Publications /
Policy Brief

Back
Download PDF
The strategic extension of the United Arab Emirates: Determinants, objectives and some implications for the Horn of Africa
Authors
Jamal Machrouh
January 30, 2020
Related topics: 
International Relations
Geopolitics
Africa
Horn of Africa
MENA

Increasingly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) strengthens its position within the Arab region that is of strong geopolitical attributes. There has never been as much diplomatic and military activism in the UAE’s history as in the last decade. Such a situation raises major questions about the nature and the impact of the new strategic extension of the country. This article aims at discussing the determinants and objectives of the new strategic positioning of the UAE. A special focus will be given to the projection of the UAE’s “blue power” in the region of the Horn of Africa.

Several factors could explain the current strategic extension of the UAE, with three being considered the most significant.

Napoleon Bonaparte said that, “The foreign policy of States lies in their geography”. Indeed, geography, a constant element of foreign policy, puts the UAE at the center of regional and global issues. Due to the strategic location of the country, the UAE finds itself obliged to take a position in a number of strategic issues that deeply affect the Arab region and particularly the Gulf.

RELATED CONTENT

  • The European Parliament Resolution and the Moroccan-Spanish Crisis
    Authors
    Abdallah Saaf
    August 13, 2026
    The Resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority of elected European officials in Strasbourg on June 10, 2021, on "the violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the exploitation of minors by the authorities in the migration crisis in Ceuta" (2021/2747/RSP), could not fail to leave its mark.Decoding the ResolutionThe Resolution shocked Moroccans to such an extent that it was quickly set aside at the time, as if there were a wish to forget it as fast as possible. ...
  • Download PDF
    La crisis de Ceuta de julio de 2026: Condiciones estructurales, amplificadores coyunturales y factores desencadenantes
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    August 13, 2026
    Cuando estalla una crisis, esta da lugar a la activación de reflejos para su gestión y la limitación de sus efectos. Comienzan, entonces, los análisis y las suposiciones sobre las disfunciones, los incumplimientos y las fallas que la ocasionaron. En algunos casos, la teoría de la conspiración se inmiscuye y las hipótesis buscan a los autores que provocaron la crisis, sus designios y sus objetivos. Sin embargo, la teoría de la gestión de crisis nos enseña que una crisis surge según ...
  • Download PDF
    The July 2026 Ceuta Crisis: Structural Conditions, Circumstantial Amplifiers, and Triggering Factors
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    August 12, 2026
    When a crisis erupts, it sets crisis-management reflexes in motion and prompts efforts to contain its effects. Analysts then begin looking for the malfunctions, oversights, and failures that caused it. In some cases, conspiracy theories creep in, and speculation turns to who engineered the crisis, and to what end. Crisis-management theory teaches us, however, that a crisis unfolds under conditions that favor its emergence. Crises take shape in an environment where latent vulnerabil ...
  • Download PDF
    La crise de Sebta de juillet 2026 : Conditions structurelles, amplificateurs conjoncturels et facteurs déclencheurs
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    August 11, 2026
    Lorsqu’une crise éclate, elle donne lieu à l’actionnement des réflexes pour sa gestion et la limitation de ses effets. Commencent, alors, les analyses et les suppositions sur les dysfonctionnements, les manquements et les défaillances ayant entrainé ladite crise. Dans certains cas, la théorie du complot s’ingère et les hypothèses cherchent les auteurs ayant provoqué la crise, leurs desseins et leurs buts.Cependant, la théorie de gestion des crises nous apprend qu’une crise inte ...
  • The Mecca Agreement: A First Step Towards a New Regional Security Architecture?
    Authors
    Bilal Mahli
    August 11, 2026
    The Mecca Agreement: A First Step Towards a New Regional Security Architecture? On 7 August, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed the Mecca Agreement, a trilateral defense pact aimed at strengthening collective security and defense cooperation between the three countries. At its core lies a collective defense commitment under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all three. While many details concerning its practical implementation remain unclear, the agreeme ...
  • Download PDF
    A Distant Battlefield, Tangible Costs. The War on Iran's Toll on the Global South
    Authors
    Len Ishmael
    August 7, 2026
    THE END OF AN ERAThe US-Israeli war on Iran, a 'little excursion' envisaged to be over within a matter of weeks, has entered its fourth month. Shock waves ripple across the globe. This war is just one in a series of recent crises which have fractured the international community, making the decades of the 2020's among the most disruptive in recent history. Each crisis compounds the deleterious effects of those which came before. The war in Iran is no exception. It abruptly stalled ec ...
  • Download PDF
    The United States at 250: A Mediterranean Perspective
    Authors
    Ian O. Lesser
    August 6, 2026
    With America's 250th anniversary, there will be many analyses of the country's history from domestic and international perspectives. But the meaning of the American story should also be assessed in key regional settings, from Asia to Latin America, and in transatlantic terms. In this vein, it is worth exploring the U.S. engagement in and with the Mediterranean world, one of the first places of U.S. international activism, and a setting where diverse aspects of U.S. foreign policy ha ...
  • Download PDF
    Iran War and Energy: Ten Dangerous Linkages
    Authors
    Francis Perrin
    July 17, 2026
    The close relationship between energy and geopolitics is well established. The same holds true for several armed conflicts. In recent years, however, the conflict most closely intertwined with energy has been the 2026 Iran War, which began on February 28. A ceasefire has been in effect since April 8, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Iran and the United States on June 17. Nevertheless, as demonstrated by Iran's attacks on commercial vessels and recent U.S. strike ...
  • Download PDF
    GUERRE D’IRAN ET ÉNERGIE : Dix liaisons dangereuses
    Authors
    Francis Perrin
    July 17, 2026
    Les relations, très étroites, entre l’énergie et la géopolitique sont bien connues. Cela vaut aussi pour plusieurs conflits armés. Mais, dans la période récente, le conflit le plus lié à l’énergie est la guerre d’Iran de 2026, qui a débuté le 28 février. Un cessez-le-feu est en vigueur depuis le 8 avril et un protocole d’accord a été signé le 17 juin par l’Iran et les États-Unis. Mais, comme le montrent les attaques de l’Iran contre des navires et les frappes américaines de ces dern ...