Details
On 4 December 2025, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS)’s Regional Programme Gulf States, in cooperation with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative and the Middle East Council on Global Affairs (MECGA), will host a closed-door roundtable discussion on strategic competition and regional agency in the Gulf. The discussion will take place at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs in Doha, Qatar.
The Gulf region today stands at the intersection of intensifying great-power competition and shifting geopolitical alignments. As the United States recalibrates its engagement in the Middle East, GCC countries find themselves navigating a complex environment shaped by the changing strategic ambitions of the United States, Russia, and China, the evolving role of European actors, and the emergence of new lines of confrontation and cooperation between regional players.
The dialogue in Doha will convene experts and policymakers from the United States, Europe, and the Gulf to explore how great and middle powers are redefining their presence, power projection, and partnerships in the region, focusing especially on Qatar. Held under the Chatham House Rule, the roundtable discussion will focus on the following topics:
- The future of US engagement in the Gulf region, and Qatari perspectives towards these developments;
- European engagement with the Gulf region, and Qatari perspectives towards European countries’ role on the Arabian Peninsula and beyond;
- Russian and Chinese strategic objectives and activities in the region, and Qatari positioning vis-Ã -vis the engagement of these actors;
- How Qatar and other Gulf states leverage their growing autonomy, influence, and economic statecraft to shape regional dynamics, and whether they are shaping or being shaped by the changing political order in the Middle East; and
- The role of European powers in promoting stability in the neighbourhood they share with the Gulf states.
The event in Doha represents the first of a series of roundtable discussions that KAS and the Atlantic Council will convene across the Gulf region, with subsequent dialogues planned in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in early 2026.
