Top US thinktank no longer accepts UAE funding over human rights concerns

Top US thinktank no longer accepts UAE funding over human rights concerns

A prominent US thinktank has declared that it no longer accepts funding from the “anti-democratic government” of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to its involvement in the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

The Washington-based Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal public policy research and advocacy organisation, said that it sought to distinguish itself from the “authoritarian regimes” around the globe, the UAE included, with which US President Donald Trump’s administration has developed a close bond, The Guardian newspaper said in a report last Friday.

“With a rising undemocratic tide around the world, and serious questions about which side of that struggle our own president stands on, it seemed clear that all Americans should take extra steps and leave no doubt where they stand,” The Guardian quoted a CAP spokesperson as saying.

According to the report, CAP’s move came amid heightened public scrutiny around the financial support Washington-based thinktanks receive from authoritarian regimes. It also cited a detailed funding list the organization previously released showing that it had obtained between $500,000 and $1 million from the UAE embassy in the US capital.

The considerable Emirati-provided financial support, overseen by CAP’s foreign policy team, placed the Arab country in the upper echelon of the group’s donors, fueling speculation that the organization’s policies are shaped by the wealthy donor - an allegation strongly denied by the group.

“This funding never impacted any CAP position or policy, but everybody here agrees it’s just the right thing to do,” the spokesperson was further quoted as saying.

Tags: Yemen War

 

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