The UAE's Role in the Sudanese Civil War and Western Complicity

• While multiple external actors influence the war in Sudan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the most consequential despite having no geographic or security stakes in the region.
• The UAE’s involvement is driven by a subimperial project centered on economic dominance, political expansion, countering political Islam, and preventing democratic contagion.
• A network of states—including Chad, Ethiopia, and Uganda—acts as enablers for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under UAE coordination.

Strategic Pillars of Emirati Intervention

• Economic Hegemony: Securing gold from Darfur and establishing control over vital ports and logistics hubs across Africa.
• Political Expansion: Projecting influence to establish a regional order aligned with its interests without the costs of formal empire.
• Counter-revolutionary Stance: Reacting to the 2011 Arab uprisings and the 2018 Sudanese revolution to prevent democratic models from threatening its governance.

Accountability and International Failure

• Western powers, including the U.S., Britain, and France, have possessed detailed intelligence regarding UAE-backed weapons flows and atrocities but prioritized their Gulf alliances over intervention.
• Past internationally sponsored peace processes have consistently failed by prioritizing power-sharing deals that entrench warring factions rather than addressing the root causes of violence.
• The international community holds the leverage to stop the war by imposing costs on the UAE and its financial channels, yet it has opted for inaction despite clear warnings and documented violations of arms embargoes.