Caroline Haiat
The Middle East is entering a new phase of competition. For decades, regional power was measured largely through oil reserves, military strength and control of strategic territory. Increasingly, it will also depend on who controls the infrastructure that keeps economies moving: energy routes, ports, data centres, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.
The war around the Strait of Hormuz has made that shift particularly visible. For Gulf economies, the vulnerability of a single maritime chokepoint is no longer simply an economic concern. It is a strategic one.
The United Arab Emirates is already working to reduce that vulnerability. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the country was developing alternative routes for its energy exports and trade to ensure they are not “held hostage” by the conflict. After Iranian missile attacks and strikes on oil tankers, Abu Dhabi has a clear incentive to diversify the routes through which its energy and goods reach global markets.
The logic is simple: in the Middle East of the future, redundancy will be power.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing a similar transformation on a much larger scale. Riyadh is investing in ports, logistics, industrial zones, technology and artificial intelligence as it seeks to move beyond an economy built primarily around oil.
Its growing innovation ecosystem is already becoming part of that strategy. Riyadh ranked 92nd among the world’s leading innovation clusters in the 2026 Global Innovation Index, making it the only Gulf city included in the ranking. Saudi universities, Aramco and SABIC are contributing to an ecosystem increasingly focused on research, patents, venture capital and advanced technology.
But Saudi Arabia is also becoming more selective about where it puts its money.
The Public Investment Fund has indicated that Neom’s ambitions remain intact, but that implementation will increasingly be phased and driven by commercial returns. The shift is significant. The question is no longer simply how spectacular a project can become, but whether it can generate sustainable economic value.
That may ultimately determine the success of the Gulf’s transformation.
A port creates trade. A logistics corridor creates connectivity. A data centre creates computing capacity. An industrial zone creates manufacturing. An AI ecosystem creates intellectual property and high-value companies.
The future Middle East will increasingly be judged by what its infrastructure produces, rather than simply by how impressive it looks.
Israel is approaching the same transformation from a different direction.
The IDF has finalised plans for a dedicated military branch for artificial intelligence and unmanned systems, scheduled to open in early December, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on September 8. The branch will oversee robotic capabilities across the air, land and maritime domains, including systems operating alongside manned forces and platforms capable of conducting missions independently.
Zamir said that unmanned systems, robotics, drones and widespread AI use would define future warfare.
That development also points toward a broader regional trend. AI is no longer only a technology sector. It is becoming part of the infrastructure of national power — from defence and intelligence to logistics, energy management and industrial production.
This creates an emerging intersection between Israel and the Gulf.
Israel brings technological expertise in AI, cybersecurity, drones and autonomous systems. Gulf states bring capital, energy resources, land and the ability to deploy infrastructure at enormous scale.
The combination could become one of the defining economic and strategic dynamics of the region.
The same is true of ports and trade corridors. Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ambitions and the UAE’s global logistics network are part of a wider attempt to create alternative routes between Asia, the Gulf, Africa and Europe.
The region is therefore moving toward a different model of power.
Oil will remain essential. Military strength will remain decisive. But the countries that can keep energy flowing, data moving and trade operating during a crisis will have an increasingly important advantage.
The next Middle Eastern power struggle may not be about who controls the most territory.
It may be about who controls the infrastructure that everyone else needs.