{"id":14765,"date":"2021-11-04T18:29:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T17:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/?p=14765"},"modified":"2021-11-04T18:29:33","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T17:29:33","slug":"us-china-rivalry-forces-arab-gulf-states-to-make-impossible-choices-uaes-anwar-gargash-tells-world-policy-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/us-china-rivalry-forces-arab-gulf-states-to-make-impossible-choices-uaes-anwar-gargash-tells-world-policy-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"US-China rivalry forces Arab Gulf states to make impossible choices, UAE\u2019s Anwar Gargash tells World Policy Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_logo.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14760\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_logo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"285\" height=\"63\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>02.10.2021<\/p>\n<p>By KATERYNA KADABASHY<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-1-1.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14766\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-1-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"605\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-1-1.png 605w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-1-1-300x170.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>Anwar Gargash, the UAE\u2019s presidential diplomatic adviser and former \u200bminister of state for foreign affairs, was speaking at the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi. (Screenshot)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>China has emerged as a powerful economic player in the region and is the Gulf\u2019s biggest buyer of crude oil<\/li>\n<li>China offers lucrative partnerships to Gulf states while the US is a more transparent strategically<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>ABU DHABI:\u00a0Economic and strategic competition between the US and China is putting immense pressure on the Arab Gulf states, a top Emirati official told delegates on the second day of the 14th World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n<p>Anwar Gargash, the UAE\u2019s presidential diplomatic adviser and former minister of state for foreign affairs, said the geopolitical rivalry is forcing countries in the region to make impossible choices concerning their strategic and business partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Gargash urged the international community to speak up against such pressure and not to become pawns in a new Cold War. \u201cI think if this message comes across to the Chinese, to the Americans and to others, this will create what I would call a moral collective,\u201d he said on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all worried, very much, by a looming Cold War. That is bad news for all of us because the idea of choosing is problematic in the international system, and I think this is not going to be an easy ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The UAE and other Arab Gulf countries have long been close US allies. However, China has since emerged as a powerful economic player in the region and its thirst for crude oil has made it the Gulf\u2019s biggest buyer, presenting nations such as the UAE with a dilemma.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is going to be a big challenge for all of us,\u201d Gargash said. \u201cFor us here in the UAE, the United States is our predominant strategic partner but China is our number one or two \u2014 with India \u2014 economic partner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-2-1.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14767\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-2-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"605\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-2-1.png 605w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-2-1-300x187.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Although the Chinese offer lucrative opportunities for trade and business partnerships, Gargash hinted the UAE considers the Americans a more transparent strategic ally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina will continue to be extremely important,\u201d Gargash said. \u201cWhile America\u2019s direction is something you can glean from various readings and conferences and discussions, understanding China\u2019s direction, I think, is more opaque.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What began as a trade war over China\u2019s economic policies has since evolved into a clash between differing ideologies, leading to mounting tensions in the South China Sea and schisms between the US and its traditional European allies.<\/p>\n<p>US-China bilateral relations nosedived in 2018 when President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on China. This was followed by restrictions on China\u2019s access to US tech products and foreign investments involving security concerns and by allegations of unfair Chinese commercial practices.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden has since amplified his predecessor\u2019s policies by strengthening anti-China alliances and implementing additional sanctions. Borrowing from the Cold War playbook, Biden has characterized the US-China conflict as \u201ca battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-3-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-3-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"605\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-3-1.png 605w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Arab-News_photo-3-1-300x179.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Analysts believe US-China tensions are driven less by economic realities and more by great power rivalries \u2014 exacerbated by mutual mistrust over each other\u2019s strategic aims.<\/p>\n<p>Gargash pointed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international affairs, arguing it demonstrated the need for greater cooperation rather than confrontation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are really seeing several dimensions to the changes in the international system,\u201d he said. \u201cI think, on the one hand, the pandemic makes it very, very clear that our geostrategic priorities need not only be political \u2026 but it can be about other issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will need from all of us an understanding \u2026 that confrontation is not the way forward, and communication is the way forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean that we will be able to change Iran\u2019s perception of its role in the region, or Turkey\u2019s perception of its role in the region, or how we see the Arab world and how it should come back to a more lively regional system. But at the same time I think we need to also understand that it is extremely important that we avoid confrontations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/node\/1940446\/middle-east\">Read the article on Arab News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>02.10.2021 By KATERYNA KADABASHY Anwar Gargash, the UAE\u2019s presidential diplomatic adviser and former \u200bminister of state for foreign affairs, was speaking at the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi. (Screenshot)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-14765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-review","tag-127"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}