Obama's Promised Land: Who is Gulf's Smartest Leader?

Former US President Barack Obama revealed in his new book who he considers the smartest leader in the Gulf region.

In his memoirs, published recently under the title "A Promised Land", Obama granted this title to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

He also spoke about the contradiction in his administration's handling of the protests in 2011 in Egypt and Bahrain, the UAE’s position on these events, and Washington’s vision towards them.

The former US president pointed out that he had persuaded former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down from power, adding that he knew that the transition that Egypt witnessed after that was "just the beginning of a struggle for the soul of the Arab world."

Obama recalled a conversation he had with bin Zayed at this time, describing the crown prince of Abu Dhabi as "a seasoned young man close to the Saudis and perhaps the smartest leader in the Gulf."

He revealed that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in that conversation informed him of the concern of the Gulf leaders about the possibility that Washington would take a similar position in the event of the outbreak of popular opposition protests in Bahrain (and this happened soon in fact) and support the protesters' demands for King Hamad bin Isa to step down from power.

The former president added that he had informed bin Zayed of his endeavor to "avoid having to choose between the" Muslim Brotherhood "group and possible violent clashes between governments and their peoples."

Obama also quoted in his book on Bin Zayed's warning that the fall of Egypt and the "Brotherhood" group taking over the reins of affairs threatening the downfall of eight other Arab leaders, and stressed that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi did not hide in the conversation his opposition to the White House statement on the events in Egypt, saying that “These statements show the United States is not a reliable long-term partner.”