Characterizing DP World as a Tool of UAE Security and Political Influence

Abstract

Western media and political discussion have characterized the UAE to be advancing its national security and political influence in the Horn of Africa, through DP World. This research is important in order to understand the characterization, with supporting evidence, since this could affect the UAE’s global standing. Identifying aspects of this characterization and its supporting evidence could allow groups to counter this view. This research aims to identify the main areas within DP World which could be used as a tool for the UAE government’s power projection in the Horn of Africa, thereby advancing the UAE government’s security and political influence. It will show how DP World has been mischaracterized, and how this could hurt the country’s reputation. This research also aims to identify whether there has been a change in authors’ views on this characterization, since writing their papers. This will show whether any new evidence has surfaced for consideration if an author were to rewrite an article about DP World in 2023.
The paper will explore two main questions: the characterization of DP World in terms of advancing the UAE government’s security and political influence, and whether the authors’ views of the characterization of DP World have changed since writing the paper. A qualitative approach was used in this research, via the collection of papers from academic literature, online or physical interviews with authors of articles that mention DP World in the context of UAE’s security or economic strategy in the Horn of Africa since 2017, think tanks and also academic journals. The collected data was all written in English and examined using content analysis.
The perceived advancement of the UAE government’s security and political influence has become apparent after the expansion of its naval bases in DP World ports. This has increased its control of export-import trade in the region and has excluded other companies from using the ports, therefore influencing the Horn of Africa (HOA) region politically. The views of the paper authors and their characterization of DP World have not changed since their paper publication dates because they have not seen any evidence contradicting their original views.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Brendon Cannon (Supervisor)