ABSTRACT
The chapter investigates four case studies from the last decade to identify the developments and decisions that shaped the different positions of the smaller Gulf states in the region. While all five regimes managed to ensure their survival during the Arab Uprisings with various tools, their domestic stability varies to a significant extent. Due to a lack of domestic challenges, Qatar and the UAE managed to increase their influence and their normative size in the region, while Oman conducted serious facilitation efforts backstage. Due to their dissimilar positions regarding the spread of Islamist networks and the intensification of Saudi–Iranian rivalry, relations between smaller Gulf states became more competitive, which eventually led to a political conflict between Qatar and its neighbours. The rift between Gulf states officially ended in 2021, as Qatar managed, seemingly, to maintain its foreign policy independence by transforming the crisis into a soft power contest. Regional and global developments drove Gulf states closer to Israel, which managed to sign the Abraham Accords with Bahrain and the Emirates, showing how the normative obligations related to Arabness changed by the end of the decade.
