Who would have thought when Pakistan first announced its nuclear success that this very nation would, decades later, be framed as part of a de facto security umbrella for West Asia? At the time, the natural assumption was that Pakistan’s deterrent existed solely to counter its nuclear-armed neighbor, India. Perhaps Israel, more than most, sensed the potential role Pakistan could play in the Muslim world in a future multipolar order. That may explain why Israel once contemplated sabotaging Pakistan’s nuclear program, plans that were never executed, largely because the political fabric of Asia at the time was woven tightly around US interests.

The nuclearization of Pakistan in the late 1990s was seen as a regional balancing act, not a tool of pan-Islamic security. Few predicted that in 2025, Gulf capitals would look to Islamabad not just for manpower and remittances but as part of a Riyadh-led collective security calculus. What was once merely a symbol of deterrence is now a strategic pillar in the shifting sands of West Asian geopolitics, with Saudi statecraft setting the tempo.

Israel’s September 9 attack on Doha will be remembered as an inflection point in Gulf security. A region long focused on development and prosperity now seeks alternatives for its security needs. The reason is clear: Washington, the decades-long guarantor, is hemorrhaging credibility in the Arab world.

The defense pact signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signals this tectonic shift. Two nations, one with immense economic power and energy resources, the other long envisioned by some as a cornerstone of any Arab-Islamic military alignment, have now formally joined hands. This agreement followed an extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit in Doha. The communiqués that emerged, including declarations that

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