American diplomat: Mohammed bin Zayed carried out a comprehensive coup in the Emirates
A formal US Ambassador to the UAE Barbara A. Leaf said in a seminar organized by the “Washington Institute for Near East Policy” via the Internet, that bin Zayed took a series of steps in the past decade to foster a distinct sense of Emirati nationalism, especially among the youth.
She explained that these initiatives reflected concerns that modernization was affecting society, that the state is losing its culture, and that the younger generation lacks a sense of responsibility towards the state.
In addition, the leadership of the UAE was experiencing a state of normalization – whether among its people or in the region.
UAE press coverage of Israel has been nonpolemical, and while the leadership took a cautious approach to the public visibility of the Israeli delegation when Abu Dhabi began hosting the UN International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in 2015, increasing and deliberate visibility was given to people-to-people contacts. These moves were meant to set the Emirates apart in the region in U.S. eyes and in their people’s eyes.
The former US ambassador to the UAE stressed that it is after 2011, turmoil continued unabated, and two quasi-blocs—Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt on one side; Qatar, Iran, Turkey, and rejectionist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hezbollah on the other—formed in the region.
She added “While normalization was driven by national security factors for the UAE, the Emiratis also considered the move critical to enhancing ties with the United States, maintaining bipartisan support in Washington, raising the relationship to the special “club” of strategic partners like Israel, and gaining access to certain advanced defense systems they had long sought. There is also a certain fatalistic line of thinking in the UAE’s leadership that the region is moving toward a post-American era. In this regard, the deal can be seen as a hedge against that possibility, with the UAE looking for a defense/security relationship with the regional superpower, Israel.”
She clarified that the “UAE foreign policy is often defined by risk-taking; the strategic step to normalize relations with Israel was a carefully calculated risk and accelerated an already visible trend line. Meanwhile, Washington has been wrestling for some time with how to deal with a more adventurous Emirati foreign policy, and a Democratic presidential administration would likely be more critical.”
She added “The UAE has tried out much more assertive interventions in Yemen and Libya. In Yemen, the costs became too high, and the crown prince made the hardnosed decision to withdraw despite costs to the Emirati relationship with Saudi Arabia. Libya provides an example of Emirati overreach, which will likely play into Congress’s decision on the sale of F-35 jets and other advanced systems to Abu Dhabi.”
