The fifth Annual Gulf Studies Forum will begin at 9:00 am on Saturday 1 December 2018 at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha.

The forum is spread over two days and deals with two of the most relevant issues facing the Arab Gulf States. The first track explores Social Transformations and the identity, values, development, tribalism and languages these entail, which arrive at the ongoing Gulf Crisis and its impact on the shared Gulf identity. The second track focuses on US-Gulf relations, including the foundations of the relationship and its security and economic dimensions. These sessions also look at the future of these relations following regional and international transformations and the US shift towards energy production.

The forum includes speakers from around the world such as Mohamed Ghanem Al Rumaihi, Yacoub Al-Kandari, Kaltham Al Ghanim, Anthony Cordesman, Ross Harrison, David Laroche, Abdullah Baaboud, Daniel Serwar, Majed Al Ansari, Marwan Bishara and Yousef bin Hamad Al Balushi.

The forum opens with a public lecture on Day 1 by a professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and former US National Security Council member Gary Sick, entitled "America: The Hesitant Hegemon." A second lecture concludes day 2 of the forum, "The Future of Social Transformations in the GCC Countries," by a group of Gulf researchers.