{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.015342960288808664, 'fraction_numerical': 0.002707581227436823, 'mean_word_length': 5.410404624277457, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
In Pursuit of Security and Influence

Chapter 8 focuses on the United Arab Emirates (UAE), led by Mohamed bin Zayed, and its newly assertive power projection strategy that includes establishment naval and military bases on the Red Sea, in the chokepoints of the Bab al-Mandab one of the most important global shipping lanes and the Gulf of Aden and its littoral territory—the arid nations of Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia to achieve dual geostrategic and economic goals including the acquisition of operational and management rights over ports and economic zones. The theoretical framework used in this chapter to asses foreign policy change employs simultaneous levels of inquiry taking into account regional and systemic effects, domestic influences, and the role of leadership adding to the literature on international relations and the Middle East in two distinct ways (1) by addressing understudied theoretical questions concerning foreign policy change in small states and (2) exploring the nature and motivations of the emerging trend of securitizing waterspace and shipping lanes in the Middle East.