Gulf States
Overview
The Gulf States (English: Gulf States, Arabic: دول الخليج) is a collective term for the group of Arab countries located along the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). In the narrow sense, it refers to the six countries that are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman — while in the broad sense it sometimes includes Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. As the core axis of the world's oil and natural gas supply and the central stage of Middle Eastern diplomacy, it holds an extremely high weight in international politics and economics.
Main Content
Concept and Scope
The name "Gulf" refers to the Persian Gulf, and the naming of the region itself reflects the political tension between Iran and the Arab world. In the Arab world, the expression "Arabian Gulf" is preferred, while internationally "Persian Gulf" is commonly used. Academically, "Gulf States" generally means the GCC member states, but in energy market analysis, the eight countries including Iran and Iraq are sometimes grouped together and classified as "Gulf oil producers."
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
The GCC was founded on May 25, 1981, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was formed by the Gulf monarchies to pursue collective security and economic cooperation in response to two shocks: the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War. It consists of the Supreme Council, the Ministerial Council, and a Secretariat under the Secretary-General, and decisions basically follow a consensus rule. It professes a customs union and a common market, but the actual level of integration is lower than that of the European Union, and conflicts of interest among member states are frequent.
Historical Background
Since the 7th century, this region has been a major sea route of Islamic civilization and a center of pearl diving and trade. From the 19th century, Britain managed the diplomacy and security of the coastal sheikhdoms through treaty relations, and the so-called "Trucial Oman" system was established. When oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain in the 1930s, its geopolitical value rose sharply, and after the British military withdrawal in 1971, the current state system took shape, including the UAE's independence as a federation.
Economic Structure
The Gulf States possess crude oil amounting to about one-third of the world's proven reserves and some of the world's largest natural gas reserves. Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco is one of the largest companies in the world, and Qatar is among the world's top exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Kuwait and Abu Dhabi operate enormous sovereign wealth funds (ADIA, KIA, etc.). However, oil-producing economies are vulnerable to oil price fluctuations and face challenges such as youth unemployment and a structure of fiscal dependence, so all member states have adopted "post-oil" economic diversification as a national strategy. Representative examples include Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, the UAE's Vision 2031, and Qatar National Vision 2030.
Political Systems
Most are hereditary monarchies. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy of the House of Saud, the UAE is a federation of seven emirates, and Qatar and Bahrain are ruled by the Al Thani and Al Khalifa families, respectively. Oman is a sultanate ruled by a sultan, and Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament, with relatively high political openness. Because citizenship and residency are separated, foreign workers, who make up a significant portion of the population, are excluded from citizenship and welfare. In the case of the UAE, the proportion of nationals in the total population is only in the 10% range.
Diplomacy and Security
The Gulf States have traditionally made security cooperation with the United States the axis of their diplomacy. U.S. military bases are located in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. At the same time, they pursue "balanced diplomacy" by expanding economic and energy cooperation with China and Russia. The 2017 Gulf crisis, in which Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt declared a severance of diplomatic ties with Qatar, was patched up by the 2021 Al-Ula Declaration, but it took time to restore trust among member states. The normalization of relations between the UAE and Bahrain with Israel through the 2020 Abraham Accords was an important turning point in the Middle Eastern order.
Society and Culture
Islam is the state religion, and Saudi Arabia has a strong influence of Wahhabism. Arabic is the official language, and the Islamic calendar and the Gregorian calendar are used together. Due to rapid urbanization and the influx of foreign labor, the social composition has become very diverse, and Dubai, Doha, and Riyadh have emerged as international business and cultural hubs. Sports investment is also active: Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Saudi Arabia secured the right to host the 2034 World Cup.
Latest Trends
The key keywords for the Gulf region in 2024–2025 are "economic diversification" and "technological hegemony competition." Saudi Arabia is promoting tourism and entertainment industries by pushing forward with mega-projects such as NEOM as part of Vision 2030, and the UAE is making artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and the data center industry its national growth engines and expanding cooperation with global big tech. Sovereign wealth funds are trending toward increasing strategic investments in AI, semiconductors, sports, and gaming beyond simple asset management.
In the energy market, OPEC+ production cuts, increased U.S. shale output, and slowing Chinese demand have combined to increase oil price volatility, which directly affects the fiscal health of the Gulf States. Diplomatically, Saudi Arabia and Iran normalized relations in 2023 through Chinese mediation, and after the Gaza war, discussions on Israel-Saudi normalization have alternated between suspension and resumption. Qatar and the UAE have raised their presence in mediation diplomacy, including hostage release negotiations. In addition, Saudi Arabia is accelerating its "post-oil" transition through hosting the 2034 World Cup, and Oman and the UAE through green hydrogen and renewable energy projects.
Related Topics
- [[Gulf Cooperation Council]]
- [[Saudi Arabia]]
- [[United Arab Emirates]]
- [[Qatar]]
- [[Oil]]
- [[OPEC]]
- [[Middle East]]