Thread by @andreas_krieg

There are a lot inaccuracies in here: the reason for contract soldiering in the #Gulf #GCC is NOT building a force that is more dispensable, or willing to take up arms against citizens - the primary reason is lack of indigenous capacity
carnegie-mec.org/2020/02/05/for…

Staffing a military with just 300,000 nationals in #Qatar or 1,300,000 in the #UAE is impossible - plus the parallel militaries (Emiri Guard, Presidential Guard, National Guard) there to protect the state are always staffed with nationals NOT foreigners

The use of contracted mercenaries not integrated into the chain of command of the armed forces and not wearing uniform such as in the #UAE is a different story and very much an exception

What started with Reflex LLC in 2010 in the #UAE is a trend of mercenarism in expeditionary roles employed in #Yemen and #Libya that is unique to Abu Dhabi -unlike loan & contracting soldiering mercenarism is illegal & serves the purpose of deniability not merely lack of capacity