Previous research on Middle Eastern foreign policy has focused on religious, ethnic, sectarian and ideological identities as factors influencing the execution of foreign policy. Nevertheless, the importance of tribes in the Arabian Peninsula has not been extensively examined, despite its penetration of many levels of society, from the ruling families to grassroots components of society. This paper aims to focus on tribes as a major factor in explaining the foreign policies of Gulf countries. The paper will work on developing a theoretical framework, which will be multi-level starting from the decision-making structures to the regional environment and transnational identity, here tribalism. Process tracing and case study methods will be in place to refer to the development of tribal history and relations among GCC leaders and states plus putting the framework into test by having a case study, the ongoing Gulf Crisis. Moreover, the paper will draw on information that the researcher expects to find when he starts his fieldwork in the region in March. The decision-making level will focus on the policymakers and the tribal history they share together. Most ruling families used to live in areas that do not belong to their modern states and used to deal with each other under the British protection. The study of leaders is necessary if we are to understand the formulation of foreign policy regarding threat, friendship and alliance. This is important with regard to the Gulf: such is the under-development of foreign policy bureaucracies. The regional level is the immediate environment of states and the transnational identities. The paper will focus on the transnational nature of tribes given the role they played in the formation of the state. This has helped tribes to penetrate the political system and created a new source of threat to the state given the nomadic nature of tribes before independence, which resulted in having branches of the same tribe in different countries. Such phenomenon can undermine the state’s sovereignty and also gives a way to some countries to intervene. By incorporating this theoretical framework into foreign policy analysis in the Gulf, we may be able to better explain certain foreign policy actions. According to the Omani foreign minister, the Gulf crisis has to do with tribal affairs among Gulf countries. Therefore, developing a new theoretical framework where tribal identity is a major factor to explain foreign policy actions can help understanding the inter-Gulf politics.