I have written a bunch about the Arabian Peninsula…..the policies of Saudi Arabia and the situation with Qatar and in all that time only a mention has been given to the policies of the UAE…..I will try to change that……

Let’s begin with the Horn of Africa……for those not quite sure…..

As you can see the importance of this region for a lot of the crude flows through this region….oil that is…Texas Tea, black gold….yada yada….

I have written about this region before (listed in further reading section at the close of this post)…..it seems that all nations are trying to get that toe hold in this region….US, Russia, China and now the UAE…..

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged in recent months as an important protagonist in the Horn of Africa. Through political alliances, aid, investment, military base agreements and port contracts, it is expanding its influence in the region. A recent manifestation came in the summer of 2018, when Eritrea and Ethiopia announced – after a flurry of visits to and from Emirati officials – that they had reached an agreement to end their twenty-year war. Emirati and Saudi diplomacy and aid were pivotal to that deal. Elsewhere, however, Gulf countries have played a less constructive role. Competition between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, on the one hand, and Qatar on the other, spilled into Somalia beginning in late 2017, aggravating friction between Mogadishu and Somali regional leaders. Abu Dhabi’s relations with the Somali government have collapsed. As its influence in the Horn grows, the UAE should build on its Eritrea-Ethiopia peace-making by continuing to underwrite and promote that deal, while at the same time looking to reconcile with the Somali government.

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/united-arab-emirates/b65-united-arab-emirates-horn-africa

UAE is interested but they are by no means the only ones…….

• Arab Gulf states are intervening more assertively in sub-Saharan Africa to capitalize on economic opportunities and protect their security interests.
• They view Africa as a relatively uncontested arena in which they can experiment with foreign interventions as part of their strategy to prove their rising status on the world stage.
• The impact of Gulf states’ rivalries in Africa is becoming increasingly damaging, as their zero-sum rivalry has provoked retaliations, which have dangerously destabilized vulnerable parts of Africa, such as during the fallout to the GCC crisis.

https://www.csis.org/analysis/gulf-scramble-africa-gcc-states-foreign-policy-laboratory

What does it say when our supposed “allies” show the shame adventurism for conflict that this country does?

Read!  Learn Stuff!

Further Reading:

https://lobotero.com/2016/08/29/chinese-presence-in-africa-shows-global-ambition/

https://lobotero.com/2014/07/22/all-around-the-horn/

https://lobotero.com/2018/01/23/djibouti-the-d-is-silent/

http://hornofafrica.ssrc.org/

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/what-is-saudi-arabia-up-to-in-the-horn-of-africa/