Six weeks before the American election in early November, United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is being received at the Oval Office by President Joe Biden. This is bin Zayed’s first US visit as president. He is also meeting Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for presidency. Though not on the official itinerary of his visit, he may meet former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump as well.

It is customary for foreign leaders to meet both presidential candidates in the hope of keeping relations sound regardless of who wins the election, but for Bin Zayed there is rather more to this. Abu Dhabi had been close to Donald Trump and slightly colder towards Biden and the Democrats. As Harris is billed to be the next president, it is not logical for the UAE to risk another four years of cold relations with Washington, especially since the Biden administration is now working on a “security pact” with the largest Gulf power: Saudi Arabia.

As a paper by two senior fellows at the Washington Institute put it this week, Bin Zayed is “hedging his bets” by exploring strengthening relations with whoever ends up in the White House in January. Simon Henderson, director of the institute’s Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy, and Elizabeth Dent, former director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula at the Pentagon, wrote, “the Emiratis are eager to transform the partnership from one rooted in defence and security cooperation to one based primarily on economic and technological integration.”

That was emphasised by Anwar Gargash, a political adviser to the UAE president, during a briefing to the media in Dubai ahead of the visit. “The purpose of the visit is really, from an Emirati perspective — it’s investing our future through an economic lens,” he said. Gargash reiterated that the primary objective is economic realignment, as the UAE seeks to push the relationship beyond the traditional focus of regional conflict, oil and defence. “We are more in a geo-economic phase,” Gargash described the goal of UAE relations with Washington. He hinted that the Emirati president would seek to expand economic and security cooperation, but also key areas like artificial intelligence, renewable energy, climate and space.

The notoriously active Emirati Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al-Otaiba, echoed the same sentiment in an X post: “The two leaders will highlight a half century trajectory of UAE-US partnership in trade, investment and security… Few countries are moving as fast on advanced technologies and artificial intelligence — and as closely in sync with the US — as the UAE.”

Earlier this year, the controversial Open AI CEO Sam Altman said the UAE could serve as the world’s “regulatory sandbox” to test artificial intelligence. Microsoft followed up with a major one and a half billion US dollar investment in the UAE’s top artificial intelligence firm, G42, in April. Recently, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft and the Abu Dhabi Mubadala-backed MGX investment company announced the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, underscoring the UAE’s strategic focus on US technology and AI to drive future economic growth.

The Biden administration has concerns about the UAE’s relations with China and fears advanced American technologies might end up in the hands of the Chinese through the UAE. Just before leaving the White House four years ago, the Trump administration reached an agreement to sell F-35 fighter jets and MQ-9 Reaper drones to the UAE. MQ-9 sales are still active, but the F-35 deal stalled after reports emerged that a Chinese military facility was being built in the UAE. US officials are also wary of Beijing’s influence on Emirati technology companies, evident, for example, when G42 faced intense scrutiny over its extensive ties to China and potential threats to proprietary US information. The Emirati company later announced that it had divested from China, but Americans are still suspicious.

Focusing on the economy and technology doesn’t mean other hot issues are not on the agenda. From Gaza to Sudan, the American administration will be seeking the UAE’s cooperation. Emiratis are keen to enhance military and security cooperation with the US and they are likely to be rewarded for the trillion dollars investment they have poured into the American economy.

On the issues of concern, the US National Security Council’s Spokesman John Kirby specifically mentioned the “UAE’s problematic role in Sudan” when he announced the visit days ago. On Gaza, Washington wants to secure the UAE’s support for day-after planning in Gaza. Earlier, the UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed echoed the Saudi Crown Prince’s position, saying that the “UAE would not play any day-after role in Gaza unless a Palestinian state is established.”

While the White House will be seeking Abu Dhabi’s commitment to technologically decouple from China and align more clearly with the American position on Russia in the Ukraine war, the Emirati president is probably seeking deeper regional security assurances, and continued pressure on Israel to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza and ensure access to humanitarian assistance.

Yet the main aim of the visit, as most analysts in Washington note, is that by timing it only weeks before the election, Bin Zayed should hedge his bets and set his country up for success regardless of who takes the White House in November.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 September, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly