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He was the one who, in a closed room, told an American diplomat: "The Middle East is not California, democracy should not come here!" He was the one who also said that Muslims should never be given free elections!
A revealing look at Mohammed bin Zayed's rise and influence in the Middle East, exposing his views on democracy, Islam, and regional power struggles.
Key Takeaways
- MBZ sees democracy as a threat to his power and the stability of the region.
- The UAE under MBZ actively suppresses Islamist political movements like the Muslim Brotherhood.
- MBZ uses covert and overt strategies to expand UAE influence in the Middle East and Africa.
- His leadership style combines authoritarian control with strategic international alliances.
- The video exposes the complexity and ruthlessness behind MBZ’s rise to power.
What the video covers
- Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ), the UAE President, opposes democracy in the Middle East, fearing Islamist electoral victories.
- MBZ's political strategy includes suppressing Muslim Brotherhood influence and controlling regional power through alliances and covert actions.
- He trained in Britain and inherited leadership after his father's death, shaping UAE's domestic and foreign policies.
- MBZ views Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan as key Islamic countries posing threats to his rule.
- He played a role in undermining Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood government and supporting military coups.
- The UAE under MBZ has intervened in Yemen and Sudan, using proxy forces and humanitarian aid as covers for military influence.
- MBZ's regime silences dissent within the UAE through surveillance and arrests of activists post-Arab Spring.
- He aligns strategically with Israel against Iran, leveraging cybersecurity and shared regional interests.
- MBZ is portrayed as a pragmatic, ruthless leader prioritizing power and control over democracy or ideology.
- The video reveals leaked private conversations that expose MBZ’s true views and political playbook.
Chapters
- 00:00MBZ's Opposition to Democracy in the Middle East
- 01:22Early Life and Background of Mohammed bin Zayed
- 03:04Private Meeting with US Officials and Political Views
- 05:01MBZ's Fear of Islamist Electoral Victories
- 07:59Role in Egypt's Military Coup and Suppression of Brotherhood
- 12:32UAE's Influence in Yemen and Sudan Conflicts
- 18:05Domestic Repression and Surveillance in the UAE
- 21:07Strategic Alliances Against Iran and Regional Ambitions
- 24:59Summary: MBZ's Ruthless Rise and Regional Impact
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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And yes! He was the one who said: "The West should be concerned about three Islamic countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan!" And this wasn't just his thought it was his playbook!
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And yes! He was the one who said: "The West should be concerned about three Islamic countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan!" And this wasn't just his thought; it was his playbook!
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This is the story of a man who might be ready to burn the entire Muslim world to save his throne!
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A playbook that murdered democracy in Egypt, extended a hand of friendship to Israel, and after Libya and Yemen, is now setting Sudan on fire!
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the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed also known as MBZ! Today on Dareecha, we will tell you his story...
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This is the story of a man who might be ready to burn the entire Muslim world to save his throne!
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Mohammed bin Zayed... is the third son of the founder of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan...
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No, no! This is not some right-wing leader from the West who fears Islam. This is the paramount leader of a very influential Muslim country.
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and the region was under the indirect rule of Britain known as the Trucial States!
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The President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, also known as MBZ! Today on Dareecha, we will tell you his story.
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who was associated with a great Islamic movement, the Muslim Brotherhood! I'm telling you this because there's a twist coming up in the story!
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The story of a terrified prince, the story of a ruthless dictator, the story of MBZ!
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And perhaps it was there that his views changed for the first time! Why? Because as you may know, in the old days, when kings won a war against someone...
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Mohammed bin Zayed is the third son of the founder of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
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this was essentially that "military training" where slaves were taught the etiquette of slavery! So MBZ received helicopter pilot training from Britain...
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Born on March 11, 1961, at a time when the UAE did not even exist.
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The world was changing, the prince was changing and the UAE was changing too... but secretly, silently, from within...
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And the region was under the indirect rule of Britain, known as the Trucial States!
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In January 2007, he met with the US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns...
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You might be surprised to learn that his father appointed a man for Mohammed bin Zayed's upbringing.
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and exchanged views on several regional and international issues of mutual interest! Isn't the language of official news so complicated?
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Who was associated with a great Islamic movement, the Muslim Brotherhood! I'm telling you this because there's a twist coming up in the story!
