UAE
6 briefs
The Price of Playing Both Sides
Pakistan tried to mediate between the US and Iran. The UAE responded by expelling hundreds of thousands of Pakistani workers. That is what it costs to be indispensable.
UAE Quits OPEC After 60 Years, and Saudi Arabia Has No Answer
Abu Dhabi's defection doesn't change oil prices today, but it signals that the cartel's era of shared discipline is over.
The UAE Walks Out of OPEC
The second-most important oil producer in OPEC just quit. The Iran war made it possible. The math made it inevitable.
OPEC's Loudest Quitter
The UAE just left OPEC after 59 years. Saudi Arabia now runs a cartel where the most capable member is gone and three others are watching to see if they should follow.
The Gulf States Just Watched the US Go to War Next Door. Now They're Reconsidering.
The Iran war exposed a fault line the Gulf states had managed for decades: the US security guarantee requires hosting a war you didn't choose. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are quietly hedging.
Saudi Arabia Killed The Line and Built a Data Center Instead
MBS suspended his $500 billion linear city after 1.4% completion, pivoted $23 billion to AI infrastructure, and made Elon Musk's Grok the kingdom's national AI layer. The geopolitical bet underneath this is enormous.