular expertise in the Arabian Peninsula. He is the author of three books and numerous scholarly articles examining Gulf politics, regional security, and state dynamics in the Middle East. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University in 1987 and his A.B. (summa cum laude) from Saint Joseph’s University in 1980. He also studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo and Middlebury College.
Given your long academic engagement with Gulf politics, you have witnessed major turning points in the region, from the Iran–Iraq War and Kuwait War to the 2003 Iraq War and today’s U.S.–Israeli confrontation with Iran. How does the current conflict compare to these earlier wars in terms of its impact on the Gulf? Do you see it as a continuation of past regional dynamics, or the beginning of a new phase in Gulf security and deterrence?
