September 17, 2026 | The University of Utah
GULF STATES FORUM
DAYTIME LECTURE & PANELS at Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House | 155 S. Central Campus Drive
REGISTER FOR THE GULF STATES FORUM
and
Global U Alumni Impact Award Dinner
EVENING DINNER at Natural History Museum of Utah | 301 Wakara Way
REGISTER FOR THE GLOBAL U ALUMNI IMPACT DINNER ONLY
A one-day event exploring education, economic diversification,
and innovation across the Gulf Region.
Designed to foster dialogue among academic, government, industry, and community leaders, the Gulf States Forum will examine opportunities for collaboration on issues shaping the future of the Gulf Region and its partnerships with the United States.
Community members, students, faculty, staff, and professionals interested in global affairs are encouraged to attend.
Schedule of Events
Community members, students, faculty, staff, and professionals interested in global affairs are encouraged to attend the Gulf States Forum. Apart from the evening dinner, all events are free and open to the public. Participants may attend all events or select sessions as their time and interests allow. Registration is required, and space is limited.
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Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House
8 – 9 a.m.
Check-in and Continental Breakfast
Check-in and enjoy breakfast while networking with fellow attendees from government, higher education, industry, and the community.9 – 10 a.m.
Keynote Address | His Excellency Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, Secretary General, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
His Excellency will share his vision for regional cooperation, innovation, higher education, and the evolving partnership between the Gulf States and leading research universities. The keynote will set the tone for the day's discussions and highlight opportunities for future collaboration.10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Networking Break
Attendees will have the opportunity to continue conversations sparked during the keynote while connecting with colleagues, speakers, and invited guests.10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Moderated Panel Discussion
Moderated by University of Utah leadership and distinguished regional experts, the Forum will reflect on His Excellency’s wide-ranging diplomatic career and explore the history and future role of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Topics will include U.S.-Gulf partnerships in higher education, investment, innovation, economic diversification, sustainability, and regional diplomacy and security.Moderator:
Michael Christopher Low, Director, Middle East Center, University of UtahDistinguished Panelists:
Bader Mousa Al-Saif, Assistant Professor, Kuwait University
Dania Thafer, Director, Gulf International Forum -
Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House
12 – 1 p.m.
Networking Lunch
A hosted lunch providing attendees the opportunity to continue discussions, strengthen professional relationships, and explore opportunities for future collaboration.1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Guest Lecture | U.S.-Gulf Relations after the Iran War—what (and where) next?
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
The Iran War has upended longstanding assumptions in the Gulf States over the role of the United States in the region. Since the Gulf War of 1991, the U.S. has been viewed as a positive contributor to security arrangements in the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf. Developments before and after the launch of kinetic operations against Iran on February 28 have raised questions about the U.S. as a partner as the Gulf States have paid a steep price for a war of choice that has placed them on the frontline of a conflict they sought to avoid. This talk will place the current uncertainty in recent historical perspective, assess the implications of the Iran War for regional security and international relationships, and look ahead to identify the factors that will shape the next phase of U.S. engagement in the Gulf.3 – 4:30 p.m.
Roundtable | Gulf Futures in the Shadow of the Iran War
This roundtable brings together a distinguished cast of area experts to discuss the uncertain future of the region. In recent years, the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, have enjoyed an elevated place on the global stage. The region's ambitious plans for economic diversification, technological innovation, sustainability, aviation, tourism, and sports have captured imaginations far beyond their borders. In the wake of the 2026 Iran War, however, Gulf visions of the future face new risks and obstacles. We will ask leading experts to guide us through a region in flux. Topics will include the changing face of U.S.-Gulf relations and security cooperation, the future status of the Strait of Hormuz, new regional and global alliances, Gulf energy markets, and the likely fate of the region's economic diversification plans.Moderator:
Michael Christopher Low, Director, Middle East Center, University of UtahDistinguished Panelists:
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, Rice University
Andrew Leber, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Tulane University
Karen E. Young, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University -
Natural History Museum of Utah
$60/guest; $15/current UofU students
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Reception
Hosted reception and time to explore the museum's collections.7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Global U Alumni Impact Award Dinner
The University of Utah will proudly present the inaugural Global U Alumni Impact Award to His Excellency Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in recognition of his distinguished leadership, commitment to regional cooperation, and longstanding support of higher education and international collaboration.The evening will celebrate the University's expanding partnerships throughout the Gulf States while recognizing the important role education plays in advancing innovation, diplomacy, and global engagement.
