Multipolar illusions: the Gulf Arab monarchies and the trajectories of the post-2011 Middle East

In the years following the 2011 uprisings, the Middle East has experienced deepening social inequality, violent reassertion of authoritarian rule, and unprecedented mass displacement. Central to these trajectories are the Gulf monarchies, whose oil-derived surpluses have made them both regional powerbrokers and pivotal nodes in the global political economy. This article situates the Gulf’s post-2011 ascendancy within debates over multipolarity and a shifting global order, particularly the rise of China and intensifying US – China rivalries. While Gulf – China trade and investment have expanded rapidly, these ties have not displaced the Gulf’s structural integration into American power. By linking global transformations to the Gulf’s role in reshaping regional political and economic orders, the article challenges state-centric and methodologically-nationalist framings of multipolarity. Great-power rivalry has reconfigured but not transformed the structural patterns of domination in the Middle East post-2011.