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which was later revealed to the whole world! The entire conversation of this meeting which was completely private was leaked by WikiLeaks!
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So, when this boy grew up, he went to study at Britain's renowned Royal Military Academy Sandhurst!
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This leak revealed how Mohammed bin Zayed views the world, Islam, and democracy. Because when the US official spoke to him about democracy and elections in the Middle East...
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And perhaps it was there that his views changed for the first time! Why? Because as you may know, in the old days, when kings won a war against someone.
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the result would be the same, the people would vote with their hearts and souls, and parties like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hezbollah would win the elections!
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They would often impose the condition that the princes from the defeated land would be trained in their court.
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they will always choose the Islamists... therefore, it is better to snatch this right from them!
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This was essentially that "military training" where slaves were taught the etiquette of slavery! So MBZ received helicopter pilot training from Britain.
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that he had closed down 80 percent of "Quran schools" in Abu Dhabi and called them "Taliban schools"!
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But in reality, he returned to his country having received a completely different kind of training!
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And then MBZ also said something that is especially for us! He said: "Don't worry about the UAE be worried about three countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan!" Yes! He considered the internal politics of these three countries a threat to himself...
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The world was changing, the prince was changing, and the UAE was changing too, but secretly, silently, from within.
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By the way, in that meeting, MBZ also said that... if elections were held in the Middle East...
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After his father's death in 2004, he became the new Crown Prince. And it was in this position that MBZ also paid his respects at the new court.
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not of democracy and dictatorship but of oil, power, and control! And in the course of this game, fear became reality and engulfed the entire Middle East...
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In January 2007, he met with the US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns.
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a flood of people was sweeping away the dictators who had been entrenched for not just years, but decades!
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A meeting about which the official news was that they discussed UAE-US friendship and cooperation.
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And in the cool, air-conditioned palace of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed was watching all of this!
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And exchanged views on several regional and international issues of mutual interest! Isn't the language of official news so complicated?
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just as MBZ had thought, the people voted overwhelmingly... and they voted for the Muslim Brotherhood!
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But the truth is that behind these very difficult words, a terrible secret was hidden.
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Their biggest enemy, their greatest ideological opponent was ruling their biggest Arab ally! The fear now was that if democracy succeeded in Egypt, if the Brotherhood's model became successful...
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Which was later revealed to the whole world! The entire conversation of this meeting, which was completely private, was leaked by WikiLeaks!
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he was a famous Brotherhood leader from Egypt... and Sheikh Zayed bin Al Nahyan had appointed him as a cultural advisor...
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And the real things that Mohammed bin Zayed could never say in public came to light!
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now it wasn't the student of Ezz El-Dine Ibrahim, it was the Royal Military Academy-educated MBZ...
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This leak revealed how Mohammed bin Zayed views the world, Islam, and democracy. Because when the US official spoke to him about democracy and elections in the Middle East.
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He revived Egypt's "deep state"... he provided billions of dollars in secret funding to the army, the judiciary, and the media!
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Mohammed bin Zayed's response was: If free elections were ever held in a Muslim country.
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the economy began to collapse! The dream of the Arab Spring suddenly began to turn into a nightmare!
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The result would be the same, the people would vote with their hearts and souls, and parties like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hezbollah would win the elections!
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they themselves would cry out, that dictatorship was better than this democracy! The situation deteriorated so much that on July 3, 2013, the head of the Egyptian army...
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This is MBZ's first thought, the first fear in his mind: democracy! He believes that if the Arab and Muslim public is given the right to vote.
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And as soon as Morsi's government was gone... the petrol shortage also disappeared, the power cuts were reduced...
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They will always choose the Islamists. Therefore, it is better to snatch this right from them!
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And the story didn't end there, the funeral of the Arab Spring dream was yet to take place...
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Meaning, in MBZ's eyes, democracy is not a principle but a threat! And it was in this very meeting that MBZ also boasted about another of his achievements.
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When supporters of the Brotherhood protested against the military coup... the Egyptian army launched a brutal crackdown!
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That he had closed down 80 percent of "Quran schools" in Abu Dhabi and called them "Taliban schools"!
