On July 30, 2026, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted an international meeting of chiefs of staff and their representatives from 43 countries, as well as the European Union delegation to the Kingdom, to discuss the Saudi initiative aimed at establishing a multinational maritime defense coalition; with the goal of strengthening and protecting the security of international waterways and countering threats targeting maritime navigation and global trade in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.

At the conclusion of the meeting, representatives from 14 countries issued a joint statement declaring their support for the establishment of the coalition and its founding arrangements, while other countries affirmed their endorsement of the Saudi initiative and stated that they are moving forward with completing the necessary national procedures and approvals to join the coalition’s joint statement.

In fact, any discussion of such significant initiatives requires addressing four key dimensions: leadership, launch conditions, substance, and impact.

Regarding leadership, and according to the information circulating about the initiative, the participants agreed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would be the coalition’s founder and leader and would host its headquarters. In my assessment, this consensus stemmed from a regional and international conviction regarding the Kingdom’s pivotal role and strategic weight, both within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and at the regional level, as well as its experience in establishing and leading two significant coalitions: the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen and the Islamic Military Coalition to Combat Terrorism in 2015, in addition to its participation in the U.S.-led Maritime Security Coalition for the Safety of Navigation since 2019, alongside a number of other countries. This cumulative experience serves as an important foundation for the Kingdom’s leadership of this international coalition.

As for the timing, there is no doubt that the Arabian Gulf region and its surrounding area are witnessing unprecedented developments that have directly impacted the security of maritime navigation, posing a threat to the national security of the Arab Gulf states—which, as maritime nations, rely primarily on international waterways for their trade with the world. This comes amid escalating threats to maritime security from non-state armed groups, particularly those posed by the Houthi group in Yemen and its targeting of oil facilities in the Kingdom, and the ongoing threat to maritime navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which approximately 12% of total global trade and 10% of seaborne oil trade passes. This coincides with the ongoing threat to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz since the onset of the current regional developments on February 28, 2026, to the present, and the international community’s failure to establish an international coalition that would ensure the reopening of the strait to maritime navigation.

It is true that an alliance for maritime security in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden was previously established in 2023—the U.S.-led “Guardians of Prosperity” alliance—but it did not enjoy broad regional and international participation comparable to the current alliance proposed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whose significance is also evident in terms of substance; The coalition will have a founding charter, an organizational structure, operational mechanisms, and a permanent headquarters in the Kingdom, which may pave the way for it to evolve in the future into something resembling a “regional NATO,” or rather a “coalition of the willing,” based on defensive rather than offensive objectives.

According to the Saudi vision, the coalition is based on three main objectives. First: strengthening collective maritime security. Second: safeguarding freedom of navigation and international trade. Third: sharing international responsibility in confronting common threats. In other words, this coalition reflects the blurring of the lines between regional and global security; as past experiences and current developments confirm, without a doubt, that maritime security is no longer merely a regional concern but is now closely linked to global security and stability, and that the world’s fate in this regard has become highly interdependent.

The initial declaration also included four Gulf states, including the Kingdom of Bahrain, alongside a number of regional and international states, in a strategic indication of these countries’ recognition of the importance of collective action to counter maritime security threats in one of the world’s most vital waterways: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

As for its impact, in my assessment, there are five key factors for the success of this alliance.

First: The existence of a prior regional consensus on the importance of protecting maritime navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, as embodied in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiative to establish the Council of Arab and African States Bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in 2020. It is noteworthy that seven of the eight member states of that council were among the fourteen countries that supported the Saudi initiative.

Second: Researchers typically focus on the pivotal states within any alliance, whether at the regional or global level. At the regional level, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League stand out, as they have direct strategic interests in protecting maritime navigation in the Red Sea—whether because the Red Sea serves as the main corridor for the Suez Canal, which is one of Egypt’s most important sources of national income, or because of its connection to the Kingdom’s ambitious development projects under Saudi Vision 2030, foremost among which is the NEOM project. At the international level, the support of both Pakistan and Turkey for the alliance—along with the possibility of other international powers joining in the future—strengthens its standing, particularly in light of the growing Gulf and Arab partnerships with these two countries, as well as their military clout and influential diplomatic roles.

Third: The diversity of cooperation areas within the coalition, which is not limited to conducting joint operations but extends to the exchange of information and intelligence, joint exercises, and capacity building, thereby enhancing the coalition’s ability to thwart attempts to threaten maritime navigation in this vital waterway. The core concept of the coalition is based on the integration of efforts within the framework of a binding agreement that defines each country’s contributions according to its capabilities, while each country retains the right to exercise its roles within the framework of its national sovereignty.

Fourth: The coalition’s commitment to the provisions of international law, respect for state sovereignty, and integration with international efforts aimed at countering maritime security threats.
Fifth: Challenges demand appropriate responses; maritime security has become one of the most prominent manifestations of regional tensions, which calls for the adoption of sustainable deterrence measures led by a regional power, with the participation of regional and international powers united by a single goal: to counter the shift of regional conflicts from land to sea, and the resulting need for specific alliances that are strategically important in terms of both timing and substance.

Note: This article has been automatically translated, the full article is available in Arabic.

Dr. Ashraf Mohammed Keshk, Director of International and Strategic Studies Program