The Global U Impact Dinner is a community celebration; all are welcome but registration is required. Tickets are $60 per guest ($15 for current University of Utah students). All proceeds will support the University of Utah International Students Emergency Fund, which provides financial support for unusual and unforeseen emergency expenses for international students.
SPECIAL GUESTS
Global U Alumni Impact Honoree
Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi
Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council
As the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Al Budaiwi now leads one of the most significant regional organizations, representing over 60 million people across six nations – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In this capacity, he works at the highest levels of global diplomacy, guiding policy and dialogue on issues of energy, trade, security, and humanitarian assistance. His tenure has already been marked by efforts to strengthen unity among GCC member states, while expanding partnerships with international organizations and governments worldwide.
From his earliest service as a Diplomatic Attaché in 1991 to his current role as Secretary General of the GCC, AlBudaiwi has dedicated over three decades to advancing dialogue, fostering economic stability, and promoting mutual understanding. His diplomatic postings have taken him from Japan, Austria, and South Korea to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Union, NATO and, most recently, the United States of America, where he served as Kuwait’s Ambassador prior to assuming leadership of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in February 2023.
The Gulf States Forum honors AlBudaiwi’s extraordinary career in diplomacy, his commitment to global peace and cooperation, and his profound impact on the international community since graduating from the University of Utah in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS
Dr. Bader Mousa Al-Saif
Dr. Andrew Leber
Dr. Michael Christopher Low
Dr. Dania Thafer
Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Dr. Karen E. Young
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His Excellency Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the regional organization representing Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Secretary-General AlBudaiwi ('91) will be recognized for his global leadership with the inaugural International Alumni of the Year award.
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Dr. Bader Mousa Al-Saif is a historian of the modern and contemporary Middle East and Islamic thought. He focuses on the Arabian Peninsula, namely its geopolitics, public policy, culture, reform dynamics, transnational trends, and gender studies. He is an assistant professor at Kuwait University, the founding president of Al-Saif Consulting, and a fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and the Arab Gulf States Institute.
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Dr. Andrew Leber is an Assistant Professor at Tulane University in the Department of Political Science and the Middle East & North African (MENA) Studies program. His work examines public policymaking and media ecosystems under non-democracies, with a particular focus on the politics of the Middle East (or West Asia) and North Africa.
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Dr. Michael Christopher Low is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Utah. Low is the author of Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj (Columbia University Press, 2020). He is currently working on a new book project tracing the entangled environmental histories of water, desalination technology, energy, and climate change in the Arabian Peninsula.
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Dr. Dania Thafer is the Executive Director of Gulf International Forum, an institute based in Washington, D.C. that provides analysis on political, economic, social, and security issues for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iran, Iraq and Yemen. She is also a Lecturer for Arabian Peninsula affairs at the U.S. State Department’s National Foreign Affairs Training Center.
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Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen is Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and co-director of the Middle East Energy Roundtable. His research examines the changing position of Persian Gulf states in the global order, as well as the emergence of longer-term, nonmilitary challenges to regional security.
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Dr. Karen E. Young, a political economist focused on the Gulf and the wider Middle East economies and energy sector. She is Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University SIPA. She also serves as a senior advisor to the founding director on scholarship. She is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute and is director of the Initiative on Economics and Energy.
EVENT HOSTS
About the University of Utah Middle East Center
For more than sixty years the University of Utah's Middle East Center has served as a hub for the scholarly examination of the region. Bringing together than more 30 faculty affiliates from across campus, the Middle East Center facilitates research, teaching, public events, and community outreach. It provides faculty with the resources and intellectual environment to realize cutting-edge research and connect with our scholarly peers from across the nation and the globe. The Center works with the College of Humanities and many partner departments, including World Languages and Cultures, History, and Political Science, to facilitate language learning in Arabic and Persian and an interdisciplinary Middle East BA track within International and Area Studies. The Center also partners with the University of Utah Press to produce a book series, Transregional Middle Easts.
About the University of Utah Office for Global Engagement
The University of Utah Office for Global Engagement advances the University's global mission by fostering international partnerships, supporting student and faculty engagement abroad, welcoming international students and scholars, and creating opportunities that connect the University community to the world.
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