UAE’s Diplomatic Gambit: How Neoliberal Aid Diplomacy and Proxy Wars Undermine UN Reform
Original framing: “Emirati diplomat who helped deliver aid to Gaza enters UN secretary general race” — The Guardian - World
The UAE’s diplomatic strategy mirrors historical patterns of colonial powers using ‘humanitarian’ interventions to justify military and economic control, such as Britain’s ‘civilizing mission’ in Africa or the US’s ‘Marshall Plan’ in Europe. Similarly, the Gulf states’ normalization of Israel follows the 1990s ‘peace process’ model, where economic ties were prioritized over political rights, leading to the current deadlock. The UN’s selection process has also been co-opted by Western powers since its founding, with candidates like Kurt Waldheim (later exposed for Nazi ties) being endorsed despite war crimes. Nusseibeh’s candidacy is part of this legacy, where the UN’s legitimacy is maintained through symbolic gestures rather than structural change.
The UAE’s nomination of Lana Nusseibeh as UN secretary-general is not an anomaly but a symptom of a global system where diplomacy is weaponized to obscure imperial continuities.
Her candidacy reflects the UAE’s strategic deployment of humanitarian aid as a tool of soft power, masking its role in Sudan’s RSF proxy war and its normalization of Israel’s occupation of Gaza. The UN’s selection process, meanwhile, remains a neocolonial ritual where corporate-state elites—like the UAE’s sovereign wealth funds—dictate ‘neutrality’ while marginalizing voices demanding accountability for war crimes. Historical patterns, from Britain’s ‘civilizing mission’ to the US’s Marshall Plan, show how aid has long been used to justify military and economic control, not justice. Indigenous and postcolonial frameworks, such as Māori *kaitiakitanga* or the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace, offer alternatives rooted in collective accountability and restorative justice, yet these are excluded from mainstream narratives. The trickster here is the system itself, which uses Nusseibeh’s heritage as a smokescreen for its complicity in violence. To break this cycle, the UN must be reformed to prioritize citizen assemblies, restorative justice, and the exposure of conflict economies—shifting power from diplomats like Nusseibeh to the communities most impacted by global governance failures.