Relationship dossier
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
A substantial partnership in trade, investment and security, alongside recurring concerns over human rights and regional policy
United Arab Emirates toward United Kingdom
+45The UAE has pursued substantial investment in the UK and cooperated with the British government on trade, defence and security. UAE policy and activity have also drawn British scrutiny over human rights, regional conflicts and financial transparency.
United Kingdom toward United Arab Emirates
+40The UK has maintained defence and security cooperation with the UAE, including military engagement and arms exports, and has pursued a bilateral trade and investment relationship. British officials and parliamentarians have raised concerns relating to human rights and UAE policy in regional conflicts.
Overall relationship
+45The relationship is underpinned by extensive economic ties and sustained security cooperation, including British defence engagement with the UAE and significant Emirati investment in the UK. These ties coexist with recurring political scrutiny over human rights, arms sales and regional conflicts, making the partnership substantial but not uniformly aligned.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom maintain a substantial partnership spanning trade, investment, security and diplomacy. The UAE has made major investments in the UK and cooperates with it on regional security. The UK has maintained a defence and security partnership with the UAE, including military cooperation and arms sales. Relations have also faced scrutiny over human rights, regional conflicts and the role of UAE-linked finance.
Areas of tension
- British scrutiny of human-rights conditions in the UAE
- UK arms exports and their potential use in regional conflicts
- Differences and concerns relating to UAE policy in regional conflicts
- Scrutiny of financial transparency and UAE-linked finance in the UK
Key developments
The UK and UAE signed a Partnership for the Future, setting out cooperation on security, trade, education and culture.
The UK and UAE launched negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement.
The UAE and UK agreed a partnership to deepen cooperation on climate action and clean energy.
Major uncertainties
- The scale and implementation of current bilateral security commitments are unclear.
- The extent to which human-rights and regional-policy disagreements affect government cooperation varies over time.