Facing the United Arab Emirates’ conviction and life sentence against British academic Matthew Hedges, President Trump should support the British government and pressure the UAE and its primary ally, Saudi Arabia, to pardon and release Hedges.
First off, there is no credible evidence to suggest that Hedges is guilty of that which the UAE convicted him on Wednesday, namely, conducting espionage against UAE interests under the direction of the British government. The evidence against Hedges suggests that his conviction is largely based on questions that Hedges asked of certain government officials in relation to his research. Of course, that’s the whole reason Hedges was in the UAE in the first place: to research that nation’s foreign and security policies in relation to his Ph.D. candidacy at Britain’s Durham University. Indeed, Britain’s SIS foreign intelligence service is one of the world’s finest, enjoying close relations with many Middle Eastern counterpart services, including that of the UAE. It would be highly unlikely to allow the untrained Hedges to wander around trying to steal secrets.
That begs the question, why, if not espionage, has Hedges been sent to prison for the next 25 years?
The most obvious answer is that the UAE is furious with Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and is using Hedges to send a message. A significant source of the anger here is Britain’s response to Saudi Arabia’s slaying of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2. Because where the Trump administration has rightly taken a cautious approach to Khashoggi’s murder, the British government has been outspoken in its criticism of the Saudi regime. In part, that good-cop, bad-cop routine was deliberate. Regardless, the British have infuriated the Saudis and their junior partner, the UAE.
But the UAE is apoplectic about Britain’s continuing entrenchment of arms trade interests with the UAE’s Sunni Arab enemy, Qatar. In the context of Brexit related economic fears, the British are keen to sell as much as they can to as many nations as they can. Reflecting that desperation, May’s government even decided to form a joint Royal Air Force-Qatari air force squadron earlier this year. But the UAE doesn’t recognize this. It simply sees Britain helping a nation that it wants to bury. While the U.S. also trades extensively with Qatar, the UAE and the Saudis fear getting on President Trump’s bad side. Hitting America’s closest ally via Hedges is an easy way of sending a message to both London and Washington.
Yet the fact that America’s closest ally is being targeted here explains why Trump must stand up for the British. Because this is about far more than Hedges. It’s about supporting an ally against a thinly veiled attack on its interests. Theresa May’s government has been an active and close partner of the U.S. on issues such as NATO reform (getting the Europeans to spend more), and action that complicates British economic interests (such as aggravating the Chinese by sending freedom of navigation patrols thru the South China Sea). But for reasons of the special relationship per se, Britain deserves U.S. support on this issue.
As important, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which always lurks nearby in UAE actions such as this one, cannot be allowed to think they can harass America’s closest ally and enjoy America’s exceptionally close friendship. President Trump has earned a major coupon with both nations in his ardent support for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the Khashoggi matter, and in his active countering of Iran. He should now call in that coupon and make clear to Crown Prince Mohammed and Khalifa Al Nahyan of the UAE that he expects Hedges to be released forthwith. If the UAE wants to play games with Britain, Trump should tell them that they can forget about a closer American relationship.
