Arab states of the Persian Gulf

The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Arab states (Arabic: دول الخليج العربي), are a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yemen is bound to the seven countries based on history and culture.

The term has been used in different contexts to refer to a number of Arab states in the Persian Gulf region. The prominent regional political union Gulf Cooperation Council includes all Gulf Arab states except Iraq. In modern history, most Gulf Arab states were formerly protectorates of the British Empire, including the Trucial States.

Some of the Persian Gulf states are constitutional monarchies with elected parliaments, including Bahrain (Majlis al Watani) and Kuwait (Majlis al Ummah) which have legislatures with members elected by the population.

The Gulf monarchies have developed what political scientists term a "tribal dynastic monarchy" system, which distinguishes them from other Middle Eastern monarchical systems. This governance model emerged from traditional chieftaincies and incorporates two key mechanisms: "balanced opposition," where power is distributed among tribal groups, and "affiliation solidarity," which maintains cohesion through kinship networks. This system has enabled ruling families to adapt traditional authority structures to modern state institutions, contributing to their resilience compared to other Middle Eastern monarchies that were overthrown in the twentieth century throughout the Arab Cold War.

The Sultanate of Oman also has an advisory council (Majlis ash-Shura) that is popularly elected. In the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven monarchical emirates, the Federal National Council, functions only as an advisory body, but some of its members are now chosen via a limited electoral college nominated by the seven rulers.^{[citation needed]}

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains a hereditary monarchy with limited political representation. In Qatar, an elected national parliament has been mooted and is written into the new constitution, but elections are yet to be held. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the two Arab states and absolute monarchies to have never held elections since their establishments as nations in 1932 and 1971 respectively. Iraq is the only federal republic situated in the Persian Gulf.

Mass media in the seven Gulf Arab states have varying degrees of freedom, with Kuwait topping the league with a lively press that enjoys considerably more freedom than its Gulf counterparts according to Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders.^{[citation needed]} Both organizations rank Kuwait's press as the freest of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Kuwait ranks amongst the top three for free press in the Arab world. Qatar and Oman come in second and third respectively within the regional ranks of the Gulf Arab states.^{[citation needed]}

The seven Gulf Arab states lie in a volatile region and their seven governments, with varying degrees of success and effort, try and advance peace in their own countries and other countries. However, Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region—specifically Qatar—stand accused of funding militant Islamist organizations, such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)'s Global Peace Index of 2016, the six governments had varying degrees of success in maintaining peace amongst their respective borders with Qatar ranked number 1 amongst its regional peers as the most peaceful regional and Middle Eastern nation (and ranked 34 worldwide), while Kuwait ranks second both in the Persian Gulf and Middle East regions (and 51 worldwide), followed by the UAE in the third spot (61 worldwide).