Arabia Saudyjska i Iran – wybrane aspekty mocarstwowości
Saudi Arabia and Iran – relative prospects as dominant regional powers

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses the relative prospects of Saudi Arabia and Iran as dominantregional powers. It focuses on the following research question: which of the countriesengaged in the so-called “New Cold War” in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia orIran – best meets the criteria to qualify as a dominant regional power? The hypothesisbased on this research question assumes that, when comparing Saudi Arabia and Iran,Riyadh appears to be the stronger actor and thus more capable of playing a regionalleadership role. To verify this research hypothesis, the author drew on the criteriaof empowerment formulated by A. Włodkowska: population-demographic, territorial(geopolitical), economic-technological and military attributes. Conversion of theseattributes into numerical values and subsequent statistical analysis provided positiveverification of the research hypothesis. Comparison of Riyadh’s and Tehran’s currentrelative positions as regional powers and their likely evolutionary trajectories,leads to the conclusion that Saudi Arabia exceeds its rival in terms of potentialdominance as a regional power. The Kingdom is not only the largest of the mosteconomically developed states in the region, but also enjoys favourable andprospective demographic and economic indicators, thus allowing Saudi Arabia tohave the largest defence budget of all Middle Eastern countries.

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