![People march with the flags of south Yemen, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia, as portraits are raised of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C-L), his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C-R), UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L), and his brother Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (R), during a demonstration titled the "million-man march of gratitude for Saudi Arabia and the UAE", in the centre of the second city of Aden on September 5, 2019. [SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/GettyImages-1166065992-500x333.jpg)
In the sterile, high-altitude boardrooms of the Gulf, the mantra for the last decade has been one of shared destiny. From the 2017 blockade of Qatar to the initial intervention in Yemen, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi appeared to be the twin engines of a new, assertive Arab order. Yet, as 2026 begins, that veneer of unity has not just cracked; it has been replaced by a series of high-stakes jurisdictional disputes stretching from the mountains of southern Yemen to the ports of the Horn of Africa. The most dramatic evidence of this shift arrived in the closing days of 2025. On December 30, the Saudi Air Force conducted a rare and pointed strike on the Yemeni port of Mukalla. The […]
