The UAE and Foreign Policy: Foreign Aid, Identities and Interests

Khalid S. Almezaini

Jan 2012 · Routledge

About this ebook

This book offers a concise and detailed analysis of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign aid as a main instrument in its foreign policy. Exploring the cultural factors that have impacted on the foreign policy behaviour of the UAE and its foreign aid, the author argues that Arabism and Islamic traditions have shaped the country’s foreign policy in general and foreign aid in particular.

Examining in depth the motives and purposes of this large aid program through the lens of International Relations theories (mainly Constructivism and Rationalism), the book details the UAE’s foreign policy and aid program since its inception. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of two major recipients of aid from the UAE – Palestine and Pakistan – the focus moves beyond the UAE to show how cultural factors have impacted on the behaviour of the authorities across the wider Arab Middle East.

This critical assessment and analysis of the UAE’s foreign policy will be of particular interest to students, researchers and academics interested in Middle East studies, the Gulf States, Middle East politics, and foreign aid and foreign policy.

About the author

Khalid S. Almezaini is a visiting research fellow at the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge. He is co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Arab Studies and his research focuses on Middle East politics, foreign policy, national identities and political economy of the Middle East in general and the Gulf states in particular.