Abstract
This study examines how the environment of Arab strategic decision-making shifts as the international order moves from unipolarity toward multipolarity, and asks what conditions produce a real rather than rhetorical margin of autonomy. It compares three regional approaches to managing relations with the great powers and weighs the cost of each for energy security and trade corridors. It concludes that strategic autonomy is the product of accumulated institutional capacity before it is a diplomatic choice, and proposes a framework for measuring it through five trackable indicators.
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References
- Al-Fahad, O. (2025). Regional balances of power and alliance management. Journal of Strategic Studies, 18(2), 44–71.
- Murshid, L. (2024). The state and institutional capacity in the Arab region. Al-Mashreq Academic Press.
- Al-Otaibi, H. (2026). Maritime corridor security and the cost of external dependence. Institute Policy Papers, 7, 1–22.
Cite this specimen
Al-Qahtani, S. (2026). Arab strategic autonomy in a multipolar international order. EISSL.
