Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have embarked on ambitious “Vision”-driven reforms to diversify economies and reframe national security. This paper analyzes how Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar link economic transformation to security policy, under a theoretical “development-as-security” framework. We review rentier-state dynamics and human-security concepts to contextualize Gulf strategies. Through comparative case studies, we examine each country’s Vision (Saudi Vision 2030, UAE Centennial 2071, Qatar National Vision 2030), focusing on objectives, instruments, and progress in diversification, and how these affect economic, political, and social security. Data indicate rising non oil growth (Saudi non oil GDP ~53–57 % by 2025; UAE non oil GDP >70 %) and targeted reforms (e.g. Saudi defense localization, UAE tech hubs, Qatar education investment). We look at the implications in terms of economic security through the lens of multiple sources of income, political stability in the form of a new foundation for legitimacy, and improvements in human security in the realms of health and education. We also look at the constraints in the form of institutional and demographic pressures, and the geopolitical shifts in the US’s strategic retrenchment and the emergence of new partnerships. What our findings have shown is that, indeed, the Gulf states have benefited from the policy of diversification, but in doing so, a new set of security dynamics has emerged in the realms of cyber and artificial intelligence, and climate. In conclusion are some policy recommendations, but in the context of the Gulf, it is quite evident that the concept of development and security is inextricably linked in the Gulf, and the policies of diversification have both responded to and created a new set of security conditions.