This paper examines the questions of how the UAE, which is a small state with limited material capacity and soft power capabilities, proactively seeks a middle power status within the Middle East. The paper adds to the burgeoning literature on middle power politics in two distinct ways. First, it augments the study of middle powers by focusing on a dimension that examines middle powers on a regional level rather than on the international level. Second, the paper examines middle power politics in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, which are understudied geographic areas insofar as middle power politics is concerned. The paper argues that since middle powers rise during times of flux in the international or regional orders, the 2011 Arab Uprisings were exceptionally critical as they were the final nail in the coffin of the decade old volatile regional power structure. The vacuum resulting from the reconfiguration of the regional power structure has created new opportunities for countries in the Middle East to emerge or aspire to become regional middle powers. Since seeking status is a common behavior of small states, the UAE has capitalized on the power vacuum resulting from the instability in the region, and has adopted an assertive foreign policy. This foreign policy aims to make UAE an object rather than a subject of regional affairs by utilizing the country’s subtle power, which stems from its activism in international and regional organizations, dispatchment of forces as part of international peacekeeping troops, generous foreign aid, and massive foreign investments. UAE’s assertive foreign policy is triggered by five main conditions. First, the UAE’s leadership perceived the regional instability as a threat that needs to be preempted by an active foreign policy agenda. Second, the failure of the Gulf Cooperation Council to stimulate a robust defense and diplomatic coordination, and Saudi Arabia’s hegemony over the council elicited the UAE’s leadership to sponsor an independent foreign policy agenda. Third, the rising economic power of the UAE endorsed its capability to maintain the ruling bargain domestically and project soft power regionally; thus contributing to the crafting of an assertive foreign policy agenda. Finally, the narrative on the UAE being a model of modernism and progressivism, and the transition in leadership have also played a significant role in UAE’s seek for a regional middle power status.