The Middle East’s most meaningful alliance has endured territorial disputes, succession crises and the pressures of war in the neighborhood. Now the partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is being tested by a more existential challenge: economics.
It will survive because the two Gulf Arab countries have many common interests, especially in the spheres of geopolitics and security: They are both threatened by Iran and its proxies, are wary of Turkey’s growing influence in the region and fear the political Islam propagated by the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots. Their de facto rulers, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, have a close personal friendship.
