Ambitious U.S. partner rises to lead UAE

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan became the president of the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, formalizing the rise of a 61-year-old prince who has deftly wielded his country’s oil wealth to become one of the most influential leaders in the Arab world and a close partner of the United States.

At the helm of the Emirati state, Mohammed succeeds his older half-brother, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, who died Friday at 73 after leading the Persian Gulf country for 18 years.

Sheikh Mohammed, who had previously served as the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven city-states that make up the United Arab Emirates, was unanimously chosen as president by a council of the rulers of the seven Emirates, the Emirati state news agency said.

Sheikh Mohammed thanked the other rulers for their trust and prayed that God would help him “serve his country and the loyal people of the Emirates,” the news agency said.

Known across the region and in Western capitals for his inquisitive mind and for an understated demeanor that masks ambitions that extend far beyond his country’s borders, Sheikh Mohammed has effectively been ruling the UAE since 2014, when Sheikh Khalifa had a stroke and stepped back from public life.

Often referred to by his initials, MBZ, Sheikh Mohammed has built close ties in Washington by offering up the services of the UAE and its armed forces to help with Western military endeavors in the region. His country has also spent copiously on American-made weapons and on lobbyists to ensure that his views are promoted in the United States.

Emirati special forces have deployed with Americans in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia and Libya, and the UAE was a member of the international coalition that the United States formed to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

As head of state, Sheikh Mohammed will also oversee the decisions of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds as well as of a major oil and gas producer and member of OPEC at a time of turbulence in global energy markets exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

In the Middle East, Sheikh Mohammed considers the biggest threats to stability Iran and its network of armed proxies and political Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood, a Muslim social and political organization connected to political parties in a number of Arab countries.

Mohammed