A Study of the Power Structure in West Asia Region with Emphasis on Five Littoral States of Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirate, Kuwait, Oman)

For the examination of national power it is necessary to evaluate and calculate different economic, social, political, territorial and cultural factors of a country. Understanding and measurement of the national power of countries for determining their status and geopolitical weight has been the focus of attention of scientists and political observers. It can be said that there is a direct relation between the national power of a country and their participation in international scene. The purpose of the present paper is to study and evaluate the national power (both hard and soft power) of the five littoral states of Persian Gulf neighboring Iran. They are the United Arab Emirate, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. The main question raised by the paper is “what is the power structure of these five countries neighboring Iran. The hypothesis is that the national determinants of power of the selected countries of the West Asia region keeps these countries at three levels; namely United Arab Emirate-Qatar, Kuwait-Oman and Bahrain. The methodology used in the paper is descriptive-analytical based on library materials. The finding of the study shows that the power structure of the five selected countries places them at three levels of power, in the first level of power is United Arab Emirate and Qatar, and in the second level is Kuwait and Oman and at the third level is Bahrain.