The United Arab Emirates has become a force in the Middle East

IT WAS NOTUAEUAEUAEDP quite Anwar Sadat speaking before the Knesset, or King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin clutching hands in the Rose Garden. That would not have been Muhammad bin Zayed’s style. The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (), announced on August 13th, was hashed out quietly by spies and sheikhs and unveiled largely on Twitter. It made the the first Gulf country and only the third Arab state to open formal relations with Israel. Yet it had all the pomp and circumstance of a tariff agreement.Though long overshadowed by Saudi Arabia, Prince Muhammad, the ’s de facto ruler (pictured in illustration), has turned his small country of 10m people into arguably the most influential Arab state. It wields soft power through Dubai, the region’s business hub, and firms like World, a shipping giant. A compact but capable army provides a sharper edge. Emirati money and media have backed coups and intrigue across the Middle East.