The United Arab Emirates named Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan as its new president following the death of his half-brother, elevating the Abu Dhabi crown prince after nearly a decade as de-facto ruler of the U.S. partner.
The leadership change is likely to have few short-term political or economic implications for the U.A.E., as Sheikh Mohammed for years has steered the country’s domestic and foreign policy, alongside a cadre of powerful brothers and other leaders of the federation.
The country’s Federal Supreme Council, comprising the rulers of the country’s seven emirates, unanimously elected Sheikh Mohammed as president, state news agency WAM said Saturday. Leaders of Abu Dhabi’s royal family have traditionally held the role of president of the seven-member federation, which includes Dubai.
The new leader’s half-brother, Sheikh Khalifa, died a day earlier. He underwent an operation after suffering a stroke in 2014 and was rarely seen publicly afterward.
Since then, Sheikh Mohammed, 61 years old, has directed the U.A.E. to be more outward looking. The country has intervened in regional conflicts, used its vast oil wealth to buy influence abroad and established itself as the Middle East’s commercial hub, giving the expatriates that make up nine 10ths of the population a lifestyle akin to that in their home countries.
Sheikh Mohammed, known as MBZ, is widely considered to be the driving force behind the country’s move to agree diplomatic relations with Israel and its efforts to lobby the U.S. and other states to contain what he considers to be an expansionist Iranian policy in the Middle East.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.A.E. has sought to play a neutral role, condemning the Russian actions while avoiding implementing U.S. and European sanctions and remaining open to Russians seeking refuge or moving wealth.
The death of Sheikh Khalifa has ushered in a change of a leadership in the U.A.E.
Photo:
giuseppe cacace/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
“I am certain that your leadership will further strengthen the friendly Russian-Emirati relations and mutually beneficial cooperation,” Russian President
Vladimir Putin
said in a message to Sheikh Mohammed, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
The new leader also received congratulations from around the Middle East, including from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman.
The U.A.E.’s position on Russia has strained ties with the Biden administration and raised concerns that the country will become a bypass for sanctioned Russians.
Following the invasion, the White House unsuccessfully tried to arrange a call between President Biden and Sheikh Mohammed, as well as a separate call with Saudi Arabia’s de-facto leader, to build international support for Ukraine and contain a surge in oil prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Central to the U.A.E.’s frustration with its relationship with the U.S. has been Iran. The Emiratis say they have expressed concerns to U.S. officials about what they see as the restrained U.S. response to missile strikes earlier this year by Iran-allied Houthi militants in Yemen against the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia.
U.A.E. officials also have said they were concerned about the potential revival of a nuclear deal with Iran, negotiations over which have recently stalled.
Sheikh Mohammed becomes president as the U.A.E. is benefiting from oil prices that have been hovering above $100 for the first time since 2014, and are likely to help drive strong economic growth in the country over the next few years.
“They are rolling in oil revenue, there is a spring in the step in the real-estate market driven by Russians and others finding the U.A.E. a safe haven,” said David Butter, a Middle East politics and economics analyst at London-based think tank Chatham House. “The downside is that there is a risk of volatility in the future.”
Born in 1961, Sheikh Mohammed was educated at the U.K.’s Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and trained as a pilot, later holding roles in the U.A.E. military. Under his leadership, the U.A.E. military became one of the most powerful forces in the Middle East as Emirati forces participated in regional operations such as Afghanistan.
Sheikh Mohammed’s mother, Fatima, was reputedly the favorite wife of U.A.E. founder Sheikh Zayed, and the former leader long groomed his son for power. He and his five full brothers are known as the “Bani Fatima,” or children of Fatima, and have for years held the most senior positions in Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E. government: Sheikh Abdullah is the country’s foreign minister, Sheikh Tahnoun is the spy chief and Sheikh Mansour is the deputy prime minister.
Sheikh Mohammed’s successor as Abu Dhabi’s crown prince hasn’t been announced.
Over the past 18 months, Sheikh Mohammed has pulled the U.A.E. back from a more interventionist foreign policy—in which it entered conflicts like Yemen, Syria and Libya—and instead tried to project an image as peacemaker.
The U.A.E. helped to broker a 2018 peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Sheikh Mohammed last year visited Turkey, seeking a rapprochement with a Middle East neighbor with which the U.A.E. has had strained ties.
Sheikh Mohammed also in recent years has sought to publicly deepen his relationship with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid of Dubai, the second most powerful of the emirates and the country’s commercial hub.
Write to Rory Jones at [email protected]
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