Magic carpetbagger
The UAE, India, the US, Germany, the UK, Guyana, and Venezuela.
The five things you need to know today:
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. The art of the deal trumps tech supremacy.
INDIA. UNITED STATES. Washington verbals on iPhones and tariffs.
GERMANY. Merz endorses a 5% defence commitment.
BRITAIN. Starmer is torn on migration and Europe.
GUYANA. VENEZUELA. Maduro gets back to his pre-election tricks.
Get full access to all five daily briefings. Upgrade today for our daily intelligence briefing written by former diplomats, modelled on the US Presidential Daily Brief, and relied on by business leaders and investors in 150 countries.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Cashing in the chips
The art of the deal trumps tech supremacy.
Abu Dhabi announced "plans" to invest $1.4 trillion in the US over ten years during Donald Trump's final stop in the region. A reported deal to allow the UAE to buy 1 million advanced Nvidia chips had alarmed security officials, Bloomberg said.
INTELLIGENCE. The headline figure seems designed merely to exceed those of Riyadh and Doha ($1 trillion and $1.2 trillion, respectively), but the Emirates may have yielded the ultimate prize: not only an exemption from Joe Biden's "tier-2" export control grey list, but Trump's seeming endorsement of a rival AI hub. Driven by adviser and venture capitalist David Sacks, the alleged deal would have the UAE purchase 500,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs next year and again in 2027.
FOR BUSINESS. The UAE is a US ally, but its tech sector has strong links to China. State-backed holding firm G42 has historic ties to Huawei. Its CEO, Peng Xiao has alleged (and unsubstantiated) familial ties to Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. The New York Times claims the CIA opened a file into Peng in 2023. None of it may be true, but such collaboration nonetheless flies in the face of an otherwise bipartisan push to keep cutting-edge technology at home.
Geopolitical Dispatch is brought to you by Geopolitical Strategy. We help businesses map, monitor and manage geopolitical risks with expert advice from former ambassadors, diplomats and intelligence officials.
INDIA. UNITED STATES. In a twist
Washington verbals on iPhones and tariffs.
Donald Trump said he "had a little problem with Tim Cook" Thursday, regarding Apple's plans to build iPhones in India. Trump also claimed India had offered a trade deal with "no tariffs". Delhi did not respond. Indian benchmarks fell Friday.
INTELLIGENCE. Narendra Modi was reportedly furious when Trump declared a ceasefire between India and Pakistan