US President Donald Trump with Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House in 2017. Photo: AFP/Pool
David P. Goldman, Asia Times: ‘America First’ pays off in the Middle East
The fact that America no longer needs to play policeman in the Persian Gulf compels Gulf states to act responsibly as a matter of self-preservation.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan (“MbZ”) of the United Arab Emirates, the “most powerful Arab ruler” according to the New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick, is also the Arab world’s most sagacious political leader. With the UAE’s current account surplus of US$109 billion in 2019 (vs. Saudi Arabia’s $47 billion), he wields enormous economic heft.
MbZ has mentored Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 20 years his junior, since the Saudi leader’s youth. His agreement to normalize relations with the State of Israel, almost certainly the first of several Arab states to make such agreements, vitiates the Islamist agendas of Iran and Turkey and improves the prospects for a long-term solution to the Syrian civil war.
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WNU Editor: Many are not happy with this shift in US policy and responsibility .... 73 Former Republican CIA, FBI And National Security Officials To Back Biden For U.S. President (August 21, 2020).
