Link to the article: https://www.dw.com/en/eu-uae-trade-deal-alleged-weapons-sales-rapid-support-forces-sudan-civil-war/a-74906170
The article explains that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are debating whether to halt EU trade negotiations with the UAE after allegations that European-made weapons are being re-exported to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are accused of serious atrocities. The EU had been pursuing a Free Trade Agreement with the UAE to expand market access, but the discovery of weapons linked to EU countries and reports of civilian attacks in Sudan have complicated matters. Lawmakers are divided: some want to use trade as leverage to prevent arms transfers, while others push for sanctions and humanitarian aid to address the crisis and potential refugee flows.
It highlights that this conflict may have happened due to U.S. tariffs. Since the EU isn’t able to trade as well with the United States, they have been trying to promote free trade with other countries, such as the UAE. It shows the complications arising between trade deals when things such as human rights get involved. I believe there should be a stop to weapons being transported to Sudan, but don’t think that the way to stop it is by cutting off trade completely. By cutting off trade, it could cause the EU to go into a panic, possibly affecting citizens’ thoughts on the stability of the region. It also brings to light that countries can’t trust one another all the time. The EU once thought this trade deal was benefiting everyone, but they didn’t realize what was really happening behind the scenes.
The EU could respond by pushing the UAE to stop transferring weapons to Sudan. They could do this through pausing trade negotiations. This would hold the UAE accountable and almost incentivize them to stop. The UAE could deny that they were transporting weapons to Sudan to hopefully keep the trade deal alive. While this could keep cooperation going, the EU would become more skeptical and less trusting of the UAE, especially since they have evidence that the UAE was transporting weapons. On the other hand, the UAE can stand by what they did, causing the EU to pull away from the deal.
This connects to class because it shows how the EU was trying to take a liberalist approach in order to ensure national security. They used cooperation and trade to hopefully protect themselves, but it ended up backfiring when the UAE took more of a realist approach. This highlights how different countries can affect each other if they try to cooperate using different approaches to ensure national security. Both countries wanted to cooperate but ultimately focused on their own interests rather than collective interests. This could affect how the EU will try and ensure their security in the future, whether they stay on a multilateral and cooperative path, or if they switch to more unilateral.