The increasingly powerful crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, held talks with the US president, Barack Obama, in late April. His representation of all seven of the UAE emirates at such a high-level meeting was striking, even though he is the deputy commander of the country's armed forces. Likewise, it has been noted that he recently toured the poorer northern Emirates, including Sharjah, dispensing UAE financial largesse as if he were a national leader.

Mr Obama and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed discussed the upheaval in the Arab world, and specifically the role of the UAE in Bahrain, where a contingent of Emirati "police" are supporting the authorities against Shia protests, and in Libya, where a small number of Emirati F-15 strike planes are supposed to be contributing to the NATO-led policing of the UN-backed no-fly zone, as well as the federation's attitude toward the newly emerging government in Egypt. The US and UAE governments have to some extent found themselves on opposing sides in relation to events in Bahrain: attempts by the US administration to promote dialogue between the Bahraini government and the protesters were shattered by the entry into Bahrain of Saudi and UAE troops. In Libya they appear more closely aligned in political terms, given the UAE's very public involvement in meetings of the "contact group" on Libya-which was formed in March and includes European powers, the US, the West's allies in the Middle East and international organisations. On Egypt, relations between the US-backed government in Cairo and Abu Dhabi are relatively cool. Notably, the new Egyptian prime minister, Essam Sharaf, did not visit the UAE in late April, despite spending time in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The UAE foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, visited Hosni Mubarak before he was ousted as president of Egypt in what was interpreted in the country and the region as a show of support for the long time ally of the UAE. Mr Sharaf denied that there were any problems in relations with the UAE, or that the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, had pressured Egypt to give Mr Mubarak immunity from prosecution.