Description:
Editor-in-Chief of the online news site Rai al Youm and a frequent fixture on Arab media, Abdel Bari Atwan, comments on the financial vulnerability of the UAE to Yemeni Ansarullah-led missile and drone strikes on Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Source: Al Mayadeen TV via Kalam Siyasi (YouTube)
Date: January 26, 2022
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Transcript:
Host:
Why is it, Mr. Atwan, that the UAE appears to suffer so greatly as a result of these strikes (by Ansarullah-led forces)? Meaning that if we wanted to compare, it seems that the Emirates is suffering more than Saudi Arabia from the strikes?
Abdel Bari Atwan, Editor-in-Chief of Rai al Youm online news site:
This is true, what you’re saying is very accurate. Why? Because the UAE had been (known) as an oasis of stability around the world. It prided itself on its security and stability, and this attracted a lot of investment and tourism. Dubai’s economy relies first and foremost on investments and tourism. We must also remember that we are currently in the middle of peak season for tourism in Dubai and the Emirates.
If these missile and drone (attacks by Ansarullah-led forces) were to continue, this would mean that the investments would take flight. Capital is cowardly, and capital cannot coexist with an unstable country, and so the first thing it would do is take flight abroad and seek a safe – or rather safer- refuge for investment. This is a very important matter.
It is my opinion that the UAE must be wise about this and refrain from continuing this war, as it did in 2019, in order to cut their losses. There are many locations that may be targeted in the UAE, and these targets, just as we’ve seen with last Monday’s strikes, or this Monday’s (strikes), we’ve seen that the Houthi missile (arsenal) can (indeed) reach Abu Dhabi; they struck oil facilities the first time and caused fires, and with the second time, I’m not really sure why they launched the drones towards Dubai and the missiles towards Abu Dhabi, but either way, this is so far only a message, because they haven’t targeted civilians at all.
The first time, they targeted oil facilities, just as they’ve done with Saudi Arabia, and now they didn’t target oil facilities, but rather delivered a message that we can strike your economic targets, and we can strike your oil infrastructure, but we haven’t (yet), and you should understand this message and act accordingly.
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