The Contradictions of the Khaleeji Imperialist Sub-Bloc (Part 2: The Conflict between ‘Saudi’ Arabia and the ‘United Arab Emirates’)
Introduction
While the ‘United Arab Emirates’ and ‘Saudi’ Arabia did have historic conflicts (with the Buraimi dispute over the Al Buraimi Governorate of Oman and Al Ain Region of the ‘UAE’ in the mid 40s and mid 50s, and the land borders between the the ‘UAE’ and ‘Saudi’ Arabia disputed until the 1970s, though the naval borders are still disputed), real conflict, a struggle between the two sub-camps, would only break out during the 2010s.
In Yemen, in Sudan, in Libya, in Somalia, formerly allied groups would split, and ironically, groups that were formerly fighting against them, aligned with Qatar, would ally with the ‘Saudi’ backed groups against the ‘Emirati’ backed groups.
The ‘United Arab Emirates’ has pushed for, and arguably has overcame, ‘Saudi’ Arabia in the status of being the most subservient Khaleeji country to the US Imperialists. This has led to ‘Saudi’ starting the process of entering the Chinese blocs.
Increasingly, as an expression of the US-Chinese inter-imperialist struggle, and with the ‘Saudi’-Iran détente, a conflict between the strongly pro-US and pro-Israeli ‘United Arab Emirates’, and the increasingly (but not yet fully) pro-Chinese, and slightly less but still pro-Israel ‘Saudi’ Arabia, has emerged.
This is one of the most violent and brutal expression of the inter-imperialist conflicts, and this has terrorized the Arab people, and led to the suffering of both the Arab peoples all across the world, and due to the hatred of the Palestinian people from both the ‘Emirati’ regime and the Saudi ‘Arabian’ regime, has led to normalization with Israel all across the Arab world.
I. Contradictions emerge in the Invasion of Yemen
Both ‘Saudi’ Arabia and the ‘UAE’ would oppose the national bourgeoise revolution, both the first one carried out by a variety of forces during the Arab Spring, and the one by the Ansarallah movement of September 21st.
During the First Revolution, both the ‘Saudis’ and the ‘UAE’ would support the pro-’Saudi’/’UAE’ Hadi Government against the Ansarallah movement, but the ‘UAE’ would begin to also sow the seeds of their support for the Hirak, the South Yemen secessionist movement.
However, at this time, both forces were united in their mutual opposition to the Ansarallah movement, and forces of the al-Hirak (Southern Movement), were instrumental in the defeat of the 2015 Ansarallah offensive towards Aden, the emergency capital of the Hadi puppet government.
Unfortunately for Hadi and the ‘Saudis’, one splits into two. In 2018, the Southern Movement, after the removal of their leader, Aidarus al-Zubaidi, from the Governship of Aden, would fight the Hadi government, and, with the support of the ‘UAE’, in a move opposed by the Saudis, would take over Aden. They would allow Hadi’s government to stay, however, but they would form the ‘Southern Transitional Council’ in order to act as a formal government of their controlled portions of South Yemen.
In fact, the Southern Transitional Council would blatantly attack the territorial integrity of Yemen, by supporting the brief occupation of the strategically-important (controls access to the Bab al-Mandeb straights) Socotra Islands by the ‘United Arab Emirates’ in 2018, and even recruiting native Soqotris, such as this example of 100 women who were recruited and trained by the Emiratis, to fight the Ansarallah Movement, though they would force to leave the island by the Saudis.
The Emirates still have interests in the islands, evicting the every resident from the second largest island at gunpoint, Abd al-Kuri, to build military and intelligence instalments, and even run a joint Emirati-Israeli spy base on the islands which has been expanded recently with US support in 2024, during the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, showing blatantly how the reactionary monarchies of the Arab world have betrayed the people of Palestine in the interests of the US outpost of Israel, and for US Imperialism.
However, the Ansarallah movement was still the greatest, and so the two groups, despite there disagreements, would continue to fight together against the Yemeni Armed Forces (Ansarallah), and allied militias. However, this would cause another conflict.
In 2019, the Ansarallah Movement hit a military graduation ceremony in Aden with a missile, killing some major commanders of the Southern Movement. This would lead to Southern fighters storming the Presidential Palace, and retaking control of Aden. They believed that Hadi and al-Islah (the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen, backed by Qatar, and despite the problems ‘Saudi’ Arabia has with the rest of the Muslim Brotherhood, ‘Saudi’ Arabia) had sacrificed them to try to save his own skin. They would also takeover the city of Zinjibar (not to be confused with similarly named Zanzibar in Tanzania).
Fighting between the two groups would end with the Riyadh Agreement, which saw the groups agree to stop fighting, and promising to integrate there forces. While some ceasefires would be made, mostly things did not stop, as clashes continued, and by 2020, the only place which had actually had a long period of ceasefire between the two groups, Abyan, faced conflict and was captured by the Southern Transitional Council.
