The UAE-US Defence Cooperation Initiatives and their impact on the UAE's military security

Abstract

This thesis examines the impact of UAE-US defence cooperation initiatives on the military security of UAE. The research question is 'How has the UAE-US Defense Cooperation Initiatives contributed to advancing the UAE's military security from 1991 to 2015?' The research methodology is qualitative and research methods are document synthesis and interviews. The structure of the thesis consists of five main chapters. The thesis focuses on one single dimension of security which is military security. Furthermore, the key concepts of the thesis are US-UAE Defense agreements initiatives, military security and security bilateral arrangements. The security issue is very critical and important to UAE in order to preserve the country territorial integrity and political sovereignty. As such, the thesis topic has been chosen due to the security significance to UAE future. In order to answer the question, a comparison will be used between the broad defense cooperation initiatives key indicators in the literature and key real-life indicators for the specific case of the UAE-US defense cooperation initiatives. I argue that the achievement of UAE military in Yemen and Syria is a real proof that the cooperation initiatives have resulted in an increased ability by the UAE to defend itself, undertake expeditionary operations and deter military aggression. The UAE-US cooperation at UAE's Dhafra Air Base where US forces are based, and in the skies over Syria is a good evidence of that military tie of UAE and US has strengthen in remarkable ways.

Date of Award	Apr 2017
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Athol Yates (Supervisor)