Richard Spencer, the Times’s Middle East correspondent, recently published an opinion piece arguing that the UAE was looking for new allies, possibly Russia or China, because the two countries would not try to impose their own rules on others.
The article said there were already indications that the UAE authorities no longer believed that the country’s interests were linked to the interests of the United Kingdom and the United States. In fact, for 10 years, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the UAE Armed Forces, has considered London and Washington unreliable.
The authors argue that egypt and the United States were considered close allies when then-President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron called for the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 Arab Spring. Since then, Al Nahyan has sought new allies who will not preach or pressure partners on human rights issues.
The article argues that Russia is an option and another option is China, a huge market for oil in the Gulf. In stark contrast to Washington’s adventurism, China has shown over the past two decades its ability to avoid getting into trouble.