The STC has also promised to (and likely have) actively support the Israelis to try to break the Houthi blockade, with Emirati puppet Zubaidi saying “Our naval forces possess the necessary competencies and capabilities to play a crucial role in safeguarding our territorial waters, enhancing maritime security, and protecting international shipping lanes”, an STC official saying the STC “was concerned with confronting” the blockade “and getting international support, including from Israel”, calling for more violence by the West against the Yemeni people and the national liberation forces of the Ansarallah movement who aid the people of Palestine, and even saying that they were willing to normalize relations with Israel if they recognized the Emirati puppet regime in ‘South Yemen’, a stain on the legacy of the historical South Yemen, an ally of the Palestinian people.
However, despite the conflicts between the ‘Saudi’-backed forces and the ‘Emirati’-backed forces, the focus of the fighting has still been for both against the Ansarallah Movement.
II. Sudan: The Clearest Example of ‘Emirati’-‘Saudi’ conflict
Sudan is the clearest example of a proxy war between the ‘Saudis’ and the ‘Sudanese’. Both sides are quite clearly backed by one or the other. Unlike in Yemen, there is no common enemy that these groups fight against, both are simply fighting against eachother to seize power.
The Rapid Security Forces, the genocidal Baggara Arab supremacist militia that is currently committing a genocide of the black population, but especially of the Masalit and Fur people, of Darfur, an organization that is an outgrowth of the Janjaweed, who committed the Darfur Genocide in the 2000s under the orders of their master Omar al-Bashir, a murderous genocidal dictator
This is a well-known fact.
Hemedti’s interests are aligned with the ‘UAE’, who want an ally in Sudan, which is strategically located on the coast of the Red Sea, which would give them, if they also gain control of South Yemen, would allow them to seize control of the Red Sea. They would also gain control of the gold mines of Sudan.
We can see the tacit support of the ‘UAE’.
Through there networks, including with the help of there ally, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, the Khalifa Haftar Government in Libya, which supports, and has gotten the support of the Rapid Security Forces in there own campaign to attempt to take control of Libya after the overthrow of Gaddafi and the civil war that would follow suit, that was talked about in the previous article of this series.
1,000 vehicles which could be turned into technical were bought by a ‘UAE’-based company owned by his family, Tradive General Trading, from the UAE.
Another company that is affiliated with the Rapid Security Force, is Al Junaid, owned by another brother of Hemedti, also based in the ‘UAE’, which produces the majority of the wealth of both the Dagallo family and the Rapid Security Forces, which sells gold, which is mined by the enslaved and black people of Darfur (like the previously mentioned Masalit people) and Kordofan (the Nuban peoples), who are facing genocide because of the RSF.
What is less known in the support of Al Saud for al-Burhan and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). It is for the same reasons that the ‘Emiratis’ back Hemedti and his Rapid Security Forces, that the ‘Saudis’ back al-Burhan and his Sudanese Armed Forces.
While ‘Saudi’ Arabia has attempted to present themselves as a humanitarian force and peace maker in Sudan, being the location of negotiations for ‘ceasefires’ that last only a few months before the RSF breaks them, they also, mostly indirectly, with things like helping facilitate Iranian arms sales to the SAF, and through utilising there puppet regime in Egypt, which provides direct and open military support, especially air support, to the Sudanese Armed Forces, and has been rumoured to be considering a full scale invasion of Sudan to help secure al-Burhan’s position in Sudan, though it seems unlikely that this option will actually occur.
Sudan is the clearest example of a ‘Saudi’-‘Emirati’ proxy war, with a clearly pro-‘Saudi’ force, the Sudanese Armed Forces, fighting a clearly pro-‘Emirati’ force, the Rapid Security Forces, in a power struggle over Sudan.
This conflict has led to genocides in Darfur, of the Massalit, Fur, and Zaghawa, other African peoples in the Sudan. It has led to the deaths of 120000, and the displacement of 10 million Sudanese.
III. Conclusion
The conflict amongst these three reactionary Gulf monarchies, ‘Saudi’ Arabia, the ‘United Arab Emirates’, and Qatar, has caused untold suffering and brought great misery to the workers and peasants of various Arab countries.
The contradictions between these three, all three attempting to advance the interests of there own comprador bourgeoise and the counter-revolutionary imperialist blocs and factions within those blocs that they are aligned with, have led to civil wars, genocide, and dictators.
The imposition of tyrannical comprador leaders (el-Sisi, Haftar, al-Burhan, Zubaidi, etc.), genocidaires (Hemedti), and reactionary religious movements (like the various groups sponsored by Qatar) have led to great suffering being imposed on the Arab people.
However, when faced with forces of genuine National Liberation, such as Ansarallah in Yemen, these factions and there allies (‘Saudi’ Arabia and the Hadi/al-Alimi Government, the ‘United Arab Emirates’ and their Southern Transitional Council, and Qatar and the al-Islah party), unite against them, and, despite there differences, fight against them, as national liberation is a danger to them.
But what is the way for the Arab world to be liberated from Imperialism?
Only through Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, mainly Maoism, the most advanced and living revolutionary science of our time, can the peoples of the Arab world break free from American Imperialism and Chinese Social-Imperialism, and there puppet regimes in the Persian Gulf, and begin to advance towards socialism and liberation.
