Petro Diplomacy 2024 | Session 4: The Return of Geopolitical Risk

Petro Diplomacy 2024: The Countdown to Net Zero June 11, 2024 For the 10th consecutive year, AGSIW convened its Petro Diplomacy conference, bringing together private and public sector stakeholders from the United States and the Gulf Arab countries to discuss emerging trends in energy markets and regional politics. Speakers Jon Alterman, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies Anna Borshchevskaya, Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute DB Des Roches, Non-Resident Fellow, AGSIW; Associate Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University Hussein Ibish, Senior Resident Scholar, AGSIW (Moderator) Session 4: The Return of Geopolitical Risk Conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine have caused thousands of casualties, disrupted the global geopolitical order, and redirected trade flows. The Iran-backed Houthis have wreaked havoc on shipping through the Red Sea while consolidating their presence in areas under their control in Yemen. The United States has been drawn back to the Middle East, ostensibly to prevent an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, where the risk of a wider conflagration drawing in regional and external players cannot be ruled out. What are the prospects of a resolution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict once the guns fall silent? Will the United States be forced to return as a security guarantor and peacemaker, or has it tarnished its image as an honest broker? What role will the Gulf Arab states play in a postwar scenario? What are the prospects for a peaceful resolution to the Yemen conflict and generally for peace in the wider Middle East? agsiw.org