Paradoxically, the UAE’s successes in internal development, particularly in the technological sector, are directly proportional to its controversial foreign policy actions. It may seem that one complements or follows the other, but this is not the case, and we will explain why below.
But first, let’s talk about the reason for these thoughts. In a speech in Damascus during the celebration of the 48th anniversary of the UAE, Abdul Hakim Al-Na’im, the official representative of the Assad regime, characterized Assad’s policies as «wise governance» that would ensure security throughout Syria.
Assad’s «wise governance» has apparently left his country in ruins, with over 600,000 people killed, millions injured and disabled, and millions more fleeing the country. Syria is now effectively divided between foreign powers and their coalitions, with Assad a puppet of one of them. Would Abdul Hakim Al-Na’im want such a «wise government» for his own country? The question seems rhetorical. So why do the actions of UAE leaders increasingly raise such questions?
They and their supporters argue that in order for the UAE to prosper, they must fight the «ikhwan» or «political Islam» that could threaten their prosperity by any means necessary, anywhere. They claim that not only Assad or Haftar, who oppose the «Ikhwan» in Muslim countries, but also Israel, which opposes the «Ikhwan» in Palestine, and Greece, which opposes the «Ikhwan» in Turkey, are appropriate means.
But this has not always been the case. The UAE’s controversial policy is relatively recent. Before that, it supported various rebel factions under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army and had active relations with Turkey, which it now seeks to demonize, as well as close cooperation with neighboring Qatar, which it has turned against in recent years.
This shift came after Trump’s «historic visit» to the Middle East, during which he and his son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka apparently either demanded or promised something from the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
But what have either side gained from the policy of hostility toward neighboring Muslim countries and the masses of Muslims, as well as friendship with tyrants? Has their security increased or decreased as a result? After all, the groundwork for successful development is often laid over decades, and the UAE and KSA are now reaping the benefits of their efforts over a long period of time, not just recently.
On the contrary, such foreign policies and reliance on controversial figures may eventually backfire. Not necessarily because of a new rise of «political Islam», which may occur at the next turning point in history, but simply because the foreign policy pursued by the leaders of the UAE and KSA is not pragmatic, but rather a partisan fanaticism, which they try to attribute to the «Ikhwan», but which they themselves demonstrate in the most controversial way by their obsession with fighting them.
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