Wealthy, ambitious and emboldened by US acquiescence (which has only increased with the election of President Donald Trump), Saudi Arabia and the UAE have emerged as key protagonists in both thwarting popular movements and in shaping the political and economic policies of regional states in favor of liberalizing economies, hardening authoritarianism and repressing social protest.

Although small protests in September 2019 challenged Egypt’s military rule, the “Sisi model” effectively serves as the template that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sought to impose across the region. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have showered Egypt’s military regime with billions of dollars of aid in order to secure their desired vision of regional order that places severe limits on political opposition. Not only did their intervention in Egypt help overthrow an elected Muslim Brotherhood government supported by regional rivals Qatar and Turkey, but it also ensured the failure of Egypt’s democratic transition. They helped stamp out an uprising in Bahrain, intervened in Yemen’s post-uprising transition and undercut Egypt’s revolution in 2013 by backing the military coup that led to the ascent of Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt’s newest president for life. Watching the events of 2011 with growing alarm, the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE embarked upon a regional counterrevolution. Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seek to undercut the potential emergence of a stronger Islamist presence in regional governments, particularly of the Muslim Brotherhood. This interference seeks to secure their regional dominance and crush any positive democratic transition that could inspire reformers within their own or other states. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in particular, have attempted to shape Sudan’s political transition to halt progress toward the civilian and democratic polities protesters demand. WAM/Handout via ReutersĪs happened in the 2011 Arab uprisings, however, external political actors have sought to sabotage some of these movements, notably in Sudan, but also elsewhere in the region. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan Abdelrahman, May 2019. Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan meets with Sudan’s head of the transitional council, Lt.

Middle eastern countries in revolt