{"id":59851,"date":"2026-01-11T14:56:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T11:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=59851"},"modified":"2026-01-11T14:56:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T11:56:18","slug":"david-hearst-saudi-emirati-rift-and-the-collapse-of-abu-dhabis-project-in-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/david-hearst-saudi-emirati-rift-and-the-collapse-of-abu-dhabis-project-in-yemen\/","title":{"rendered":"David Hearst: Saudi\u2013Emirati Rift and the Collapse of Abu Dhabi\u2019s Project in Yemen"},"content":{"rendered":"

An analytical report published by Middle East Eye<\/em> and written by David Hearst asserts that the Middle East is currently undergoing a \u201ctectonic shift,\u201d marked by major regional powers\u2014chiefly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria\u2014reclaiming the initiative in confronting schemes aimed at the \u201cfragmentation of states\u201d pursued by regional and international actors over the past decade.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clashing Agendas and the Lifting of the Veil<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The report explains that Riyadh sensed an existential threat as attempts to dominate maritime routes and strategic chokepoints reached its immediate borders. The takeover of Yemen\u2019s port city of Mukalla served as a wake-up call, prompting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to take decisive military and political steps. These measures led to the dismantling of the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council\u2019s influence and forced a sudden, comprehensive withdrawal of Abu Dhabi-aligned forces from Yemen, including from the island of Socotra.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Collapse of the Proxy Project<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

According to Hearst, the quiet collapse of the \u201cLittle Sparta\u201d project\u2014a reference to the UAE\u2014did not stop in Yemen but extended into the Horn of Africa. Saudi pressure coincided with a decision by the Somali government to end the Emirati military presence, in response to violations of national sovereignty. These violations were epitomized by the smuggling of Yemeni leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi through Somali territory\u2014an incident Mogadishu and Riyadh viewed as crossing \u201cred lines.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The End of the Era of \u201cUnilateral Interventions\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The report argues that this shift represents a resounding failure of the strategy of \u201cfragmenting Arab states\u201d adopted by Israel and the UAE to secure long-term commercial and military interests. Hearst notes that Saudi Arabia has finally chosen to act as an independent leader of the Sunni axis, potentially paving the way for a new regional alliance including Turkey and Egypt. Such an alliance would aim to protect the \u201cunity and territorial integrity of nation-states,\u201d free from the external interventions that have torn apart countries such as Sudan, Libya, and Yemen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Geopolitical Bottom Line<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The article concludes that the United States, Israel, and their regional allies may have overreached\u2014winning tactical battles but losing the strategic war to what it describes as a \u201cgenuine\u201d Arab state awakening. Saudi Arabia\u2019s current stance sends a clear message: the era of granting \u201copen-ended mandates\u201d to smaller powers to meddle with the region\u2019s resources and destinies has come to an end.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An analytical report published by Middle East Eye and written by David Hearst asserts that the Middle East is currently undergoing a \u201ctectonic shift,\u201d marked by major regional powers\u2014chiefly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria\u2014reclaiming the initiative in confronting schemes aimed at the \u201cfragmentation of states\u201d pursued by regional and international actors over the past decade. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59855,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59851\/revisions\/59855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}