Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have long been associated with market liberalization and the diffusion of investor-friendly legal regimes. However, contemporary practices reveal a more complex role for SEZs as instruments of geoeconomic strategy and legal influence. This paper reconceptualizes SEZs as tools of lawfare, emphasizing the functional appropriation of diverse legal models to pursue development-driven and geopolitical objectives. Through a comparative and historical analysis, the study traces the evolution of modern SEZs from the Chinese experience – highlighting successive generations of zones embedded in development planning – to their transnational diffusion in developing countries. The core empirical focus lies on the Persian Gulf, a strategically pivotal region characterized by legal pluralism, intense foreign investment, and competing development narratives. By examining both common law–based financial zones and planning-oriented, state-capitalist SEZs often supported by Chinese investment, the paper demonstrates how Gulf countries deploy regulatory diversity to balance neoliberal globalization and state-led development. Ultimately, the analysis shows that SEZs function not merely as sites of economic experimentation but as flexible legal instruments enabling regional powers to manage legal plurality, project influence, and navigate global geoeconomic competition.