‘Major Strategic Partners’ Designation by US

The White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, has announced recently that the United States has designated United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain as its major strategic partners.  The designation of a ‘Major Strategic Partner’ is a unique status to both the west countries.

Major Strategic Partners’ Designation

• This designation recognises the exceptional security partnership of both the countries with US.
• It also recognises the participation in the US-led coalition.

Significance of the designation

• After this designation, the partnership between the United States, The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will further strengthen.
• The two west countries have been designated as major strategic partners because of their commitment to counter the violent extremism across the region and security partnership.
• The designation is also exemplified by their hosting thousands of United States airmen, soldiers, marines, and sailors.
• It also reflects their determination, extraordinary courage, and leadership to enter into the Abraham Accords.
• It further reflects their commitment to the security and economic cooperation.

Background

The two western countries, the kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have previously been a part of various United States-led coalitions in last 30 years. The Jebel Ali port in UAE is the busiest port of call for US warships outside of the United States. Also, the Kingdom of Bahrain is also the home to 5^th Fleet of U.S. navy and it hosts around 5,000 American troops.

Abraham Accords

This accord is a joint statement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. The accord was signed on August 13, 2020. This term collectively refers to the “Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement” and the “Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement”. The agreement marks the first public normalization of relations between an Arab country and Israel after the normalization of relations with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.