Silicon Statecraft: How U.S.-Gulf AI Deals Project Power

The United States is projecting power through "Silicon Statecraft," using AI infrastructure deals as a primary tool of foreign policy in the Arabian Gulf. In this new great-power contest, data centers and advanced chips are becoming as strategically important as military bases, binding partners to a specific technology ecosystem. By tying investments in Gulf nations to strict governance and security requirements, Washington aims to align regional partners with its interests and crowd out Chinese platforms. To make this influence durable, the U.S. must create standardized deals with enforceable safeguards that turn these technology partnerships into a lasting source of influence.