This book examines the foreign policies of the GCC countries six years after the Arab uprisings, in terms of drivers, narratives, actions and outcomes, paying particular attention to Middle Eastern countries, Iran and Western international powers. The assessment focuses on current affairs, but also contributes to establishing a productive link between empirical studies and the existing theoretical frameworks that help explain the increasing foreign policy activism of the GCC countries. All in all, the articles collected in this book shed light on and provide a more solid and fine-grained understanding of how regional powers like Saudi Arabia, as well as the other smaller GCC countries, act and pursue their interests in an environment full of uncertainty, in the context of changing regional and global dynamics and power distribution.

Editorial Note Silvia Colombo and Eman Ragab 1 Between Accommodation and Opportunism: Explaining the Growing In¿uence of Small Gulf States in the Middle East Ma ¿te ¿ Szalai 2. Status and Foreign Policy Change in Small States: Qatar's Emergence in Perspective Babak Mohammadzadeh 3. Beyond Money and Diplomacy: Regional Policies of Saudi Arabia and UAE after the Arab Spring Eman Ragab 4. Foreign Policy Activism in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Diverging Narratives and Stances towards the Syrian and Yemeni Con¿icts Silvia Colombo 5. The Evolution of Saudi Foreign Policy and the Role of Decision-making Processes and Actors Umer Karim 6. Iran, the GCC and the Implications of the Nuclear Deal: Rivalry versus Engagement Riham Bahi 7. US-Arab Gulf Relations amidst Regional and Global Changes Dania Koleilat Khatib 8. Russia as a Gravity Pole of the GCC's New Foreign Policy Pragmatism Alexander Shumilin and Inna Shumilina