‘Cold, pragmatic relationship’: UAE-Israel ties driven by defence and technology

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Dr Andreas Krieg, Senior Lecturer School of Security Studies at King’s College London and Fellow at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies. According to Dr. Krieg, “Iran is fighting a war against the global economy.” By targeting the UAE, and especially Dubai, Tehran is not merely retaliating militarily but seeking to exploit what Krieg calls the “Achilles heel” of the international system: the Gulf’s hyperconnected financial and logistical infrastructure.

The UAE, he argues, is “the most connected Middle Eastern country in terms of finances, trade, commodities, goods, people, as well as data,” making it both indispensable and dangerously exposed.