Little Venice, little Sparta: The UAE’s statecraft meets the war on Iran
Guests
Cinzia Bianco, Visiting Fellow, ECFR
Giacomo Köhler, Policy Analyst, Presidential Advisory Service I.D.E.A., European Commission
Khalid Almezaini, Professor of International Relations, Zayed University, UAE
Khalifa al-Suwaidi, Senior Fellow, Bourse and Baazar Foundation
Chaired by
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR
For two decades the United Arab Emirates has built its influence on connectivity: ports, air links, finance and data centres that made Abu Dhabi and Dubai difficult to bypass. The 2026 war with Iran has tested that model harder than anything before it. By the ceasefire in April, Emirati air defences had engaged more than 3,000 projectiles aimed at airports, ports, energy facilities and commercial data centres, and neither Washington nor Beijing moved to protect the flows on which Emirati power rests. Abu Dhabi is unlikely to retreat from connectivity, but it is now thinking about how to build a hardened version of it.
Drawing on insights from ECFR policy brief with the working title “Little Venice or Little Sparta? The UAE’s Middle Power model and what it means for Europe”, by Cinzia Bianco, this webinar will explore the following questions. What are the implications of the UAE’s strategy for relations with Europe and individual member states such as Germany? How do they feature in the UAE’s developing middle-power model? What can Europe offer, and what should it ask in return?
The event is being organized as part of ECFR’s Re:Order project. The Re:Order project is funded by Stiftung Mercator.