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This was a massacre and one of the hands behind it was the UAE! The elimination of the Brotherhood in Egypt was Crown Prince MBZ's first major victory!
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What does this thinking reveal? It reveals the huge gap between dictators afflicted by modernism and their country's own traditions.
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And this was just the beginning, this war was yet to go beyond Egypt's borders...
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And then MBZ also said something that is especially for us! He said: "Don't worry about the UAE; be worried about three countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan!" Yes! He considered the internal politics of these three countries a threat to himself.
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Mohammed bin Zayed became the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi... meaning all of the UAE's power was now in MBZ's hands...
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And he probably still does! Now, he cannot dictate to Saudi Arabia, but given the situation in Egypt and Pakistan, you are wise enough to understand the rest!
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He had proven that with money and cunning, the course of history could be changed!
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By the way, in that meeting, MBZ also said that if elections were held in the Middle East.
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so MBZ decided he would not defend, but attack! He would fight this war in the enemy's home...
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America would have to find another region to meet its oil demand! So, brothers and sisters, this is the real game.
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In 2011, when Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown... the country was engulfed in the fire of civil war, and it didn't take long...
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Not of democracy and dictatorship but of oil, power, and control! And in the course of this game, fear became reality and engulfed the entire Middle East.
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and by Turkey and Qatar... This government included people sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood! And on the other side was a former military general: Khalifa Haftar!
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The people's dream began to come true, and the Arab Spring arrived! 2011, the fire that started in Tunisia was spreading from one country to another.
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For him, Khalifa Haftar was an ideal Arab leader... a military dictator who could crush the Islamists!
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A flood of people was sweeping away the dictators who had been entrenched for not just years, but decades!
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Haftar was given a wide range of weapons... armored vehicles, missile defense systems, and the most dangerous thing: drones!
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Egypt's pharaoh, Hosni Mubarak, was imprisoned. Libya's dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was brutally killed. Bashar al-Assad's throne was shaking in Syria!
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Now, the people of Libya had become strangers in their own country... because their fate was being decided not in Tripoli or Benghazi but in Abu Dhabi!
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And in the cool, air-conditioned palace of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed was watching all of this!
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In 2015, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured the Yemeni capital... the Saudi government formed a military alliance!
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His nightmare was now standing before him as a reality. And when elections were held in Egypt for the first time in 2012.
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On paper, the goal was to restore the government of Yemen and to curb Iran's influence!
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Just as MBZ had thought, the people voted overwhelmingly, and they voted for the Muslim Brotherhood!
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hundreds of thousands of people were killed... if not by the war, then by hunger, disease, and lack of medicine!
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The Brotherhood's leader, Mohamed Morsi, became Egypt's first elected president! For Abu Dhabi, this was an apocalypse!
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but in gaining control over its strategic areas! He created a proxy militia called the Southern Transitional Council, or STC!
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Their biggest enemy, their greatest ideological opponent was ruling their biggest Arab ally! The fear now was that if democracy succeeded in Egypt, if the Brotherhood's model became successful.
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Not only that, the UAE also effectively took control of Yemen's beautiful and strategic island of Socotra!
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Then nothing could stop this fire from reaching the Emirates! This was a time when MBZ had forgotten all the teachings of his first teacher, Ezz El-Dine Ibrahim.
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The reality is there for all to see! And whether MBZ's strategy succeeds in capturing countries or not...
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He was a famous Brotherhood leader from Egypt, and Sheikh Zayed bin Al Nahyan had appointed him as a cultural advisor.
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This is not a policy of stabilization, it is a policy of chaos... it is not a policy of uniting countries, it is a policy of breaking them!
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And also as the first teacher for the young MBZ! But those were things of the past.
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about which we hear news every day, from where the videos are heart-wrenching making everyone cry...
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Now it wasn't the student of Ezz El-Dine Ibrahim, it was the Royal Military Academy-educated MBZ.
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You must be seeing the news coming from Sudan these days, the situation there is dire...
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Who had decided that Egypt's dream had to be killed at birth! Then he put all his power, all his wealth, and all his diplomacy into a single mission: to make the Morsi government fail!
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The reason is two things: gold and ports! Sudan is one of the major gold-producing African countries...
