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Biden sends senior US officers to UAE in bid to fix strained ties
MEE employees
Mon, 05/16/2022 – 18:16
US President Joe Biden despatched a high-powered delegation to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to supply condolences after the loss of life of its ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in what consultants say seems to be a bid to step up efforts to restore frayed ties with Gulf allies.
Since final Friday, world leaders have descended on Abu Dhabi to pay respects to new chief Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed on the loss of life of his half-brother.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have already arrived within the UAE, whereas Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was heading there on Monday, as was Iran’s overseas minister.
US Vice President Kamala Harris landed within the Emirati capital the place she is predicted to remain for round three hours.
She heads a delegation that features Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, Central Intelligence company director William Burns, and local weather envoy John Kerry, along with Biden’s high nationwide safety aides and different high-ranking White Home officers.
‘American diplomacy up to now hasn’t actually been getting the outcomes that I think about either side want to see within the relationship’
– Kristin Diwan, analyst
The make-up of the delegation displays Washington’s want to indicate its dedication to the area, and likewise seems to indicate an intent to concern a brand new strategy to diplomacy with Abu Dhabi, given the broad depth of the delegation, consultants advised Center East Eye.
“I believe it is no secret that American diplomacy up to now hasn’t actually been getting the outcomes that I think about either side want to see within the relationship,” stated Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar on the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
“We’re in a interval the place we’re actually renegotiating these long-standing ties of oil for safety,” Diwan advised MEE.
Since coming into workplace, analysts say the Biden administration has largely shifted away from US engagement within the Center East, with Washington’s main concentrate on addressing competitors from China. And since February, US overseas coverage has been dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Within the midst of this, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have each held points with the Biden administration, and Abu Dhabi has been pissed off by what it views as an absence of unequivocal assist following missile assaults in January by Yemen’s Houthis.
However the US’s want to enhance ties with its Gulf companions has gained renewed urgency following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this 12 months, which highlighted the strategic significance of Gulf oil producers as Europe appears to chop its power dependence on Moscow.
A supply conversant in the UAE’s pondering advised Reuters that the “seniority and dimension of the US delegation is a really telling sign and might be significant to Sheikh Mohammed and the UAE management”.
“Whether or not or not it resolves any of the underlying points, which maybe consists of the UAE’s place in the direction of Russia and its rising relationship with China, might be one other matter,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Baker Institute fellow for the Center East, advised MEE.
“However no less than by way of surface-level politics, it is a assertion.”
The UAE, in addition to Saudi Arabia, has in the meantime been pissed off by situations on US weapons gross sales. In December, the UAE stated it will droop talks on purchases of US-made F-35 fighter jets due to situations associated to the sale.
William Burns and the CIA
Along with the delegation together with high-level White Home officers, the US’s high diplomat and defence chief, it additionally consists of William Burns, head of the Central Intelligence Company.
Earlier this month, the Wall Road Journal reported that Burns had made a visit to Saudi Arabia, in a gathering that US officers had described as having a “higher tone” than earlier conferences, together with one with Jake Sullivan, the US nationwide safety adviser.
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A number of sources advised The Intercept that throughout the assembly Burns had requested Saudi Arabia to not pursue arms offers with China and launch former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef from detention. The CIA director additionally introduced up the difficulty of oil.
With Burns listed on the go to to the UAE, consultants say he may play an necessary function in serving to US diplomacy with the Emirates, which historically is beneath the mandate of the State Division.
“William Burns and Mohammed bin Zayed have lengthy ties that return a great distance of their respective roles in authorities,” Ulrichsen advised MEE.
“His involvement within the delegation is only a reflection of the seniority of that delegation.”
Diwan stated that it “is sensible to usher in some people who introduce totally different parts into the connection”, and added that along with Burn’s participation, “I used to be additionally to see Kerry’s participation as nicely”.
John Kerry is the local weather envoy for the Biden administration, and Diwan famous that his presence within the delegation may assist broaden the conversations past simply safety and oil.
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