The US-Israel-Iran war has fundamentally upended the reputation of the Arabian Gulf as an island of security in a turbulent Middle East. Yet, even as hostilities continue, regional states are already thinking about the day after and what the outcome of the conflict will mean for their technology ambitions.
The Gulf states have made the development of national artificial intelligence programs a top strategic priority, central to how they think about their post-oil political economies and the diversification policies that will define their geopolitical identities in the 21st century. With sovereign compute buildouts accelerating and ties with American technology firms deepening, Gulf countries are positioning themselves as indispensable nodes in the global AI infrastructure race. Has the Iran war undermined those objectives? Or will the underlying calculus support the preexisting regional trends?
This event marks the release of AI, the Gulf, and the US: A Primer, a report authored by MEI Senior Fellow Mohammed Soliman, which examines the fundamental strategic rationale behind the Arabian Gulf states’ AI ambitions and their implications for US national interests. Copies of his recent book West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East will be available for purchase.
Panel Speakers
Mohammed Soliman is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute and Director at McLarty Associates, where he focuses on technology policy and AI infrastructure across emerging markets. He is the author of West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East.
Samuel Hammond is Director of Artificial Intelligence Policy and Chief Economist at the Foundation for American Innovation. He previously served as Director of Social Policy at the Niskanen Center and as an economist for the Government of Canada.
Kenneth M. Pollack(Moderator) is Vice President for Policy at the Middle East Institute. A former CIA analyst and two-time National Security Council Director — serving as principal official for US policy toward Iraq, Iran, and the Gulf — he is the author of ten books on Middle Eastern political-military affairs, including Armies of Sand and Unthinkable.
