Indigenous Military Reforms from the Outside: The Paradox of the UAE Armed Forces Modernisation

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the past two decades, the United Arab Emirates has pursued the goal of its military modernization through various reforms that were driven by the aspirations of its rulers for self-sufficiency and strategic autonomy. This meant a greater emphasis on building local skills and resources allowing Abu Dhabi to claim the indigenous character of that transformation. A stronger focus on indigenous capacities implied a decrease of that country’s dependence on Western patronage. However, the study of the Emirati military transformation reveals a complex and somewhat contradictory reality: the push for a local military reform still relying for the most part on foreign advisors. This article argues that this transformation may have strengthened the technical effectiveness of the Emirati military apparatus, but it did so, not by abandoning past ties to Western powers, but merely by adapting these ties. In fact, the “Emiratisation” of the country’s national security relied on the use of foreign expertise at all levels: from the training and education of officers to the command of military elite units and the development of local military industries. Such reliance on outside expertise eventually compromises the initial goal of the UAE for greater autonomous capability.