Sebastian Sons works as a senior researcher for the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO). Prior to that, he served as an advisor for the Regional Programme “Cooperation with Arab Donors” (CAD) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. He holds a Ph.D. from the Humboldt University Berlin. His thesis deals with media discourses on labor migration from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia. He studied Middle Eastern Studies, Contemporary History and Political Sciences in Berlin and Damascus. He was further trained as journalist in print, TV and radio media at the Berlin School for Journalists (Berliner Journalisten-Schule). After finishing his studies, he worked as Head of Research and Editor-in-Chief of the academic magazine Orient at the German Orient-Institute from 2009-2014 and as a project researcher at the Program Near East and North Africa at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin. As a political analyst, he is consulted by German and international political institution as well as by international journalists to provide expertise on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. He provides his expertise to institutions such as the European Union, ministries from different European countries, SIPRI, International Crisis Group, the Middle East Institute among others. He published two books dealing with the Gulf monarchies. His
new book “The New Rulers of the Gulf and Their Quest for Global Influence” (in German) will be published in autumn 2023. He is traveling to the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council frequently since 2009. His fields of interest include EU-GCC relations, development cooperation policies and foreign assistance policy of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, GCC’s migration policies, sport diplomacy and sports for development concepts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, South-Asian migration to the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and political and economic engagement of the Gulf monarchies in Africa