The UAE looks to strengthen its military with new fighter jets from France. France and the UAE have had close ties and will continue to remain in a strong relationship in the future. The UAE will be purchasing the French Dassault Rafale fighter jets. Conflicts in the middle east have been popping up and the UAE wants to be prepared. As Palestine and Iran rival Israel, the UAE could be forced into taking action. Both President Gargash and President Macron have stated that they are “reliable allies” to each other. The UAE also scheduled a deal with the U.S. for F-35 fighter jets, however, that deal has halted.
President Marcon has made it clear that he wants to help other countries out to strengthen their relationships to put France in a better international relation situation. Marcon is also visiting Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It is interesting that he visiting Qatar as well as it is seen that the UAE and Qatar are not in a current relationship with each other. Marcon wants to be on the good side of the middle east. I believe one of his goals is for the majority of the middle east to have strong ties with France, where they can cooperate on a military and political level.
Marcon’s campaign as of recently has made serious inroads on their alliances. Like I mentioned before, Marcon has targeted the middle east area to make France a country that middle eastern countries can turn to. For the middle east, this action from Marcon can make France look like they’re playing both sides. This can be uneasy for some of the middle eastern countries because of the simple fact that they don’t want to work with a country that works with a rival of theirs. The middle eastern countries are not scared to voice their opinion and side and it will be interesting to see if there is any outcome following Marcon’s trip.