Australia’s deep military and political ties with the UAE expose it to risk while aligning with an autocratic partner.

The fragile and the artificial monarchies of the Gulf are sitting ducks.

That includes our military ‘partner’, the UAE

There is a spread of US bases right across the Gulf. The Gulf countries are paying the price as US vassals.

Our government tells us that with our military involvement in the UAE we are there to defend our Gulf partners and that we are not involved in “offensive operations”. That is nonsense. We are actively involved in supporting the United States and Israel in the attacks on Iran. And in all US wars, Pine Gap provides the intelligence to enable precision US missile attacks.

Our government was the first country in the world to support the US-Israeli attack on Iran. Yet a fortnight later Anthony Albanese complained that the malignant narcissist Donald Trump had not explained what his objectives were in his attack on Iran. Go figure out that contradiction! Then we had the threadbare excuse that Australia was the first to support the American attack on Iran only because of the date line!

As described in Responsible Statecraft by Saha Khan the United States maintains a dense network of military facilities across the Gulf. The US Navy’s fifth fleet is headquartered in Bahrain. The air base in Qatar is the largest facility in the region serving as the forward headquarters of US central command. The United Arab Emirates hosts the US Al Dhafra air base which is an aviation hub that supports intelligence, survey and reconnaissance missions as well as advanced fighter deployments. Kuwait hosts the largest number of US bases in the region with roughly 13,500 personnel stationed there.

Taken together this US network represents one of the most extensive deployments of US military anywhere in the world. The oil rich kingdoms have been supported for decades first by the United Kingdom and now by the United States.

Australia has recently deployed an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft along with support personnel and advanced missiles to the UAE.  The E-7A will be an essential part of that US and Israel air attack on Iran. Will we be asked for another aircraft?

Around 100 Australian Defence Force personnel are based at the Al Minhad air base. The base is owned by the UAE, but Australia uses it as its primary military, logistics, surveillance and training hub in the Middle East.

If this war continues with Trump’s tantrums, will our forces come under attack in the UAE? Iran is fighting an existential battle for survival. It may not spare any supporter of the US, as we are time and time again.

In the last few days, we have also learned that it is likely that 19 SAS troops have been deployed to the UAE. Once again, we are told by Richard Marles – who else? – that the SAS will not be involved in offensive actions.

In addition to our direct military activities in the UAE there are almost 100 former ADF soldiers and federal police officers working in the UAE to train or advise UAE military and police personnel. Retired Australian Major General Mike Hindmarsh has been a prominent figure serving for many years as the Commander of the UAE Presidential Guard. He currently leads the UAE’s military university and the countries armed forces modernisation programme. In his UAE uniform he is a key player in the UAE military. His role with the UAE military was approved by the Australian government in 2009.

Other former senior Australian army officers and special forces personnel have also taken senior advisory roles in the UAE military. The UAE relies on foreign veterans, Australians, Americans and British to bolster its military capabilities. Australians represent a significant portion of this foreign contingent.

Australia also has a significant defence export relationship with the UAE. The UAE has become Australia’s largest defence customer.

Despite our very close association with the UAE military, our government shows no concerns about UAE military conduct in Sudan and Yemen. Evidence and UN reports suggest that the UAE has supplied the Rapid Support Forces in the Sudan civil war with weapons, drones and armoured personnel carriers enabling them to fight the Sudanese armed forces. The Sudan government has accused the UAE of complicity in genocide and in March 2025 took the case to the ICJ claiming UAE weapons aided ethnic violence in Darfur.

The UAE has also been a key component of the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Southern Transitional Council in their aim to break away from northern Yemen. The death toll from the ongoing conflict in Yemen, which escalated with the Saudi/UAE-led coalition’s military intervention in March 2015, is estimated to exceed 400,000 people.

To maintain its fragile world the UAE is overwhelmingly dependent on migrant labour, with foreign workers comprising approximately 90 per cent of the total population. This demographic imbalance is one of the highest in the world, making the country’s economy entirely reliant on temporary foreign and exploited labour. In this artificial world around 25,000 Australians live and work in the UAE.

Before the attacks on Iran, Emirates and Etihad airlines were operating dozens of flights to Australia every week.

There are major human rights concerns about the UAE. The government restricts independent civil society, bans political parties and uses anti cybercrime laws to gaol activists, academics and dissidents. Detainees, including foreign nationals, are sometimes held in undisclosed locations, tortured and denied access to legal counsel.

The Walk Free 2023 Global Slavery index estimated the high prevalence of modern slavery in the UAE driven by the kafala sponsorship system which ties workers legal status to employers leading to abusers like passport confiscation and forced labour.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International continue to report that UAE employs methods to prevent any organised opposition or criticism of government policies.

It is not at all clear what direct strategic interest Australia has in the UAE. Despite that, successive Australian governments have increased and aided our forward deployment of direct and ‘indirect’ military forces in support of the UAE.

All the US vassals in the Gulf are finding that their protector does not provide the protection they were promised. In this Trump/Netanyahu war everyone is losing.

The determined Iranian people will not give way. Their aim is not so much victory as survival. Vietnam and Afghanistan showed that the US may win battles, but it loses wars. And why would Iran negotiate with this US President? Iran was attacked twice by the US while nuclear discussions were underway. Why would Iran now be prepared to negotiate with an untrustworthy narcissist US head of state?

The consequences for this war could be profound. Trump has freed up Russian oil. Russia might insist in return an end to sanctions. What are the consequences for US support of Ukraine in its war with Russia?

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran supply over half the world’s urea. Fertilisers are likely to in short supply across the world. Food prices will increase.

The disruption of oil supplies will also accelerate the switch to electric vehicles.

It is still early days but the Netanyahu/Trump illegal attack on Iran will have far reaching consequences across the world.

Of particular concern to Australia must be our military and civilian support for the UAE. Is it in Australia’s strategic interest to support HH Sheikh Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan our ‘partner’ in the UAE. One of the members of the UAE cabinet is “envoy to Australia”. We obviously have a special relationship with this Gulf autocracy.

It is hard to find values that we share with the UAE.

We take every opportunity to criticise other countries over their human rights records, but I have never heard a word about the very serious human rights record of the UAE, or the human toll it has inflicted on the people of Yemen and Sudan.