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Dr Robert Mason

@drrmason.bsky.social
50 followers 92 following 23 posts

Associate Professor at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Non-Resident Fellow with the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Delighted that this article is out now - "EU policy towards the sahel in the “post-West” era" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Here is a link to my interview with Gulan Magazine based in Irbil. In it I discuss regional tensions in light of my work on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as Iraq's position. www.gulanmedia.com/en/story/361...
gulanmedia.com
Professor Robert Mason to Gulan: Iraq could potentially serve as a useful venue for dialogue and de-escalation
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Ceasefire announced: - An important step towards deescalation - Reopens Strait of Hormuz, gets marime traffic moving - Iran's 10 point plan accepted by President Trump - Deal does not end the war - Questions over negotiating capacity, motivations and postures remain
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Reposted by Dr Robert Mason
Gordon Gray @ambgordongray.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...
washingtonpost.com
Meet the medicane, a hurricane’s Mediterranean cousin
The storm, which made landfall this week in Libya, is fairly infrequent, with only a dozen forming between 1982 and 2003.
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Contributed to AlQaheera News Channel tonight on the US-Israeli strikes against Iran and the regional fallout. youtube.com/shorts/YlTxT...
youtube.com
هل تريد أمريكا تغيير النظام أم تقسيم إيران؟
YouTube video by AlQahera News - القاهرة الإخبارية
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Reposted by Dr Robert Mason
Middle East Policy Council @mideastpolicy.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Best of ’25, cont.: the new (dis)order, from Iran-Israel to a WMD-free zone, new approach to collapsed states, Saudi hedging, regional corporate elite. With @thomasjuneau.bsky.social @banafshkeynoush.bsky.social @hannesbaumann.bsky.social @drrmason.bsky.social & many more mepc.org/commentaries...
mepc.org
Best Articles of 2025: New Regional (Dis)order - Middle East Policy Council
President Donald Trump has signed a law ending all American sanctions on Syria, one month after the Islamist former rebels who now run the government joined the fight against the Islamic State. Throug...
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Reposted by Dr Robert Mason
Middle East Policy Council @mideastpolicy.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
While Trump decides whether to launch a war on Iran, @drrmason.bsky.social focuses on the potential for a new nuclear deal to be a "platform" for the effort to turn the Middle East into a WMD-free zone. But this requires incentives for Israel to cooperate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Negotiating the Impossible? A WMD‐Free Zone in the Middle East
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have drawn attention to the role that nuclear weapons can play during periods of conflict and how regional crises can bar preventive diplomacy. Work toward establishing a...
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
It's been a pleasure to be a Visiting Professor at the University of Helsinki these past 2 weeks. I have engaged with faculty, students and the wider business and policy communities here and look forward to building on these ties in future.
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Hot off the press: 'Beyond import dependence: defence industry localisation strategies in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states' with Ali Bakir et al www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
My latest with Umer Karim looks at the Saudi - Pakistan defence deal and Gulf security www.eurasiareview.com/06102025-gul...
eurasiareview.com
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
3 weeks left to submit an abstract for this workshop on GCC state mediation gulfif.org/app/gss-work...
gulfif.org
Gulf Mediation in the Middle East: Drivers, Convergence and Prospects – GSS Workshop
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Call for abstracts out now. Deadline 31 October: gulfif.org/app/gss-work...
gulfif.org
Gulf Mediation in the Middle East: Drivers, Convergence and Prospects – GSS Workshop
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
'As AI transforms warfare and diplomacy, revising the Vienna Convention could provide the legal foundation to counter cyber threats, deepfakes, and digital sovereignty disputes.' My latest oped for The National Interest Techland: nationalinterest.org/blog/techlan...
nationalinterest.org
The Vienna Convention Needs an Update to Protect Against AI Threats
As AI transforms warfare and diplomacy, revising the Vienna Convention could provide the legal foundation to counter cyber threats, deepfakes, and digital sovereignty disputes.
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
The September 2025 issue of the JASIA [12:3] is now available online. You can access it directly by following this link: journals.sagepub.com/toc/AIA/curr...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
My latest co-authored piece is 'How the Trump-Musk Feud Could Reshape Space Policy and Rein in SpaceX' nationalinterest.org/blog/techlan...
nationalinterest.org
How the Trump-Musk Feud Could Reshape Space Policy and Rein in SpaceX
Trump’s feud with Musk opens a window to curb SpaceX’s unchecked power and protect US national security interests. President Donald Trump’s feud with Elon Musk might enhance US national security inter...
