The United States has approved a $1.2 billion deal to sell precision munitions for multiple launch rocket systems to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This move is seen as a reward for Abu Dhabi’s growing support for Israel amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
According to an official U.S. announcement made recently, the proposed sale of GMLRS and ATACMS missiles “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of an important regional partner.”
The statement added that the project “will enhance the UAE’s ability to counter current and future threats by upgrading its armed forces.”
The U.S. Department of State has approved the potential sale of these munitions to the UAE, and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress, which must still approve the deal.
An American think tank has expressed concern, stating that the U.S. is rewarding the UAE for its “bad behavior” by making it a “major defense partner,” reflecting what they describe as a consistently misguided approach to handling the Middle East.
The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft noted that with this new designation, the UAE joins India as the only two countries with this title, which the White House says will allow “unprecedented cooperation” in the pursuit of “regional stability” across the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean.
As the Middle East moves closer to the brink of all-out war, the strategic alignment with Abu Dhabi is being portrayed as a logical step, given the UAE’s image as a stable and assertive nation. However, a closer examination of the UAE’s recent record in the Middle East and Africa reveals that it has not fully lived up to these expectations.
While the UAE has received praise for its support of numerous U.S.-backed alliances and has cultivated a relatively positive reputation compared to some of its neighbors, the regime of Mohammed bin Zayed has also pursued its own interests through a range of aggressive and destabilizing activities. These include prolonging civil wars in Libya and Yemen (violating U.S. and international law in the process), destabilizing the Horn of Africa, and strengthening political and economic ties with Russia.
Yasser Zidan, a PhD candidate at the University of Washington and a former lecturer at Sudan’s National University, remarked, “The UAE is aggressively seeking an economic foothold in Africa and East Asia… They are everywhere, really, pursuing their interests through military means as well, not just economic diplomacy.”
However, the most alarming aspect is the UAE’s covert support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan during the brutal 18-month civil war against the Sudanese Armed Forces under the military government.
Evidence of war crimes, civilian massacres, and widespread sexual violence in the first six months of the war was so overwhelming that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued an official condemnation, accusing the RSF of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
Last week, both the UAE and the U.S. reaffirmed their stance that the Sudanese conflict “has no military solution.” Despite this, the UAE continues to deny its support for any side in the conflict, even as mounting evidence suggests otherwise.
In January, the United Nations reported “credible” evidence that the UAE was shipping weapons to the Royal Air Force multiple times per week via northern Chad, in blatant violation of the recently extended arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfur region.
In August 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported on an incident where the UAE attempted to send covert military and financial aid disguised as humanitarian assistance to Sudan.
Furthermore, Abu Dhabi has become a logistical, business, and financial hub for the RSF, with Emirati investors recently securing a $6 billion deal to support Sudanese gold export ports on the Red Sea.
Dr. Anel Shilin, a researcher at the Quincy Institute, remarked that the U.S.-UAE agreement reflects a growing trend where middle powers successfully extract geopolitical advantages from the world’s major superpowers—including the U.S., China, and Russia, in the case of the UAE—to build and maintain their influence.
“This trend will become increasingly apparent, and we will need American leaders who are unwilling to be constrained by the limitations of constantly giving these other powers what they want—and for what, exactly? What the U.S. has gained from this remains unclear, and to me, it seems highly inappropriate given that the UAE does not behave in ways the U.S. desires from a close partner.”
One thing is clear: the UAE has a bold set of political priorities across the Middle East and Africa. The “obvious secrets” surrounding Sudan and other contentious conflicts, along with the UAE’s weak attempts at denial, may pose an embarrassing challenge for the U.S. given its newly strengthened relationship with Abu Dhabi.
With this new “major partner,” the U.S., which has already expanded its involvement in other parts of the Middle East, risks entangling itself in a growing number of violent conflicts, humanitarian crises, and diplomatic rifts throughout the region.
The American think tank emphasized that Biden and his successor must realize that the risks of losing influence to China or Russia in the Gulf pale in comparison to those that come with tying themselves to Abu Dhabi and its controversial foreign policy platform.
