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Wed, Nov 19, 2025 | Jumada al-Awwal 28, 1447 | Fajr 05:18 | DXB 
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UAE beats Gulf neighbours in global influence ranking
Soft power is a nearly intangible metric, it refers to the calculation of a nation’s brand
It jumps out at you — the UAE’s ranking in a report which measures the soft power influence of 193 nations. Stunningly, it lines up in 10th place.
That is nearly perplexing for a nation that ranks 27th by GDP, 86th by population, and 116th by geographical area. Sure, it’s an oil-rich state but so are other Gulf nations and they don’t stand anywhere near the UAE in the report — Saudi Arabia (20), Qatar (22), Kuwait (40), Oman (49), Bahrain (51).
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As US President Donald Trump’s visit renewed interest in the region, the spotlight returned on the Soft Power report from February 2025.
Why 'Soft Power' matters
Through learnings from nearly two decades of empirical journalism, there’s one particular strange reality that has appeared to matter more than the truth. It’s best summed up by a dialogue from an Indian film — “Image is everything. Everything is image.”
It’s not nearly the first such description. 19th-century French realist novelist Gustave Flaubert famously said, “There is no truth. There is only perception.”
Image contributes to an entity’s power to persuade and therein lies the discreet strength of soft power. It cannot be overstated that in a fractured world torn by conflicts where hard power unleashed by Israel and Russia in Gaza and Ukraine respectively, has only hurt their geopolitical standing, and worse, isolated them.
“Rising middle powers like the UAE want to be interlocutors in important diplomatic scenarios, at the top table on complex and sensitive issues that could change the future,” said Jolyon Kimble, chief growth officer, MENA region, global advisory firm APCO.
Credible findings
To be sure soft power is a nearly intangible metric. It refers to the calculation of a nation’s brand, making a foolproof ranking methodology nearly impossible. But in its absence, this comprehensive study on national brand perceptions, in other words, soft power, is as good as it gets.
The report is by Brand Finance, a brand evaluation and strategy consultancy. Its Middle Eastern managing director Andrew Campbell stated the consultancy is government agnostic and has emerged as the leading authority on intangible assets.
“We have a really rich set of data covering six years of our soft power analysis, across key pillars, with 35 subsets of questions to understand what perceptions are,” Campbell said.
The report ranked all 193 member states of the United Nations, after surveying more than 170,000 respondents from more than 100 countries.
Key performance indicators included; how well a nation is known, how positively it is regarded, and how influential it appears to be.
UAE: A class apart
Essentially, the report revealed that people in more than 100 countries believe that the UAE holds the 10th most soft power, globally. This is despite a striking mega trend that Middle Eastern nations have been losing momentum in building Soft Power in the past few years.
Only the UAE is the exception. It jumped five places in 2023 to 10th and has since retained that spot. “They’re a relatively small economy, but they have clearly punched about their weight year after year,” Campbell said.
The Emiratis had the foresight to actively nurture soft power way back in 2017 when they launched the UAE Soft Power Strategy, specifically aimed at “increasing the country’s global reputation.”
Chief among its visions is “ease of business.” And its ranking appears to be powered by that one primary metric — “for being easy to do business in and with,” where it ranks second globally.
“The UAE has been very conscious of its perceptions and they’ve worked on a clear strategy, tactically and consistently, and that’s why they’re where they are,” said Campbell, who has lived in the region for 30 years.
The strategy also included establishing a brand as a tolerant country welcoming people from all over the world, humanitarian and economic diplomacy, and promoting its position as a gateway to the region.
Kimble said it’s not a question of if they’ll achieve the “unbelievable grandness of their ambition” but when.
Trump and AI bump?
Could Donald Trump’s recent visit to the UAE, the first by a US President in 17 years, help the Gulf country climb in the rankings in the 2026 report? It will bring exposure to the nation, Campbell said. “But people will recall the visit more (based) on the outcomes,” of the deals, he added.
Among the deals, the showstopper was the Artificial Intelligence campus. “People don’t understand how big that main announcement is,” said Kimble.
“The UAE is using AI not just to grow its economy but to shape how the world sees it,” said Mohammed Soliman, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute. “Positioning itself as the most decisive AI actor outside of China and the US. That’s what sets the UAE apart: it’s turning technological ambition into real global influence.”
Rest of the GCC…
While reputation enhancement is the collective shared ambition of Gulf countries, the likes of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the others, appear to be playing catch up to first mover UAE.
“The UAE started with this vision earlier and it’s got over more of the challenges that come with explaining that vision to the world,” Kimble said.
The UAE’s handling of the pandemic in getting back into play faster than others is another contributor and has been well recognised.
What’s not been recognised enough are the standings of countries like the UAE in such soft power studies, at least in terms of the global mainstream narrative.
And attracting the attention of the gatekeepers of that narrative is just one of the many reasons why soft power has become a geopolitical tool of utmost significance.
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