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Very good to have presented my paper that reassesses Buzan and Wæver's Regional Security Complex Theory as it relates to the Middle East at #isavirtual2025
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Useful analysis of risks associated with Israel and Iran's forward defence strategies en.majalla.com/node/326515/...
en.majalla.com
Two’s a crowd: the strategy of forward defence in the Middle East
Arming proxies and launching pre-emptive strikes was Iran's 'forward strategy' model since the devastating Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88. Then, from October 2023, Israel copied it. A recipe for disaster?
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Reposted by Dr Robert Mason
Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
“Preliminary intelligence assessments provided to European governments indicate that Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact following US strikes on its main nuclear sites, two officials have said.” Andrew England & Henry Foy, @financialtimes.com on.ft.com/4kSoxUW
on.ft.com
Early intelligence suggests Iran’s uranium largely intact, European officials say
Preliminary assessments suggest Tehran was able to move much of its stockpile
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
My latest piece is 'The Splintering of the Resistance Axis'. It argues that groups such as the Houthis are already building alliances with other non-state actors such as Al Shabaab, ensuring its survival and growth should further conflict cut support from Iran. gulfif.org/the-splinter...
gulfif.org
The Splintering of the Axis of Resistance - Gulf International Forum
Two days before the sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Oman, Israel launched a series of strikes on June 13, 2025, abruptly halting the...
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Middle East Policy has just published a special issue, The Israel-Iran War, which includes my spring 2025 article, "Negotiating the Impossible? A WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East." It's outside the paywall for at least the next four weeks. @mideastpolicy.bsky.social
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
My latest article on establishing a nuclear free zone in the Middle East has a fresh lease of life given the evolving facts on the ground in Iran. www.linkedin.com/posts/robert...
linkedin.com
US strikes against Iranian nuclear sites have drawn urgent international attention to the Iranian nuclear issue. | Robert Mason FRSA FHEA
US strikes against Iranian nuclear sites have drawn urgent international attention to the Iranian nuclear issue. In this edition of Middle East Policy below, my article on establishing a NWFZ in the M...
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Delighted to see this article is now out: 'From “Relative Autonomy” to “Relational Autonomy”? A Reappraisal of GCC State-Building and Foreign Policy' www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
From “Relative Autonomy” to “Relational Autonomy”? A Reappraisal of GCC State-Building and Foreign Policy
Our conceptual understanding of the international relations of the Arab Gulf States has been hitherto dominated by great power engagement in a fluid and fragmented Middle East, accompanied by Gulf ...
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Middle East Policy Council @mideastpolicy.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Still free to read in the Spring 2025 Middle East Policy: the Iran-Saudi dilemma in Gaza by @banafshkeynoush.bsky.social, busting Syria myths by Rob Geist Pinfold, Turkey’s ascendance by Saban Kardas, and curbing WMD by @drrmason.bsky.social. Plus many more. t.co/QbrR4fy6DP
t.co
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14754967/2025/32/1
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Call for papers: journals.sagepub.com/home/WAJ
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
010
Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
My recent intervention on the US and Eastern Mediterranean Security is available here mecouncil.org/publication_...
mecouncil.org
The United States of America and Eastern Mediterranean Security
The Mediterranean has often been a contested space, affected by the demise of the Ottoman Empire and the end of European empires in North Africa after the Second World War.
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
In my latest article for ORIENT, I write about 'President Trump’s Return to “Maximum Pressure” Against Iran.' orient-online.com
orient-online.com
Home - Orient Online
German Journal for Politics, Economics and Culture of the Middle East, published by the German Orient-InstitutennLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
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Reposted by Dr Robert Mason
Middle East Policy Council @mideastpolicy.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
All readers can access the news issue of Middle East Policy without charge through May 1! Check out analyses of Syria, Gaza, the US-Saudi deal, and reconciliation in conflict zones by @drrmason.bsky.social, @banafshkeynoush.bsky.social, and many others. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14754967...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Middle East Policy: Vol 32, No 1
Click on the title to browse this issue
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
This is a work in progress but as it stands offers in broad strokes what negotiations towards a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East could look like. Read more here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Guy Burton @guyburton.net · 20/02/2025
It's arrived! It's always satisfying to see a new book in print for the first time! Great chapters from co-authors @drrmason.bsky.social and Banafsheh Keynoush as well.
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Dr Robert Mason @drrmason.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
My latest piece on Oman’s economy argues that making key Omani industries as attractive as possible as FDI destinations will translate into more equitable deals and help further integrate Oman into the global economy. agsiw.org/omans-bid-to...
agsiw.org
Oman’s Bid to Attract Investment
As Oman pursues its Vision 2040 reform agenda, many opportunities could stem from closer economic and long-term alignment with neighbors and other major trading partners.
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