U.A.E.
U.A.E.
DATAPOINTS
$18.2 Million
15
82
AL-MONITOR
LOBBYING RANK
#5 (tie)
LATEST UPDATES Last updated on July 17, 2020
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
(for UAE)
Hired: 2007
2019 fees: $6.4 million
Gilliland & McKinney International Counsellors
Akin Gump subcontractor
(for UAE)
Hired: April 2019
NEW Informational materials
For the UAE, Akin Gump subcontractor Gilliland & McKinney International Counselors distributed a 124-page report by Akin Gump senior adviser Ileana Ros-Lehtinen while Akin Gump distributed tweets by Ros-Lehtinen, the former chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, saying Qatari media outlet Al Jazeera must register with the Department of Justice and comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
American Defense International
Akin Gump subcontractor
(for UAE)
Hired: July 2018
2018 fees: $225,000
NEW Contract
American Defense International will continue to work as a subcontractor on Akin Gump’s United Arab Emirates account. The firm has signed a one-year, $540,000 agreement that was effective June 30 and is set to end after 12 months. American Defense International has worked for the UAE since July 2018.
Fleishman-Hillard
(for UAE)
Hired: June 2020
NEW Contract
NEW Informational materials
The United Arab Emirates’ public diplomacy office has hired Fleishman-Hillard to promote its space program and the July 14 launch of an Emirati Mars probe. According to a filing, the work “will consist of media relations, in the form of outreach to US-based journalists, sharing of press releases about the mission and coordination of interviews/briefings with Mars mission spokespeople for journalists.” The filing goes on to note that the “activity is intended to create a general positive reputational impact for the UAE by highlighting the scientific advancements and commitments to technology and innovation made by the country.” For the work, which began June 17 and will end July 31, Fleishman-Hillard has a $24,000 budget. Kamilla Rahman, Steven Shaw and Caitlin Teahan will work on the account.
And Fleishman-Hillard distributed a press release on the UAE's upcoming Mars probe launch.
Glover Park Group
(for UAE)
Hired: June 2020
NEW Contract
The United Arab Emirates has hired Glover Park Group to conduct survey research regarding public attitudes. The firm will be paid $35,000 under the contract, which goes from June 22 to July 31. Graeme Trayner, the firm’s managing director of research and insights, is the only registered foreign agent on the account. The firm separately works for the UAE’s UN mission.
Teneo Strategy
(for Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation)
Hired: April 2020
Contract: $3 million/year
NEW Contract
Teneo Strategy has registered to work for the Abu Dhabi-based Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, the family foundation of Princess Salama bint Hamdan — who is married to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, one of the Middle East’s most powerful rulers. The $3 million-per-year contract ends in December 2021. Teneo co-founder and President Doug Band, a longtime aide to President Bill Clinton, is registered to work on the account along with Managing Director Faten Alqaseer, Senior Vice President Jennifer Clark, Senior Vice President Jack Coster, consultant Emily Johns, Senior Managing Director Andy Maas, Vice Chairman Robert Mead, Senior Managing Director Matthew Miller, Senior Managing Director Padraic Riley and Senior Managing Director Sparky Zivin, the global head of Teneo Research. According to the contract, Teneo will oversee design and project management of key narrative and communications; conduct perception research; support the development of a narrative “used to amplify outreach activity”; develop and execute an international communications strategy; strengthen the foundation’s crisis response capabilities; and provide media relations support. Teneo notably also works for Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Company, which is owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund and is in charge of developing Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion futuristic Neom mega-city.
TRG Advisory Services
(for UAE)
Hired: Sept. 2018
2018 fees: $540,000
NEW Amendment
TRG Advisory Services, which works for the United Arab Emirates’ embassy in Washington, has changed its address from Alexandria, Virginia, to New York City.
KARV Communications
(for Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah)
Hired: 2013
2018 fees: $440,000
NEW Supplemental
(Nov. 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020)
The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah paid KARV Communications $240,000 in the six-month period ending April 30, during which time the firm provided PR and communications advice and oversaw the maintenance of the emirate’s website.
