Authorities intensively manage the country’s reputation, and freedom of political expression is practically non-existent. The UAE relies heavily on foreign workers, who make up the vast majority of the country’s workforce. Stability is one of the UAE’s major selling points - helping to attract millions of expatriates and billions of dollars in foreign investment - but that image could be shattered if the conflict with the Houthis escalates. The oil-rich nation has for decades managed to stave off the political turbulence occurring elsewhere in the region. “The Houthis are trying to create some sort of balance by striking the image of stability and security in the Emirates.” This angered the Houthis,” said Maged al-Madhaji, executive director and co-founder of the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies. “The intervention of the UAE-supported forces was a game-changer. Now, analysts say the rebels are eager to spark another Emirati withdrawal. More recently, however, the UAE has returned to the fray, backing Yemeni groups in flashpoints like the oil-rich provinces of Shabwa and Marib and repelling Houthi fighters from the strategic desert town. The campaign failed to crush the rebels but exacted a huge humanitarian toll, with thousands of Yemenis dead and malnourishment and disease widespread. In 2019, the UAE pulled most of its troops from Yemen, after privately deeming the war unwinnable. Now Yemen’s Houthis have delivered on a threat that they have for years made against the UAE, a major coalition partner in a six-year Saudi-led military campaign to crush the Iran-backed rebels. But Emirati authorities never acknowledged the alleged attacks, and many observers considered the claims to have been farfetched. The Houthis previously claimed to have conducted strikes on the UAE, which it does not share a border with. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed asked the US to reclassify the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization - a label that was instituted in the final days of the Trump administration before being lifted by President Joe Biden. Oil prices spiked after the attacks, which spurred a flurry of international condemnation from the US and other world leaders.
Yemen’s rebels frequently conduct cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s neighbor, but these were relatively short distances in comparison with Abu Dhabi, and the vast majority of the missiles and drones were intercepted before they hit their targets. In addition to being the first deadly attack in the UAE in many years, the drone attacks on Monday demonstrated the Houthis’ ability to launch long-range attacks. Why was the Houthi attack so significant? And if the rebels make good on their promise to launch further strikes, it could dent the UAE’s image as a safe place to live, work and do business in a troubled region.
0 kommentar(er)
