The importance of the Saudi-UAE alliance: notes on military intervention, aid and investment

Main author: Ziadah, Rafeef
Format: Journal Article           
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Summary: This contribution focuses on the shifts in the characteristics and forms of intervention by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Middle East and North Africa post the Arab Uprisings of 2011–2012. Although less commented upon, increasing military intervention by the two states has been accompanied by ‘aid intervention’, whereby financial assistance is utilised to secure foreign policy objectives. While scholarly work on intervention typically focuses on Western intervention and, to a lesser extent, the BRICS, this paper argues that Saudi–UAE intervention is reshaping the MENA region through a multi-pronged approach incorporating military campaigns and an alignment of foreign aid with private capital investment priorities. The direct military intervention in Yemen and aid intervention in Egypt are highlighted as illustrations of overarching trends of Saudi–UAE intervention.
Language: English
Published: Taylor and Francis 2019