Population Size
- West Asia has an estimated population of 460 million people (2024).
- The largest country by population in the region is Egypt with over 109 million people.
Oil Reserves
- West Asia holds approximately 48% of the world’s proven oil reserves.
- Saudi Arabia alone holds around 17% of global oil reserves, with about 266 billion barrels of proven reserves.
World’s Tallest Building
- The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, is the tallest building in the world at 828 meters (2,717 feet) with 163 floors.
Religious Significance
- Islam, which originated in the Middle East, is practiced by approximately 94% of the region’s population.
- Over 1.9 billion Muslims globally consider Mecca in Saudi Arabia the holiest city in Islam.
- The annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia attracts over 2 million pilgrims from around the world every year.
Largest Desert
- The Rub’ al Khali (Empty Quarter) in Saudi Arabia is the largest continuous sand desert in the world, covering an area of 650,000 square kilometers (250,000 square miles).
GDP
- The combined GDP of West Asia is approximately $4.0 to $5.0 trillion (2023 estimates).
- Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE are the largest economies in the region, with Saudi Arabia leading at $1.06 trillion.
- The richest country per capita in the region is Qatar, with a GDP per capita of around $60,000.
The New Middle East: Order, Disorder, and the Scramble for Primacy
The Middle East has become a testing ground for a new multipolar world, one where no single power dominates, but none can enforce rules either. As the United States recalibrates, China advances quietly, and regional actors pursue multi-alignment, the result is not...
Ausaf Sayeed | Apr 7, 2026 | 7 min read
Iran Crisis: Lessons for India from a War Nobody Wanted
One month into the US-Israeli assault on Iran, the conflict has produced outcomes few anticipated or desired. Indirect peace talks between Washington and Tehran—facilitated through Oman and Qatar—were still active when the strikes began on 28 February 2026. Goalposts shifted weekly: from degrading Iran’s nuclear programme to neutralising proxy networks or enforcing regime change, before narrowing to a belated priority—restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway Iran subsequently mined because of the strikes.
Ausaf Sayeed | Apr 5, 2026 | 4 min read
The Art of Strategic Silence
For a civilisational state that once anchored its global identity in moral authority — the land of Gandhi’s non-violence and post-Independence non-alignment — India’s studied quietude in the face of some of the most consequential atrocities and power plays of our era demands careful scrutiny. Whether it is the slaughter of over 72,000 civilians in Gaza, the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, the forcible deposition and arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the sinking of a warship in its own backyard, or the steady dismemberment of multilateral institutions, New Delhi has chosen calibrated ambiguity over principled clarity.
Ausaf Sayeed | Mar 5, 2026 | 5 min read
A New West Asia Disorder is Born
On the morning of February 28, 2026, a coordinated US-Israeli airstrike—codenamed “Operation Epic Fury”—reduced decades of carefully constructed Iranian theocracy to rubble, both literally and figuratively. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader for 37 years, was killed in his office in Tehran along with top military commanders, including the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This is not merely a leadership transition; it is the violent unravelling of a geopolitical order that has stood since 1979.
Ausaf Sayeed | Mar 3, 2026 | 5 min read
India and the Challenge of the ‘Board of Peace’
For India, the invitation to join this body as a founding participant arrives at a moment of strategic strain, compelling New Delhi to navigate an increasingly narrow corridor between its doctrine of strategic autonomy and the pragmatic necessity of stabilising a brittle relationship with Washington.
Ausaf Sayeed | Jan 22, 2026 | 5 min read
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