The UAE considers its strategic alliance with the United States to be a fundamental of its global positioning, even if Washington has been changeable on its level of interest in the Arab world as the US has changed presidents. But the highly successful meeting between His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and US President Donald Trump in Washington this week has reinvigorated the relationship. Shaikh Mohammad summed it up by saying that the UAE is always keen to develop the strategic relationship and take it to new heights.
The meeting was particularly important given that Trump’s first trip as president outside the US takes him to Saudi Arabia this weekend, where he will meet all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders at one summit, and many other significant leaders from the Muslim world at another gathering.
The Arab and Muslim world need the support of the world’s superpower in their struggle to re-establish the rule of law and stable nation-states across the region. They need to engage with the Trump administration and encourage it to recognise the importance of what is going on in the Arab world. Therefore, it is encouraging that Trump has moved on from some deeply troubling rhetoric in the early days of his presidency to a much better understanding of what is important.
During the summits, the GCC will be keen to emphasise the importance of containing Iran, whose interference in Arab states has become a major source of destabilisation. The Trump administration’s ongoing review of the Iran nuclear deal may well bring the US and the Gulf closer on this important issue.
Trump officials have also said that the administration will be more supportive of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Al Houthi militia in Yemen. And both the GCC and the US want to see Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) exterminated, and both are important partners in the international coalition fighting Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
Finally, it will be important that the new US president takes on board Arab support for the two-state solution before he leaves Saudi Arabia to visit Palestine and Israel and gets involved in finding a peaceful solution to the Middle East’s longest and most damaging conflict. It is encouraging that Trump has shown that he is willing to listen to the Arab position.
