IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/cdanxx/v41y2025i4p586-604.html

The Gulf defence industry, at the cutting (h)edge of multi-level power strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Emma Soubrier

Abstract

This article examines the defence industrialisation strategies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, traditionally amongst the world's largest arms importers, through a multi-scalar lens. It argues that their pursuit of local defence capabilities forms part of a broader power strategy – bolstering regime resilience, asserting regional autonomy, and repositioning globally in a multipolar world. The analysis explores how these ambitions are framed, what is at stake economically and politically, and what is achieved. By unpacking national, regional, and global dimensions, the paper highlights how defence industrialisation in the Gulf is both instrumental and symbolic. It identifies progress and persistent constraints, including skills gaps, foreign dependency, and shifting global dynamics. A comparative discussion of Israel and Turkey sharpens the examination of feasibility and divergence. The paper offers a grounded, critical understanding of how Gulf defence industries reflect and shape evolving power strategies, especially those related to autonomy and international status.

Suggested Citation

  • Emma Soubrier, 2025. "The Gulf defence industry, at the cutting (h)edge of multi-level power strategies," Defense & Security Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 586-604, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cdanxx:v:41:y:2025:i:4:p:586-604
    DOI: 10.1080/14751798.2025.2548631
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14751798.2025.2548631
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14751798.2025.2548631?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:cdanxx:v:41:y:2025:i:4:p:586-604. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CDAN20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.