The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has undergone a major leadership transition over the past year after the deaths of the leaders of the two main emirates, and it is beginning to undertake political reform. Its relatively open economy and borders have produced social tolerance and political stability but have also contributed to proliferation, terrorist transiting, and human trafficking, particularly in the emirate of Dubai. Since March 2005, the United States and UAE have been negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA), although the outcome of it and other relations with the United States might be affected by the outcome of the U.S.debate over whether to permit a Dubai-owned port operations company to take over management of six major U.S. ports. This report will be updated. See also CRS Report RL31533, The Persian Gulf States, Post-War Issues for U.S. Policy, 2006, by Kenneth Katzman