News analysis

A rising UAE flexes its muscles in ties with Britain

Mid-East state signalling to UK it is no longer junior partner: Analysts

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A saga involving an alleged British spy arrested in the United Arab Emirates is threatening to derail a decades-long friendship between the Middle Eastern country and the United Kingdom.

And the diplomatic tiff is coming at a particularly sensitive time for the UK, which will need its friends as it inches closer to Brexit.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 10, 2018, with the headline A rising UAE flexes its muscles in ties with Britain. Subscribe