Asian Angle | On Gulf Arab issues, Western media fails to grasp ‘deep interests’ that UAE, Saudi Arabia share
- The Western media has failed to learn lessons from their own perpetuation of the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ fiction to justify the Iraq invasion
- The Saudi-Emirati relationship is increasingly competitive but there has been nothing to suggest that their common core interests have changed
Oil markets took a quick two-dollar tumble on March 3 because a top US newspaper reported that the United Arab Emirates was thinking about leaving the Opec grouping.
Growing strategic competition between the UAE and big brother Saudi Arabia, on matters ranging from oil production quotas to dominance of regional commerce and the outcome of the civil war in Yemen, were cited as reasons for an “internal debate” in Abu Dhabi about leaving the Arab-led oil cartel with 13 members.
The excitement was caused by the potential repercussions of such a shock UAE departure.
Kristan Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, listed them in a tweet that day.
A UAE withdrawal from the cartel would represent “a huge victory for US policy by splitting Opec+ with its ties to Russia” – even if it happened for the UAE’s own reasons, she said.
The implications for Saudi Arabia would be “dire” because it would render Riyadh more isolated with Russia.