Gilliland & McKinney International Counsellors
Akin Gump subcontractor
(for UAE)
Hired: April 2019
NEW Supplemental
(Nov. 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020)
UAE law and lobbying firm Akin Gump paid Gilliland & McKinney International Counsellors $12,000 in the six-month period ending April 30. During that time period, according to a filing, former Senate Finance Committee international trade counsel John Gilliland “provided policy and strategic advice with respect to legislative and policy developments concerning the Foreign Agents Registration Act and concerning US foreign and economic policy.”
Haake & Associates
(for ECOLOG)
Hired: May 2020
NEW Domestic lobbying registration
ECOLOG, the Washington subsidiary of the Dubai-headquartered integrated services company Ecolog Deutschland, has hired Haake & Associates to lobby on government contracting issues. The Dubai-headquartered company is contributing $60,000 for the lobbying effort. Tim Haake, the former deputy commander of mobilization and reserve affairs at US Special Operations Command, will lobby on the account.
Brunswick Group
(forAbu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism)
Hired: 2016
NEW Contract
Abu Dhabi paid The Brunswick Group more than $3.4 million since 2017 to promote events and sites in the United Arab Emirates, including Louvre Abu Dhabi and Qasr Al Hosn, the oldest building in Abu Dhabi, the firm revealed in new filings. Brunswick Group was hired by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism through multiple agreements. According to lobbying filings, it was also hired by former Foreign Policy editor David Rothkopf’s The Rothkopf Group (TRG), which contracted it to do international and regional PR work for CultureSummit Abu Dhabi 2018. An engagement letter that was disclosed called for Brunswick to be paid $70,000 for PR for the 2018 event.
Brunswick Group and its affiliates have done the work since November 2016; however, “in March 2020, Brunswick Group LLC and its affiliates suspended all US-facing and US-related work and activities for the Department of Culture and Tourism–Abu Dhabi pending this FARA registration,” the firm wrote in a filing. Foreign agents who registered and are currently working for Brunswick include Tristan Hills-Bos, Liza Eliano, Fanny Guesdon, Kim Mitchell, Roya Nasser and Dana Sleiman. Alice Carter, John Diviney, Amanda Mead and Agnish Ray no longer work at Brunswick but registered. Brunswick disclosed disseminating more than 400 pages of informational materials relating to the Abu Dhabi work.
ANNUAL OVERVIEW
UAE seeks to shield itself from Gulf blowback
Julian Pecquet
@JPecquet_ALM
jpecquet@al-monitor.com
Julian Pecquet is the Editor of Special Projects for Al-Monitor, where he supervises the award-winning Lobbying Tracker as well as managing long-form stories. Before that he covered the US Congress for Al-Monitor. Prior to joining Al-Monitor, Pecquet led global affairs coverage for the political newspaper The Hill.
Posted: September 11, 2019
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) spent more than $18 million last year to try to tar one Gulf neighbor and dodge the blowback against another.
Already one of the biggest spenders in the Washington influence game before its diplomatic break with Qatar in June 2017, the UAE has almost doubled its lobbying and public relations budget since then in an effort to paint Doha as an untrustworthy US ally. In recent months that effort has largely focused on trying to force Al Jazeera to register as a foreign agent of Qatar in a bid to curtail the rebellious network’s reach.
But the UAE has also had to defend its own policies as Abu Dhabi under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan plays an increasingly assertive role in the region.
That campaign has run into unforeseen complications over the past year as the UAE’s main ally, Saudi Arabia, fell out of favor in Washington following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Bipartisan outrage over the killing soon translated into congressional pressure to end US refueling support and arms sales to the Saudi and Emirati alliance against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, although President Donald Trump used his veto to keep US arms sales flowing.
The UAE still has concerns, however. A month-old lobbying filing by UAE lobbyist American Defense International reveals a list of amendments the country wants dropped from the pending annual defense bill, including a congressional demand for a detailed description of the military involvement by the UAE and other countries in the conflict in Libya, restrictions on US support for the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen, and a request for a study on how the United States monitors exports of surveillance-related capabilities and their potential for abuse by foreign governments.
