Saudi Arabia and the UAE Bombed Iran for Totally Different Reasons
The newest divide in the Middle East is between Israel’s allies and the growing number of states that view it as a threat, former defense intel analyst Harrison Mann writes.
The Gulf royals learned the hard way that Donald Trump’s affections can’t be bought, only rented. Mohmmed bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, known as MBS, and Mohammed bin Zayed, the president of the UAE, known as MBZ, pledged trillions of dollars in U.S. investments, including billions for projects directly connected to Trump and his family, only to find their countries turned into cannon fodder overnight in a war the U.S. president started without even bothering to warn them.
The violent shocks of the Iran war have accelerated a phenomenon already underway in Arab Gulf capitals: Planning for a future where they can no longer depend on American protection.
But MBS and his erstwhile ally and mentor MBZ imagine very different futures.
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