Research & Scholarship

CIRS is undertaking a multi-year research initiative that will explore questions related to the topic of innovation in the Gulf region. Grants are available for this project.

The Arab migrant communities present in the Gulf have been a neglected area and merit further scholarly discussion and focus. In line with this, CIRS is launching a new multi-disciplinary research initiative. Grants are available for this project.

The Politics and the Media in the Post-Arab Spring Middle East research project explores the role of traditional and new media across the Middle East before, during, and after the events of the Arab Spring.

The Weak States in the Greater Middle East project examines the causes and consequences of the fragility of states from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east to Sudan and Libya in the west.

The Social Change in Post-Khomeini Iran research initiative examines some of the most important topics within contemporary Iran, focusing on its social, cultural, economic, and political domains.

The Evolving Ruling Bargain in the Middle East project will scrutinize the ways in which domestic political arrangements in the Middle East are evolving, and how the authoritarian bargains are being challenged.

This project brings together a renowned group of scholars to examine the issues of religious, communal, and ethnic identities in the Gulf, and how these impose themselves on both the domestic and international politics of the Gulf.

The Food Security and Food Sovereignty in the Middle East research initiative is comprised of original, empirically-grounded investigations that collectively offer the most comprehensive study available to date on food security in the Middle East.

The Migrant Labor in the Persian Gulf research initiative examines the multiple causes, processes, and consequences of labor migration in this region from the disciplinary perspectives of sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics.

The Nuclear Question in the Middle East research initiative looks into nuclear proliferation concerns associated with ambitious goals to introduce nuclear power in the Gulf states.

Under The Political Economy of the Gulf project, scholars examined topics such as the role of sovereign wealth funds; the rise and fall of the "Dubai model"; regional patterns of economic development; and other similar topics.