Abdulla Aljenaid

Can the issue of the US F-35 fighter deal with the UAE be raised without contemplating the special strategic relationship between both countries, or the Emirates' pivotal geopolitical role? A more important question is whether it is acceptable to politicize this deal by the Biden administration now. Therefore, it wasn't unexpected for the UAE to suspend the negotiations given the US choice to delay its completion.

This complication was described by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in joint press conference in Kuala Lumpur, "We remain prepared to move forward… if that is what the Emiratis are interested in doing… Washington wanted to ensure that Israel maintains its military advantage… We wanted to make ensure the security of any technologies that are sold or transferred to other partners in the region." Secretary Blinken was implying that the technology revision was mainly Israel's superiority edge regionally, while guarding against any cyber infringement by China through the Chinees 5G infrastructure in the UAE. Washington has also demanded that the UAE provides unprecedented purchase guarantees that challenge the buyer's sovereign rights in use or deployment of these fighter.

Notably, the Pentagon and US State Department had previously went through a reargues approval process prior to approving the deal earlier. That had included the technical specifications from the power plants, radar and navigation, advanced communications and data sharing, missile guidance, and weapons bay payloads. The UAE requested specifications are unique to its needs, and another detail that Secretary Blinken have missed, was the fact that the Israeli armed forces has always applied its own modifications to any system the Israel acquires including the F-35's, as they had modified the Israeli Air Force F-15/16 fighter in the past, and the specifications Dolphin class submarines that they had acquired and are acquiring from Germany. Furthermore, the current Israeli government did not express any objection to the deal to go through. Which lead us to conclude that Washington has other motives than the ones stated by StateSect Blinken.

Washington's decision to “complicate” this deal at this point in time could be linked to the faltering Vienna talks with Iran or is it expressing more than a verbal objection to some of the UAE recent regional FP policy steps that Washington disapprove, as have been expressed by several US officials after the UAE's Foreign Secretary Shaikh Abdulla bin Zayed Al-Nahyan's visit to Damascus, or mybe the direct talks with Iran.

Venturing further into US concerns over China's 5G network security risks to the F-35 program, one wonders whether a similar concern was overlooked by Washington when it supplied the UAE with the advanced THAAD air defense system, or has the US Air Force registered any infringement or an attempt to any of highly advanced systems that the US Air Force fields and operate out of Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi?

There are implications to both the shunned UAE demands that Washington passes a verdict regarding the F-35 deal, and the unanswered calls by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud to include the Kingdom in the Iran talks in Vienna. The Biden administration should review its strategic integration and interdependence priorities with its regional allies, to serve the common strategic interests of all, instead of granting primacy to short-term political desires and goals.

BY: Abdulla Aljenaid

Kanye West suspended from Instagram for 24 hours for bullying UK to deploy air defense missiles systems to Poland

Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.