Infrastructure Diplomacy and the Geo-Economics of Gulf Regional Order
Infrastructure Diplomacy and the Geo-Economics of Gulf Regional Order

Summary/Abstract: This article examines how infrastructure diplomacy is reshaping Gulf regional politics through the strategic deployment of transport, energy, and infrastructural networks. Moving beyond conventional analyses focused on hydrocarbons, security, and great-power alignments, it argues that infrastructures function as instruments of influence, interdependence, and competition. Adopting a geo-economic perspective, the study analyzes railways, ports, and cross-border energy systems as nested cases. Rail projects embody aspirations for Gulf unity yet remain constrained by national priorities; ports operate as arenas of competition and external engagement; and energy pipelines and grids sustain cooperation even amid crises such as the 2017–2021 blockade. By tracing these dynamics, the article advances a nuanced understanding of infrastructure diplomacy, showing how governance arrangements and material permanence determine whether infrastructures stabilize relations or intensify rivalries. The Gulf experience thus reveals how infrastructural architectures shape the stability and fluidity of regional order.

• Details
• Contents