The emirates are also facing backlash for their support for southern secessionists in Yemen, who have their own lobbying presence here in Washington. Previously a key ally against the Houthis, the UAE is now facing accusations from the Yemeni government — disseminated by its embassy in Washington — of having bombed government forces. The increasingly messy situation and resulting civilian casualties have only strengthened US calls for an end to the four-year war, with the Wall Street Journal reporting late last month that the Trump administration now wants to open direct talks with the Houthis.
With its role on the international stage coming under scrutiny, the UAE is intent on showcasing its domestic reforms and achievements. In a region wracked by religious intolerance, the emirates scored a PR coup when it hosted Pope Francis in February for the first ever visit by a pontiff to the Arabian Peninsula.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s influence operations in Washington have continued to grow. Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba hired TRG Advisory Services in September 2018 for $50,000 per month to help develop US programs “with a particular focus on programs associated with science, technology, cultural diplomacy, education, tolerance, values, women's empowerment and related areas.” And this July, the embassy retained the Glover Park Group for $80,000 to conduct in-person focus groups and nationwide online community discussions regarding unspecified “public attitudes” through September.
HIGHLIGHTS
Main lobbying firm:
Camstoll Group
$18.2 million
Total lobbying and PR spending for 2018
WINS
- White House prevents congressional arms sales restrictions
- US steps up pressure campaign on Iran
- UAE hailed for religious tolerance
LOSSES
- UN accuses UAE of key role in Libya violence
- Congress revolts against Yemen war
- Campaign against Al Jazeera
KNOW MORE
UAE seeks de-escalation with Iran
Saeid Jafari
UAE shifts course in Yemen
Ammar al-Ashwal
The UAE's 'alternative GCC' with Saudi Arabia
Giorgio Cafiero
U.S. ARMS SALES
NEWS
UAE lobbies for sanctions against Turkey
Julian Pecquet
@JPecquet_ALM
jpecquet@al-monitor.com
Julian Pecquet is the Editor of Special Projects for Al-Monitor, where he supervises the award-winning Lobbying Tracker as well as managing long-form stories. Before that he covered the US Congress for Al-Monitor. Prior to joining Al-Monitor, Pecquet led global affairs coverage for the political newspaper The Hill.
Posted: December 12, 2019
The United Arab Emirates is pressing Congress for sanctions against Turkey, lobbying filings reviewed by Al-Monitor reveal. Charles Johnson, a partner with UAE lobby shop Akin Gump, emailed what appear to be two Senate staffers Nov. 7 to encourage Congress to punish Ankara over its incursion against Kurdish militants in northeastern Syria. The email was sent a week after the House passed Turkey sanctions legislation from Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed its own sanctions bill Wednesday.
“I am reaching out on behalf of our client, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, to underscore the UAE's condemnation of Turkish aggression in Syria and support for sanctions measures against Turkey such as the House-passed ‘Protect Against Conflict by Turkey Act’ (H.R. 4695),” Johnson wrote. “I hope this information is helpful as you continue to monitor developments in Syria, and as the Senate considers potential sanctions measures.”
The email calls the Syrian incursion a “direct threat to stability and peace in the region” and goes on to point out that UAE archrival Qatar was one of the few countries in the region not to condemn the move. Johnson also says that Qatar has doubled down on its support for Turkey despite congressional criticism, describing Doha’s $15 billion investment pledge to Ankara in 2018 as being “intended to undermine newly-initiated US sanctions.”
Akin Gump in previous filings had disclosed lobbying for sanctions “against Iran and other countries,” but not Turkey specifically. The UAE’s influence campaign against Qatar, by contrast, is well documented. Akin Gump has represented the UAE embassy in Washington since 2007, which paid it $3.6 million last year.
The recipients of the email are identified only as “Andrew & Matt.” The Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Democratic counsel is named Andrew Keeler and his Republican counterpart is Matthew Sullivan, but Al-Monitor was unable to confirm that's who the email was sent to. Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. The email released by the Foreign Agents Registration Act unit at the Department of Justice was forwarded to Melissa Laurenza, a partner at Akin Gump who focuses on campaign law and lobbying registration.
KNOW MORE
UAE seeks de-escalation with Iran
Saeid Jafari
UAE shifts course in Yemen
Ammar al-Ashwal
The UAE's 'alternative GCC' with Saudi Arabia
Giorgio Cafiero
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