Mishal Zahra
Over the past two decades, the military capabilities of the UAE have emerged from a highly vulnerable and volatile state to one of the Middle East’s most capable military. Despite its small population, the UAE has started investing in modern weapons and military technologies, and is opening up to strategic partnerships. This reflects the policy shifting from ‘active neutrality’ to a ‘defensive buildup strategy’, and the acknowledgement of the role of military capabilities to survive in a highly unstable region.
However, this shift is questioned, because it came with some military interventions & operations, questioning its endurance in return. Despite geopolitical and structural challenges, the UAE’s defence policy incorporates a pragmatic approach along with deterrence and strategic partnerships within the highly volatile region.
The geographical location, demography, and resources of the UAE made its national security not just a tool of its soft power, but a challenge. To the South and West, it borders Saudi Arabia, a difficult ally. Across the waters of the Gulf, whose name -Persian or Arabian Gulf- is disputed between the states across its shore, lies Iran. It is seen as a major threat due to old territorial claims and conflicts, with regional competition adding to it.
The economic market of the UAE majorly relies on trade, and majorly oil exports, which makes 30% of the total GDP. For a state, its trade depends upon the national security and stability circumstances, so any disruption in the trade routes, borders, and maritime can heavily impact its economy. Thus, the UAE sees its military modernization as a major tool not only to deter the adversaries but for the economic integrity as well.
The UAE is covering up its lack of manpower by investing in military modernization, which is the main pillar of its defence policy. It is often referred to as ‘little Sparta’, emphasizing that the UAE is stronger than one would expect of its size. Rather than a large army, the UAE has been quietly building its independent military capabilities, preferring quality over quantity, which increases its deterrence by increasing the cost of aggression for potential adversaries. As these military capabilities grow, the country is more willing to project its hard power to protect its interests, usually in conjunction with its allies and its traditional soft power approach.
Strategic alliances are a major part of the UAE’s defence policy, particularly with Western powers, Saudi Arabia & other Gulf members. It applies a ‘balanced approach’ in its military relations, i.e., no complete dependence while avoiding confrontation. This approach is evident from the fact that the UAE has started relying less on the US and has started maintaining balanced relations with its allies as well as with enemies, especially Iran.
At first, the UAE supported Trump when he applied the ‘maximum pressure’ doctrine on Iran by withdrawing from the nuclear deal in 2018, but when it seemed to start failing, the UAE tried to build up relations with Iran by giving humanitarian aid during Covid, and called up diplomatic meetings while naming them ‘technical meetings.’ The UAE signed the Abraham Accords in 2020 and is still benefiting from Israel’s relations, mainly to counter Iran.
On the other hand, it exploits the US-China rivalry by benefiting from both sides, as its diplomatic advisor to the President said that: its “trade relations are increasingly looking to the East, while our primary security and investment relations are in the West.” This shows how the UAE has been making itself prominent while managing strategic partnerships in the highly volatile region.
The UAE’s willingness to take military action is perhaps explicit from Yemen’s intervention of 2015, which Saudi Arabia mainly led in the North and the Emirates in the South. To continue the projection of its influence, the UAE has developed a network of ‘flexible outposts’, by military bases along the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, to project power across the regions.
Despite the UAE’s strengths, its defence policy implications also have drawbacks. Due to a smaller population, the size of the UAE’s military remains restricted, which makes it difficult to sustain long wars. Moreover, the UAE’s interventions might result in a setback to its reputation regionally. Additionally, the UAE’s sovereignty can be at risk as it lacks local military tech capacity and remains dependent on foreign states for military tech. Collectively, these factors make the structural constraints that mold the UAE’s defence policy.
The UAE’s defence policy reflects a practical approach that allows it to maintain its strategic autonomy, regional relevance, and national sovereignty. Other than that, its strategy also applies the balanced approach to avoid overreliance on foreign powers. Moving forward, its defence policy is likely to balance with its diplomatic power, to give long-term sustainability to its goals. Despite its weaknesses, the UAE’s defence policy is emerging gradually, making itself more of a ‘self-help’ state.
The author is a BS scholar of IR at the National Defence University. She’s an independent researcher and has a keen interest in geopolitics and world order.
