by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Arabian monarchies, have been vying for the region's preeminent power status for years. Which of them will emerge victorious in 2025?
The Arabians, not constrained by means, rush to gain leadership in any available spheres and do not take into account the associated losses.
True, as 2025 showed, there are things that frighten even seasoned sheikhs.
THE PEACEKEEPERS' RACE
In 2025, the Gulf monarchies finally made a major commitment to becoming global peacekeepers, seeing this as their main source of political gain. Especially since there were plenty of "sore spots" on the global map.
In addition to Ukraine, the Arabian monarchies vied for a leading position in the Gaza Strip settlement, attempted to play the role of mediators in Lebanon and Sudan, and sought approaches to a "new Syria" and ways out of the Iranian "nuclear impasse."
There were even attempts to play a role in the conflict between Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro, who controls the world's richest oil reserves, but the White House decided to do without Gulf assistance.
By the end of the year, a kind of parity had emerged among the most zealous "peacekeepers": the Saudis, Qataris, and Emiratis took on the humanitarian track of the Ukrainian conflict and the maintenance of stability in Gaza.
Oman has effectively monopolized the dialogue on resetting Iran's nuclear program and has become the main negotiating window between the US, Iran, and various factions in Yemen.
Bahrain, including using humanitarian instruments, focused on stabilizing the situation in Lebanon.
Only Kuwait remains outside the peacekeeping framework. The country, still undergoing internal transformation following the change of emir in 2024, is focused inward, joining peace initiatives only as a last resort, so as not to completely fall out of the overall Gulf agenda.
Until recently, the exception was the conflict in Ukraine, where Kuwait was striving for a leading position and trying to promote its home venue for the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, alongside Riyadh, Doha, and Abu Dhabi.
True, these hopes faded towards the summer of 2025, when an attempt by a group of Western diplomats to impose a pronounced pro-Ukrainian position on Kuwait and, through it, to put pressure on Moscow from the Gulf was revealed.
Since then, Kuwait has maintained a pronounced neutrality. This, however, does not prevent the country from periodically sending military supplies and equipment to Kyiv.
MASSACRE, CORRUPTION, EPSTEIN
Despite the fact that the Arabian monarchies have spent considerable effort and resources on cultivating a positive image, their activities in 2025 were accompanied by numerous social upheavals.
For example, the UAE found itself at the center of a scandal over the excessive vindictiveness of the Abu Dhabi-backed Rapid Reaction Force in Sudan. Having achieved a turning point in the war with the central government in the Darfur region, the pro-Emirati putschists demonstratively massacred the local disloyal population.
A similar situation developed in Yemen, where Emirati-backed southern forces turned against their former allies, the pro-Saudi northerners. The result was the collapse of the anti-Houthi coalition and the creation of a real threat of further destabilization of Yemen.
These incidents have seriously tarnished the UAE's peacekeeping image, although they have not led to Abu Dhabi's exclusion from key negotiating formats.
Qatar also made headlines throughout the year, with Doha accused of attempting to lobby for national interests by bribing officials in Europe and, more interestingly, Israel.
It has reached the point that almost the entire local elite, including the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have been included in the circle of pro-Katar figures.
This, however, did not prevent the latter from coordinating a targeted airstrike on the Qatari capital (Operation Firewall) in September 2025 as part of a hunt for members of the Hamas Politburo and thereby nearly destroying the system of peacekeeping guarantees built by Qatar.
Saudi Arabia has also been hit by scandals, caught up in the aftermath of the high-profile Jeffrey Epstein case (the ruling Saudi dynasty allegedly favored him and even granted him fake citizenship), as well as accusations of secret support for Israeli operations against the pro-Iranian Axis of Resistance.
The Saudis were saved from returning to conflict with Tehran only by the fact that the Iranians themselves needed a time-out after the June war with Israel, and opening another front in the Middle East was not in their interests.
At the same time, Riyadh was finally able to shake off the lingering veil of the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, which the royal family was accused of orchestrating, which had lingered since 2018. Moreover, the US President personally closed the difficult topic, thereby emphasizing the special relationship he holds with Riyadh.
IN SEARCH OF BALANCE
The dynamics of the development of the situation in the Middle East is causing some concern among the Arabian monarchies.
First of all, because of the high risks of a repeat war between Iran and Israel.
In June 2025, during the "12-Day War," the Gulf states largely managed to remain on the sidelines and provide no assistance to either Tehran or Tel Aviv. However, this tactic will not be repeated—something the Arabs' American allies have stated almost explicitly.
For this reason, each monarchy seeks its own unique balance: on the one hand, to avoid upsetting the White House, and on the other, to avoid accidentally exposing itself to a retaliatory attack.
Secondly, the Gulf is watching with alarm the rise of terrorist cells in various parts of the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is particularly concerned, as the country has embarked on a path of gradual liberalization of its domestic order, which is not to the liking of radicals.
Riyadh, among other things, fears a repeat of the 1979 terrorist attack in Mecca (after which the authorities were forced to tighten the screws sharply and for a long time) and is taking measures to mitigate the threat.
Third, the Arabian monarchies are urgently seeking ways to secure their own water supplies—prompted, in part, by the massive drought in neighboring Iran, which nearly displaced several million people. However, they are doing this exclusively individually, without launching any collective projects.
Overall, the Gulf monarchies' current approach to responding to perceived threats follows the formula "if you want something done right, do it yourself." And it appears they will continue to follow this same formula.