UAE partnership with Cambridge University slammed as ‘Faustian pact’

The University of Cambridge has been accused of entering a “Faustian pact” after it emerged that it has had talks with the UAE about a $430 million partnership. News of the deal has sparked outrage. Critics have slammed Cambridge for risking its hard-earned reputation, and condemned the UAE for using its wealth to “launder its reputation” and thus whitewash its appalling human rights record.

Described as one of the largest ever deals between a foreign state and an institution of higher education, the venture will make the UAE the university’s biggest donor and provide for the creation of a joint innovation institute. According to documents seen by the Guardian, the 10-year collaboration would help Cambridge, one of Britain’s wealthiest higher education institutions, “weather the challenges faced as a result of Covid, Brexit and a constrained funding environment.”

The deal is yet to go before the university’s general board. If approved, the UAE-Cambridge Innovation Institute will begin as a virtual entity and culminate in “a physical footprint” in the UAE with its own staff and “joint UAE and University of Cambridge branding”.

Concerns have been raised about the reputational damage to Cambridge University if the deal goes ahead. The UAE is regarded by many as one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. Other concerns include a “values gap”, “academic freedom and institutional autonomy”, and “the potential burden such a large partnership could place on parts of the university and attendant mission drift.”

Such fears grabbed international attention during the detention of Matthew Hedges. The British academic was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 after being accused of spying. He was pardoned after six months. Earlier this year Hedges launched legal action against several senior UAE officials, accusing them of assault, torture and false imprisonment.

READ: UAE links damage the integrity of universities upholding democratic freedoms

Cambridge has acknowledged the UAE’s treatment of Hedges and the challenges that may arise from working in a different cultural context. It insists, though, that it will provide sufficient support to assist its staff through any difficulties. Such assurances have failed to impress critics.

“This is a Faustian pact that should be of profound concern to Cambridge faculty, students and alumni and UK academia more broadly,” said Nicholas McGeehan, a human rights researcher focusing on the Gulf States. “The UAE is a deeply illiberal state with a zero-tolerance stance on free speech and critical thought, and it deals with its critics in the most brutal fashion imaginable through torture and forced disappearances.” McGeehan predicted that Cambridge would be giving up some of its hard-earned reputation in return for burnishing the reputation of the UAE.

According to Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU): “This is a clear case of a rich authoritarian state using its wealth in an attempt to launder its reputation. It would be shameful if the University of Cambridge were willing to be used in this way.”