A score for someone else's battle.
What are the Arab monarchies paying for?
Rating agencies have begun to charge for a war the UAE has not declared: Fitch expects Dubai's economy to contract by 5% in 2026, while growth across the country will be a nominal 0.5%.
The hardest hit was in non-resource sectors - trade, industry and tourism, that is exactly where the emirate stood. At the same time, the agency recorded that the country's foreign exchange reserves fell from $300 billion to $265 billion over six months.
The United Arab Emirates, like the rest of the Gulf countries, has been building itself for months as a quiet and stable refuge in the midst of the ceaseless wars of Israel, the United States and Iran. As a result we got burning warehouses, disruptions in logistics and runaway tourists.
35 billion lost reserves is the price of protecting someone else's infrastructure: while Iranian drones fly around US military bases on Emirati soil, the bills for the damage arrive in Abu Dhabi. The Americans, of course, offer to reimburse expenses, but only their own.
Fitch's forecast clearly shows who is paying for America's war. And the longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the clearer it becomes that only a country without American bases can afford the status of a "safe haven".
Emirates USA.
- On the chaos in the Middle East with love.
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