
Rival Gulf Visions Shake the Region: Saudi Restraint vs UAE Intervention
Saudi Arabia pursues de-escalatory development and border security to insulate its domestic agenda, while the UAE embraces pre-emptive activism to reshape a brittle regional order. The late-2025 Yemen crisis exposed a direct Saudi–Emirati split as UAE-backed forces briefly seized border provinces before Saudi-led forces reversed them, prompting Riyadh to accuse Abu Dhabi of undermining its leadership. The dispute threatens GCC cohesion, tests responses to Israel normalization, and reshapes security arrangements and external alignments, with policymakers needing to manage competing risk tolerances rather than assuming convergence.