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He revived Egypt's "deep state." He provided billions of dollars in secret funding to the army, the judiciary, and the media!
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Yes! Dubai... which is one of the largest gold markets in the world! And Sudan is located in a very strategic location along the Red Sea...
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It was, in effect, the start of a counter-revolution. And what was the result? Suddenly, a petrol shortage occurred in Egypt, power cuts lasted for hours.
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Therefore, for MBZ, Sudan is not just a country... it is a grand prize and to obtain this prize, he needed only one thing: a proxy...
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The economy began to collapse! The dream of the Arab Spring suddenly began to turn into a nightmare!
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Now, who is this Hemedti? His story begins in the Darfur region of Sudan! He was a tribal warlord who led the infamous Janjaweed militia in the Darfur genocide!
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Not because of Morsi's incompetence but because of a conspiracy, a UAE-sponsored conspiracy! The lives of the Egyptian people were deliberately being made a living hell so that.
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and gave his militia the official name of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF! Now Hemedti was not just a tribal warrior, he was a state within a state...
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They themselves would cry out that dictatorship was better than this democracy! The situation deteriorated so much that on July 3, 2013, the head of the Egyptian army.
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they needed troops on the ground... Hemedti sent thousands of RSF fighters to fight for hire...
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General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overthrew the Morsi government! And just a few hours later, the UAE and Saudi Arabia announced billions of dollars in aid for the new military government!
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and this gold was then smuggled to Dubai... and the income generated from it was kept in UAE banks!
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And as soon as Morsi's government was gone, the petrol shortage also disappeared, the power cuts were reduced.
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the UAE once again saw a threat: that an Islamist or democratic government might come to power in Sudan, just like in Egypt!
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And the economy began to recover! This was all a reward for the success of the coup!
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But now there was a problem, one throne, two kings... a power struggle began between the Sudanese army and the RSF...
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And the story didn't end there, the funeral of the Arab Spring dream was yet to take place.
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This is where the game of Sudan's destruction began... a UAE-funded project was launched! Under the guise of humanitarian aid, the UAE sent weapons to the RSF through routes in Chad and Uganda...
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It was necessary to teach the revolutionaries a lesson so that no one would dare to do it again!
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Khalifa Haftar in Libya also started supplying his weapons to Hemedti! The UAE did nothing directly so that it could deny every accusation...
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When supporters of the Brotherhood protested against t
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there it is converted into cash or dollars, and the money is kept in UAE banks...
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and with this money, weapons are bought, fighters are paid, and payments are made to logistics companies!
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Think of it as a complete value chain that starts from the land of Sudan...
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and also ends on the bodies of the Sudanese people... and the center of this entire chain is: the United Arab Emirates!
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Sudan is the most complete and most dangerous example of Mohammed bin Zayed's playbook! And for countries that are not plagued by civil war...
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that are somewhat stable, MBZ has a different policy for them, which is called: Weaponized Interdependence!
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Meaning, the policy of using mutual dependence as a weapon! This is, you could say, a new and more cunning form of modern imperialism!
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Mohammed bin Zayed will not send an army to your country... he will send investment, he will take contracts for your ports and airports...
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he will give you aid! On the surface, this looks like development, help but in reality...
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these are golden handcuffs! He wants to make you so economically dependent on him that...
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you cannot speak a single word against his political agenda! The UAE is no longer acting like a country but like a ruthless multinational corporation!
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To keep his biggest fear away from his country, MBZ has set the entire region on fire...
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or laid economic landmines but he has another fear... the fear of voices rising from within his own home!
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Mohammed bin Zayed's fear is not limited to distant enemies... he is also afraid of voices rising from his own home!
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That is why he is fighting a silent war within the country... this is the war for control!
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He has turned the UAE into a Golden Cage! From the outside, it is very beautiful, magnificent buildings, world-class facilities...
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peace, prosperity, a model that the world looks at in awe... but around it is a cage, whose bars are not made of iron but of invisible technology!
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Immediately after the Arab Spring, MBZ silenced every voice of dissent forever! After 2011, many Emirati intellectuals, lawyers, and human rights activists were arrested!
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They were accused of trying to overthrow the government and of terrorism... they were sentenced to ten, fifteen years in prison!
