News - World: The US administration of Joe Biden recently rejected an official Emirati request to conclude a security agreement that would enhance the territorial protection of Abu Dhabi, Emirati sources revealed.

The UAE had requested several weeks ago the necessity of concluding a new security agreement with Washington, following the recent regional changes and developments in Afghanistan, the sources told Emirates Leaks.

The Washington Post had earlier confirmed that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are exploring new regional partnerships and reckoning with a world where the leading superpower appears to have lost some of its sparkle, after the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.

These regional realignments are helping “depressurize” an area that has been dangerously stressed in recent years. Countries increasingly are trying to solve their own problems, through regional economic links, rather than depending on U.S. military might. 

The danger is that some countries may turn to China as a new security partner, to replace what they see as an unreliable United States.

The most notable diplomatic initiatives include Iranian talks with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and a UAE rapprochement with Turkey and Qatar. In each case, the shared agenda is trade and economic prosperity. U.S. diplomacy has encouraged this “deconfliction,” but its momentum is outside Washington’s control.