UAE foreign policy in spotlight after Yemen escalation

The United Arab Emirates has pursued an assertive foreign policy and carved its own sphere of influence across the Middle East and Africa, a strategy in the spotlight after a rare military escalation with Saudi Arabia in Yemen this week.

Abu Dhabi has used alliances with states or proxies, military intervention and financial support mainly to counter what it views as the destabilising threat of political Islam, specifically from groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Senior Emirati officials have described the strategy as strengthening nation-states against extremists, though U.N. experts and Western officials have asserted that the approach has at times fuelled conflict, a charge the UAE denies, and critics say it bolsters authoritarian leaders. 

Here are details of the UAE's involvement in key countries:

YEMEN

The UAE announced a withdrawal of its troops from Yemen in 2019, but has maintained influence through the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist group it trained and equipped. 

It views the STC as a bulwark against the Islah party, a key faction in the Saudi-backed government of Yemen that the UAE regards as a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot, and as a partner in securing maritime access.

EGYPT

Abu Dhabi has been Cairo's most important financial backer since Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the military overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013, viewing a secular Egypt as a firewall against an Islamist resurgence. 

In 2024, Emirati sovereign wealth fund ADQ signed a $35 billion deal to develop a prime stretch of Egypt's Mediterranean coast - a vital injection of hard currency while Cairo was strapped for cash. 

Their shared distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood anchors their political alliance, which has seen them coordinate the 2017 boycott of Qatar and oppose Turkey's influence in Libya.

Turkey's ruling AK Party has close ties to the Brotherhood.

SUDAN

U.N. sanctions monitors have described what they deemed credible allegations that the UAE provided military support to Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, in the civil war against the Sudanese army. 

Analysts have said the UAE distrusts the Sudanese Armed Forces chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, due to the presence within his ranks of Islamists from the regime of longtime former Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir, viewing Hemedti - a former partner in Yemen - as a counterweight.

The RSF has been accused, including by the U.S. and rights groups, of committing crimes against humanity and ethnically motivated mass killings in Darfur. 

The UAE has strongly denied supplying arms to the RSF, stating in letters to the U.N. that the allegations lack evidence, and emphasizing that its role is strictly humanitarian.

CHAD

The UAE has strengthened security and economic ties with Chad's transitional President Mahamat Idriss Deby, signing a military cooperation agreement in 2023 and supplying armoured vehicles to the Sahelian state, which it views as a buffer against Islamist insurgents. 

Attention has focused on the remote Amdjarass airport near the Sudanese border, where Reuters reported a surge in cargo flights. 

While the UAE says it operates a field hospital and delivers aid for Sudanese refugees there, U.N. sanctions monitors and Western officials have alleged that the airstrip serves as a key logistics hub for supplying weapons to the RSF. 

The UAE denies the charges, maintaining its operations are purely humanitarian.

LIBYA

The UAE was the primary foreign backer of the east Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar, providing air support and equipment to his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) during a 2019 offensive on Tripoli, according to U.N. experts. 

The intervention aimed to topple the Tripoli-based, internationally recognised Government of National Accord, which included Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated factions and was supported militarily by Turkey. 

While the civil war has been in a fragile stalemate, the UAE remains a key power broker, maintaining close ties to eastern factions and the Haftar family while engaging in diplomatic efforts to shape a government free of what it terms "extremist militias." However, Haftar’s own coalition includes hardline Salafist factions.

ISRAEL

In 2020, the UAE broke with decades of Arab consensus by normalising relations with Israel under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, a move Saudi Arabia has declined to follow without a path to Palestinian statehood. 

The pact formalised a strategic alignment against shared adversaries, specifically Iran and Islamist groups like Hamas.

While the Gaza war has cooled public engagement, with Emirati officials frequently criticising Israeli military conduct, Abu Dhabi has maintained its diplomatic ties, viewing the relationship as a critical lever for regional influence and a unique channel to Washington.

SOMALILAND

The UAE has cultivated deep economic and security ties with the self-declared republic of Somaliland, as Abu Dhabi has frequently viewed the federal Somali government in Mogadishu as being too close to Qatar and Turkey. 

The centrepiece of this strategy is DP World's $442 million investment to develop and operate the Port of Berbera, creating a strategic alternative to Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden. 

In 2017, Somaliland's parliament voted to allow the UAE to build a military base in Berbera. While the base was later designated for civilian use, the UAE continues to train Somaliland's security forces while maintaining a consulate-level presence in Hargeisa. 

Last week, Israel became the first nation to officially recognise Somaliland's independence, a diplomatic breakthrough that was facilitated by Abu Dhabi, according to an Axios report that cited Israeli officials.