The point is, they are making money and inducting new weaponry that will help them defend their country. If that works, why not?
But they aren't making money. They are spending a ridiculous amounts of money just to be glorified middle-men in the global arms trade. It's just not good for the strategic outlook of the country. The UAE is already famous for being a hub of illegal activity, this full blown push into arms dealing seems to play into that.
While ties with Doha are still icy due to the 2017 diplomatic stand-off,
Icy is an understatement. What the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain attempted has put a permanent negative mark on the relations with their neighbors and irreparably harmed their standing amongst their neighbors. How can a countries like Jordan or Kuwait or Iraq or Lebanon trust the UAE and Saudi Arabia to play nice if their national interests are suddenly in opposition to the ideological leanings and political whims of the Crown Princes of Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia?
You saw what happened with Lebanon, the minute a government official dares question the policy of a crown prince, suddenly it's sanctions time for Lebanon. It's personal to them. The foreign policy of these nations have changed from their collective national interests to becoming the playthings of Princes.
UAE has been enjoying strong ties with Jordan, Egypt, 5 other fellow GCC members
Not really. The leaders pay lip service to each other but the vast majority is just talk. Very little is of substance. And what little substance there is seems entirely reliant on the whims of how these Crowns Princes feel like, which easily changes as the wind blows.
has been engaging more with countries like Sudan and Cyprus
"engaging more"
You mean actively assisting and investing in Ethiopia and its leadership in direct opposition to the national interests of both Sudan and Egypt? Yeah, real nice "engagement" and "close ties".
Supporting Israel's increasing incursions on the Jordanian Monarchy's stewardship of the Al Aqsa? Sanctioning Lebanon and attacking their political structures?
What does Cyrpus or Greece bring to the table for the UAE? Absolutely nothing, the military cooperation purely exists to antagonize Turkey. Why? Because their Crown Prince suddenly has a vendetta against Turkey. Why? Who knows.
The UAE does not have to defeat Iran; it just has to make the cost of escalation very difficult.
Iran has the largest missile arsenal in the entire region. If Iran was interested in making the UAE disappear, it honestly wouldn't be that hard. No amount of Rafales can stop thousands of ballistic missiles hitting Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Again, it wouldn't even be that costly for Iran.
Their military combined with the allies like France & the UK will simply swat Iranians out if push came to shove.
France and the UK aren't not going to help the UAE in a military engagement with Iran. Not even close.
Except that Iran hasn't threatened the UAE. It's the reverse... why? Beats me. You think it would be in the Emirati national interest to be nice to their largest neighbor but they seem set on antagonizing Iran.
Do you really think that the home countries of the immigrants working there will take it kindly to see their citizens killed in missile strikes?
India, Pakistan, and the Philippines won't intervene if the UAE is attacked by Iran. There is no point.
ou misunderstand me. I was talking about projecting influence
They aren't projecting influence either. They've been rubbing elbows with the ruling elite in a few countries but their foreign policy has alienated the vast majority of North Africans especially when it comes to normalization. They are aggravating a civil war and supporting the reinstatement of a dictatorship in Libya. They helped orchestrate a anti-democratic coup in Tunisia. They are supporting Ethiopia in threatening Egypt and Sudan's crucial water supply. On top of also supporting another anti-democratic coup in Sudan.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are strangling democracy in the MENA in its crib and your acting like their saints because suddenly they joined the pro-Israel line.
All the three are coming out and joining the rest of the world in trade, development, and defense cooperation
No, they aren't.
normalizing ties, minimizing regional conflicts and focusing on a world beyond oil.
Have you not paid attention the region at all. Those 3 countries are actively creating and provoking vast amounts of hostility and conflict in their region. They are antagonizing Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Palestine, and actively participating in conflicts in Yemen, Libya, Syria, Ethiopia, etc. They're actively creating more regional conflicts.