الحمدلله الذي بنعمه تتم الصالحات. نلت درجة دكتوراة الفلسفة في التاريخ بامتياز مع مرتبة الشرف من جامعة جورجتاون في مايو ٢٠١٩. عنوان الأطروحة "إسلام إصلاحي؟ تجديد الفكر الإسلامي وممارساته في الجزيرة العربية في العصر الحديث والمعاصر."

هل تقتضي التحولات الإقليمية الراهنة حضورًا أوسع للأمن القومي في الرؤى الوطنية الخليجية؟ في مقاله "الأمن في الرؤى الوطنية الخليجية"، يناقش الدكتور بدر السيف كيفية تناول الرؤى الوطنية لدول الخليج لموضوع الأمن القومي، وكيف تحظى قضايا الأمن الاقتصادي والغذائي والمائي والسيبراني بحضور أكبر من قضايا الدفاع والأمن. ويتحدث الدكتور بدر عن أهمية تحديث هذه الرؤى في ظل التحولات الإقليمية الراهنة عبر تحديد المبادئ الأمنية لكل دولة خليجية قبل أن يتم دمج هذه المفاهيم الأمنية ضمن رؤية خليجية أوسع. لقراءة المقال كاملًا: rutba.net/%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%a7… @bmalsaif

The way the US meeting unfolded with its regional partners in New York is a reminder that the US is not taking regional security into serious consideration.   The #US took the region into a war without thinking through the consequences, and they've been dealing with the Houthis in an unpredictable manner.   In January 2025, President Trump designated them as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and went after them with an aerial campaign between March and May 2025.   Then, all of a sudden, he struck a deal with the Houthis, without taking into account the maritime interests of his partners, including the Saudis. US-Houthi dynamics in the last few weeks have some parallels to 2025 (and it doesn’t preclude further unpredictability down the line). As to the NYC meeting, the optics looked off. It was first marketed as a GCC-US meeting, and then it expanded to include six more states – five Arab and Turkey. These are countries with different interests and assessments of what’s happening. Among the 12 countries in attendance, the Gulf states have been the hardest hit in this war. If this meeting was meant to assuage the concerns of the Gulf, it didn’t look good. It sent a signal concerning the level of attention given to the Gulf and its needs and aspirations. Obviously, the big ask in the region is to get on with the show and arrive at a peaceful resolution. There was nothing transformative coming out from this meeting, nor from the US-Iran meeting even with reports of ongoing #Iran-US talks. The parties to the war are still playing with time. The fear among Gulf states is the normalization of a stalemate, a frozen conflict or, equally damaging, an open ended conflict. Another concern is an Iran-US deal that doesn’t take into account Gulf Arab interests. That’s why pursuing regional solutions should continue unabated. No denial of the US role in it all (war and peace), but we shouldn’t let external actors determine the trajectory of the region.

Moving forward requires specific asks and actionable details, paired with a mutual willingness to drop maximalist positions. Regional actors are working hard to introduce innovative proposals to break the stalemate. #USIranWar

While Trump frames the US approach toward Iran as a binary choice between annihilation and a deal, reality points toward a frozen conflict. Yesterday’s high-level meetings (Iran-US, MENA-US) have not yielded breakthroughs, but they demonstrate that diplomatic avenues remain viable. Renewed Iran-US engagement and Trump's continued reference to it should serve as a signal to Gulf states to independently pursue their own national interests and negotiate directly with Tehran. With @BBCWorld

Timely and important piece by @allawati and @BeckyCNN that includes my thoughts. edition.cnn.com/2026/09/22/m…

“We need to snap out of this external protector syndrome.”