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Among them is Ahmed Mansoor, an internationally award-winning human rights activist... but today he is in solitary confinement!
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MBZ's message is crystal clear: stay silent or stay in prison! And for this, he has turned the UAE into one of the most surveilled countries in the world!
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There are cameras on every street, every corner but the real surveillance is not happening from there...
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it's happening from the phone in your pocket! The UAE is accused of acquiring the state-of-the-art spyware Pegasus from Israel...
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and who is it being used against? Not only on its own citizens but also to spy on foreign journalists, human rights activists and even the heads of other countries!
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Yes! Every phone call, every email, every WhatsApp message, every move is being watched! This is Mohammed bin Zayed's model!
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Big brother is always watching you! A model he wants to impose on his country...
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take prosperity and in return, hand over your voice, your thoughts, your freedom, everything to us!
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Thus, MBZ has confronted his two biggest fears... he has also created an effective system against them...
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one against Islamist parties, the second against popular rebellion... but a third and perhaps the biggest fear still remained...
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an enemy that is both ideological and military... Iran! To counter this, MBZ took a step that, until a few years ago, no Arab leader could have even imagined!
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For Mohammed bin Zayed's UAE, the threat from Iran is twofold... the first threat is military!
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Iran's nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, its network of proxy militias! The second threat is ideological, Iran is a model of a successful 'Islamic revolution'...
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which challenges the existence of monarchies! MBZ knows very well that he cannot face Iran alone...
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he needs allies! But during the Barack Obama era, his biggest ally, the US, made a nuclear deal with Iran...
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and Donald Trump's policies could not be trusted! Therefore, he needed an ally who considered Iran as big a threat as the UAE did...
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and he found that ally in a place that no Arab leader could have imagined...
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Yes! Israel! For years, secret contacts had been going on behind the scenes between the UAE and Israel...
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their intelligence agencies exchanged information against Iran... their companies traded secretly... and an unofficial alliance had formed between the two...
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based on a simple principle: the enemy of my enemy is my friend! In Mohammed bin Zayed's view, the emotional and historical issue of Palestine...
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is not as important as the immediate and existential threat from Iran! Therefore, the time had come to bring this secret friendship out into the open!
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In August 2020, the world saw the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel... and establish full diplomatic relations with it!
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This agreement was given a beautiful name the Abraham Accords! It was presented as a historic step towards peace and harmony between different religions!
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But was it really for peace? No! This one step by MBZ ended the entire Arab world's long-standing policy...
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which stated that Israel would not be recognized until an independent Palestinian state was established!
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For the Palestinians, this was the greatest betrayal in history! But why did Mohammed bin Zayed make this historic U-turn?
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The first reason, Iran! The second reason was to benefit from Israel's cybersecurity and surveillance capabilities!
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And the third reason to increase his influence in America... After befriending Israel, MBZ's influence in Washington has increased many times over!
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This step is also a complete departure from the legacy of MBZ's father, Sheikh Zayed!
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Baba Zayed was one of the biggest supporters of Soft Power and the Palestinian cause...
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but the son turned out to be completely different! His policy is Hard Power for him, ideology, brotherhood, and old loyalties have no importance...
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only one thing is important, his own interest! That is why, with one move of recognizing Israel MBZ changed the entire politics of the Middle East!
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He made new friends and angered old brothers! Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan! A name that is writing the history of the 21st-century Middle East!
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Whether you like him or not, whether you agree or not, you cannot ignore him!
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He has given the UAE an economic miracle, made it a global hub... and this is his success, there is no doubt about it!
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But, the real question is, what is the price of this success? Are human freedom, political rights and the peace of other countries included in this price?
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Is his model of control really sustainable? Will he be able to bend the course of history to his will?
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Or will a wave rise that will wash away the sandcastle he has built? These are the questions that the future will answer!
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And our purpose is not to pass judgment on you... the purpose is: to present a complex picture to you...
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to tell you things that are not usually told! But the story of Mohammed bin Zayed and the UAE is not over...
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and all of us, in one way or another, willingly or unwillingly, are a part of this story
Topics:Mohammed bin ZayedMBZUnited Arab EmiratesMiddle East politicsMuslim BrotherhoodArab SpringdemocracyEgypt coupSudan conflictregional power
