RIYADH: Written tributes are being requested in memory of Abdulaziz Alghashian, the Saudi political researcher and commentator who died suddenly in Riyadh on Oct. 18.
Alghashian was a political analyst and geopolitics expert known for his incisive, bite-sized commentary on sensitive issues, including Saudi-Israeli and Arab-Israeli relations. He dedicated his career to building bridges and fostering greater understanding and tolerance.
The Gulf International Forum, an independent, nonprofit Washington-based institute focused on the Gulf region, where Alghashian was a senior non-resident fellow, issued a call on X for tributes from those who knew him.
“To honor the memory of our senior non-resident fellow, Dr. Aziz Alghashian, the Forum is compiling a book of letters and personal memories to share with his family,” it said. “We invite those who knew Aziz to share their reflections and help us celebrate his life.”
A prominent voice in discussions in Saudi Arabia and abroad, Alghashian was a regular contributor to English-language media, where outlets relied on his expertise to explain the complexities of regional diplomacy.
He grew up in Washington, D.C., spending many of his formative years in the US capital. His career began with officer training at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK and he went on to earn a BA in international relations and global security from Nottingham Trent University. This was followed by an MA in diplomacy and international relations from the University of Nottingham.
In 2019, he earned a Ph.D. from the Department of Government at the University of Essex. His doctoral thesis, titled “Between Passive and Active: The Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy Towards Israel,” became a cornerstone of his academic reputation. He taught international relations at his alma mater, the University of Essex, before expanding his intellectual influence globally.
Despite growing up in the West, Alghashian spent much of his professional career in Riyadh, offering informed insights from the ground. He spent years researching Gulf-Israeli relations, including the Abraham Accords and their implications for Palestinian rights.
He brought a nuanced Saudi perspective to highly polarized geopolitical debates. Active on X, his final posts, published days before his death, reflected his efforts to counter inaccuracies surrounding recent attacks on Saudi Arabia.
In his final tweet, on Oct. 14, he wrote: “One of #Saudi’s political commentators says the “#Houthis are the ‘butchers of pilgrims’ and whoever calls them ‘Ansar-Allah (champions of God)’ identifies with terrorism.”
He also offered immediate analysis of the attack on Riyadh airport, describing it as “perhaps the biggest mass casualty tragedy in Saudi since the #AlQaeda campaign in the mid-2000s.”
“If there was no previous appetite for a long campaign against the #Houthis, I think this terrorist attack will change that,” he wrote.
Days earlier, he had posted footage of himself appearing on several English-language programs to analyze the ongoing conflict.
Hassan Al-Mustafa, a fellow Saudi writer and researcher specializing in religious discourse and relations between Gulf Cooperation Council states and Iran, recently paid tribute to Alghashian in Arab News.
“Alghashian made his mark as a single scholar with modest resources. Through his knowledge, character, openness and measured views, he earned the respect of a wide circle of researchers, as the flood of tributes after his death showed.”
The deadline for submissions to the Alghashian tribute book is Nov. 2. Contributions can be submitted through an online form shared on the Gulf International Forum’s social media account.