“We’re stuck in this position of trying to build something new while maintaining some of the old,” said Bader Al-Saif. “We need to snap out of this external protector syndrome.” nytimes.com/2026/09/15/world…

The amendments are part of Kuwait’s financial and legal makeover, according to Bader Al-Saif. “Kuwait needs to assess its standing, assets, tools and expand its range of possibilities amid this shaky geopolitical climate,” Al-Saif said. “Facelifting the 50-year-old FGF law fits that mode and holistic legal reforms underway.” bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Pleasure joining Leila Fadel @NPR to discuss the Iran-US conflict, its impact on the Gulf, and the birth pangs of a new Middle East. one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=n…

People see the current conflict as the latest chapter in their fight for independence, said Bader Al-Saif, a historian at Kuwait University and an associate fellow at Chatham House. It's a struggle that has colored much of the nation's history, he said. "Kuwait had to constantly manage external threats and contend with much larger, and at times more powerful, neighbors," Al-Saif said at a café in a suburb of Kuwait City. That intensified after the Iraqi invasion. "That trauma lingers especially with 308 missing persons, unresolved maritime borders with both Iran and Iraq, and the return to war in the past few months." bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Trump’s inconsistency has alarmed the Gulf, said Bader Al-Saif. “Even before all this back and forth with Trump, there was no clear strategy,” said Al-Saif. He cited the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran in June. “The MOU was a joke,” he said. The agreement didn’t address the Gulf states’ top concerns, including Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal or Tehran’s support for proxy forces. “Those terms were not terms of our liking,” Al-Saif said, “and that’s why it died out sooner than later.” Iran continues to launch drones and missiles against Kuwait, but in the capital, much of life has returned to normal, Al-Saif said. “We have been through worse,” he said, referring to the 1990 invasion by Iraq that triggered the Persian Gulf War. “We handled the occupation. We can handle this.” The security lockdown from the war’s earlier stage has been largely lifted. Businesses are open, traffic has returned to city streets and Al-Saif has resumed teaching in person. But the conflict, he said, must not continue much longer. “A quick end is obviously something we want,” he said. “The Gulf War was much more straightforward than today.” Pleasure talking to @sgreports. washingtonpost.com/world/202…

ممتن للأستاذ الدكتور فهد الناصر على هذه اللفتة الكريمة.

We need to focus on the long term. We’re part of a promising region despite the setbacks: our booming population, human and financial capital speak for themselves. Regional peace and prosperity are indivisible. Both sides of the Gulf need to work together towards a common pathway. @AJEnglish

The Middle East is not wedded to conflict. We need to go regional and avoid external actors dictating the way forward. We also need to exercise empathy and deal with Iran as hard as that is given its ongoing attacks and past track record. We extend our hands to Iran despite the attacks we’ve sustained. Prosperity is shared - it cannot be held by one group and not the other, and that’s the vision of the gulf states for the region. Part of my talk at the annual conference of the @MEI_NUS.

“We can benefit from one another, intertwine interests, to make the cost of returning to war higher,” said Bader Al-Saif, a historian at Kuwait University. “If I have an Iranian plant in Kuwait City, they’re going to think twice before hitting us, right?” nytimes.com/2026/06/21/us/ir…

Hamas is not directly involved in the current Iran-US conflict, even as Tehran mobilizes proxy networks across Iraq and Yemen. Still, these network actors - including Hamas - retain their agency. Lebanon, not Gaza, has featured prominently in Iran's calculus. The Palestinian cause has remained absent from the current contestation.

The people of Gaza have endured indescribable suffering and deserve lasting solutions. Today's Hamas disarmament announcement is big on headlines, short on detail. A sustainable agreement must rest on firm grounds. Right now, there are more questions than answers: Israel and PIJ onboard? Sequencing of Israeli withdrawal versus Hamas disarmament? Destination of confiscated arms? Composition of the multinational force? I discuss the latest on @BBCBreaking.

كيف يمكن للعلاقات الخليجية الأمريكية أن تسير على مسار أكثر استقراراً وفاعلية؟ أناقش في هذا المقال التحولات التي تشهدها العلاقات الخليجية الأمريكية في ظل إدارة ترامب الثانية، مع ما يرافقها من تباين في الأولويات، وما المطلوب لتطويرها. rutba.net/%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%A7…