Recent Meetings between Western Leaders and UAE Officials Go Largely Unnoticed
US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson met with the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayad Al Nahyan in Washington today to discuss a range of issues spanning trade, security, military, and defence. The meeting, which reinforced closer ties between the two countries, suggests the Trump administration will not radically depart from previous US foreign policy in the Middle East, despite earlier hints of doing so on the campaign trail. The two parties stressed the importance of 'enhancing joint cooperation in fighting terrorism and extremism' in a meeting that went largely unnoticed by international media outlets.
This meeting came just a week after Federal National Council delegation from the UAE met with British MPs and Lords which included the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. A range of issues were discussed from regional developments in the Middle East to further cooperation in terms of security and trade with the intention of strengthening the bilateral ties between the UK and the UAE. In a post-Brexit landscape, closer bilateral ties between the UK and the UAE attains increased importance to the UK government as it reconstitutes trading relations and seeks out new investment opportunities outside of the EU.
The overall tone of today's meeting in Washington signals that the Trump administration considers the UAE an important strategic ally in an increasingly fractured region. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, hailed the role played by the UAE on both a regional and international level as the two parties discussed developments in Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. This sees a renewed US support for the current Saudi/UAE offensive in Yemen in what signals a slight change of tactics from the previous administration which saw Obama halt the sale of 'some arms' to Saudi Arabia due to increased international pressure concerning widespread civilian casualties.
In a day where the US Secretary of State threatened to pull the US out of the UN Human Rights Council, Rex Tillerson has forged a closer relationship with an authoritarian regime that routinely denies basic rights to its own citizens within its borders. The UAE has come under increasingly strong criticism from human rights organisations in recent years for contravening international law with regards to the use of arbitrary arrests, torture and practices of enforced disappearances and unfair trials. Secretary of State Tiller asserted that the US will act to promote human rights globally if they leave the UN Human Rights Council. Campaigners will claim that today's meeting substantially contradicts that claim.
- For information regarding the meeting in Washington please see http://uaeinteract.com/docs/Abdullah-bin-Zayed-meets-US-Secretary-of-State/78909.htm
- For more information regarding the meeting in London please see http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/FNC-delegation-meets-with-Arab-ambassadors-in-London/78819.htm
- For more information regarding Rex Tiller's comments on the UN Human Rights Council please see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-saudi-arabia-yemen-war-support-military-houthis-bombing-campaign-crisis-a7472546.html
