A couple weeks ago Yglesias, Drum, and Marc Lynch wrote about plans for a new French military base in Abu Dhabi. The speculation centered on French strategic thinking; was the intention to challenge what was becoming an American monopoly of influence in the Gulf? Was it intended as a message of resolve to Iran?
A recent article in Defense News sheds some additional light. Apart from whatever strategic motivations the French may have had, an important consideration was apparently arms sales:
[Musa} Al-Qallab said the new base will boost the French defense industry, whose regional sales include the Mirage 2000-9 jet fighter, Leclerc main battle tanks and a large variety of Eurocopter helicopters.
“This military partnership will eventually give a strong momentum to the French defense companies competing with U.S. and Russia for the lucrative UAE and gulf markets,” he said.
[Theodore] Karasik said Britain, China or Russia might attempt to copy the French move.
Direct military to military linkages are critical to the arms trade; they show off a country's wares, and they open new channels of influence into potential customer states. The heightened French presence will make such contacts easier, presumably facilitating higher sales. While this doesn't mean that there was no strategic rationale, it does help shed some light on French motivation.
-- Robert Farley
