For many years, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates appeared to work together politically and economically. Now the two Gulf states have started competing with each other. For a long time, the two Gulf states were very close politically, working in many fields. The UAE was considered a modern 'junior partner' of Saudi Arabia. However, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (also known as MBS) said about his recent relationship with the long-time friend, "They have stabbed us in the back."

Observers of the Middle East region have long speculated that behind the apparent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates lies a deeper animosity. Now concrete statements and quotes about this are circulating. An example of this is the statement made by MBS in a behind-the-scenes conversation with his local journalists in December last year. "You will soon see what I am in a position to do," he said. There was a lot of uproar on social networks.

None of the above expectations have been officially confirmed by either side. Still, experts also believe that behind the surface of harmony, there has been a significant increase in hostility between the two countries and their administrations in recent years. Daniel Gerlach, editor-in-chief of the German Middle East magazine Zenith and a longtime expert on the region, says that apart from political and economic competition or disagreement, personal sensitivities have also played an important role.

Daniel Gerlach, in a recent interview with the foreign news agency, suggested, based on his observation, that there is a conflict between the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, MBS, and the head of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also known as MBS. There were close personal relationships. MBZ was even the political mentor of the Saudi Crown Prince.

A major reason for the differences between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates was the war in Yemen. The Saudi kingdom intervened in 2015, led by the then-Yemeni government, to fight the Houthi rebels, and the United Arab Emirates joined the coalition. Like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates also saw the Houthis as an extension of its long-time enemy, Iran. In the beginning, the United Arab Emirates was heavily involved in the war and suffered a lot of losses, but over time they also questioned the purpose of this entire strategy. The government of then President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi was not trusted to reunify and stabilize the country. Here the two partner countries are separated.

According to an analysis by the International Crisis Group, the UAE was not involved in the negotiations that the Saudis later held with the Houthi rebels. The UAE was also not included in the 2023 deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which was officially brokered mainly by China. "As a result of all this, the impression among the Saudis that the United Arab Emirates is not concerned with defeating the Houthis or forcing them to compromise, but mainly with its own goals," added Gerlach, an expert on Middle East affairs.

For some time now, the two states have also been increasingly competing economically. Western and international companies investing in Saudi Arabia have long preferred to have their headquarters in Dubai. The city is considered more open and cosmopolitan than Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia now seems to be modernizing and trying to bring international companies under pressure if necessary. Saudi Arabia has mandated that companies operating in partnership with the kingdom must also have their regional headquarters there from 2024 onwards. This will inevitably affect Dubai.

In addition, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince MBS wants to challenge the United Arab Emirates by establishing several centers of advanced technology, attracting more tourists to the country, and developing logistics hubs, which have so far been the region's leading players. It is the most important commercial center. In March of this year, Mohammed bin Salman announced that he plans to establish another national airline to compete with leading UAE airlines such as Emirates and Etihad Airways. Competition between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will soon become prominent in other areas.