'Ideology, family and history': The UAE-Saudi Arabia feud explained

'Ideology, family and history': The UAE-Saudi Arabia feud explained Submitted by Sean Mathews on Fri, 05/08/2026 - 21:16 Saudi Arabia sees itself as a leader in the Arab and Muslim world, and the UAE sees itself as a global power constrained by old Gulf links This handout picture shows UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (R) meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Qasr al-Rawdha in Abu Dhabi, on 1 December 2024 (Abdulla al-Bedwawi/UAE presidential court/AFP) Off Saudi Arabia tried to bribe a prince of the UAE’s al-Nahyan family to cede control of a desert oasis suspected of containing vast quantities of oil. The sheikh rejected the offer to betray his family, and Saudi Arabia launched a failed invasion of the territory. That is how the late journalist David Holden summed up the legendary 1950s Buraimi dispute between the Saudi royal family, Oman, and the Trucial States, which would become the United Arab Emirates, in his classic 1966 book, Farewell Arabia.