Uae trade relationship with other countries
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Since obtaining full independence at the end of 1971, security concerns have been a major focus of the UAE's foreign relations. Indeed, it was uncertain in the early 1970s whether the UAE would endure as a viable state. Saudi Arabia, for example, refused to recognize the new federation because of an unresolved border dispute with Abu Dhabi over the Al Buraymi Oasis. Iran and Oman also contested UAE claims to certain territories. In addition, the discovery of extensive petroleum deposits in the 1960s prompted Iraq and other states to challenge the legitimacy of the UAE's ruling families. Because the UAE was a relatively small state, its leaders recognized that defending the country's security from both internal and external threats depended on skillful management of diplomatic relations with other countries, particularly larger and more powerful neighbors such as Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
Despite its criticisms of United States policies toward the Palestinians, the UAE perceives its evolving relationship with the United States as providing a measure of protection from these crises. Thus, by 1990-91, when it joined with the United States in the military effort to force Iraq out of Kuwait, the UAE already had become a de facto member of the United States strategic umbrella over the region.
More fundamental for the UAE, this crisis exposed the failure of the GCC, of which the UAE had been a founding member in 1981, as a deterrent collective security organization. Although it was not prepared to abandon the GCC--it derived other benefits from this alliance with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia--the UAE believed that new security arrangements were necessary. The UAE initially supported expanding the GCC framework to include formal military ties with Egypt and Syria. When this option seemed unrealistic, the UAE concluded that a security relationship with the United States should be continued. Consequently, negotiations began during the summer of 1991 and continued for more than a year. In late 1992, officials of both countries signed an agreement that permitted the United States to use some UAE bases temporarily and to pre-position supplies on UAE territory.
Greater Tumb and Lesser Tumb are two uninhabited islands claimed by Ras al Khaymah but occupied by Iran since 1971. Unlike Sharjah, Ras al Khaymah never accepted an Iranian claim to the islands and protested Britain's failure to interfere with Iran's occupation. Indeed, it was the amirate's anger over the 1971 occupation that caused it to refrain from joining the UAE for several months. In the midst of the 1992 crisis over Abu Musa, Ras al Khaymah resurrected its grievance over Greater Tumb and Lesser Tumb, thus enflaming an already delicate situation. At the end of the year, Iran and Sharjah quietly agreed to a restoration of the status quo ante the crisis, but the incidents left the UAE feeling wary of Iranian intentions.
In 1993 the UAE maintained relatively cordial relations with countries outside the Middle East. It was a member of the United Nations and its specialized agencies. It also was a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.