Al Jazeera

Editor’s Note: Political and policy change in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states used to proceed at a glacial pace. No more. Gulf states are quarreling with each other and intervening right and left in the Arab world. Kristin Diwan of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington argues that the new media environment and a new generation of leaders mean that the old assumptions about what Gulf leaders want have fundamentally changed. As a result, policymakers will need a fresh playbook to handle today's Gulf leaders.

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