The UAE has funded Islamophobic think-tanks across Europe to influence domestic Countering-Violent Extremism (CVE) policies targeted at Muslims, As revealed by European Investigative Collaborations in the Abu Dhabi Secrets investigation..
The secret services of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hired Alp Services – a Swiss firm specializing in smear campaigns, spreading disinformation and creating fake accounts – in 2017 to spy on European citizens, among others[1], Alp Services illegally shared the names of thousands of European citizens with the Emirati secret services. Organisations, politicians and activists in 18 European countries were targeted and discredited by wrongly connecting them to a radical Islamist network.
THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES is on pace to contribute $20 million over the course of 2016 and 2017 to the Middle East Institute, one of Washington’s leading think tanks, according to a document obtained by The Intercept. The outsized contribution, which the UAE hoped to conceal, would allow the institute, according to the agreement, to “augment its scholar roster with world class experts in order to counter the more egregious misperceptions about the region, inform U.S. government policy makers, and convene regional leaders for discreet dialogue on pressing issues.”
A Senior Emirati diplomats regularly visiting European capitals meeting with policymakers and think-tanks, while spearheading normalization efforts with Israel via the Abraham Accords and other “interfaith” initiatives.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/P-9-2023-002379_EN.html
An Emirati based think tank Ak Mesbar published Vidino’s book entitled “The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West”.
