Rise of the 'Universal Arab Emirates'

When on December 2, 1971, the United Arab Emirates were carved out of the newly emancipated territories of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain, these six wonders, along with Ras Al Khaimah which joined the federation in 1972, would take the desert by storm and transpire as global economic giants practically overnight.

Despite the ongoing political and economic turmoil of the neighbouring region and the recent world economic crisis, the UAE has demonstrated the prodigal proclivity to bloom against all odds and to rise with all the grace and resilience of a desert rose.

Today, the UAE is a striking mix of the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, the native and the foreign-born - a mélange of disparate elements living side by side peacefully in a unified social order. However, as the emirates have demonstrated, the juxtaposition of contrasting societal elements does not have to spell a recipe for disaster. Neither should the advent of modernity necessarily be seen as a threat to the integrity of the nation's traditional and religious values.

Resemblance

If anything, the novel phenomenon that is increasingly resembling a Universal United Arab Emirates is the reflection of a budding society where a colourful spectrum of human values are encouraged to thrive under one roof - as they rightly should. It is a living example of how diametrically opposed elements can come together to compliment each other in innovative ways that can benefit society as a whole.

At first glance, the UAE's awe-inspiring growth and emergence onto the international stage appears a fluke of nature. Upon closer inspection, however, it seems to reflect an intuitive understanding on the part of the emirates' visionary leaders of the essential, universal ingredients necessary for human development and prosperity.

The UAE's upward mobility in the last decades has been positively correlated with its rising level of social and economic freedom. Basic social freedoms have created the requisite conditions for the enjoyment of the economic freedoms offered by these young emirates. It is this careful combination of economic and social capital, which forms the UAE's twin pillars of success.

Moreover, the UAE's continued reliance on an ever more advanced and comprehensive social and cultural model is the key to its enduring prosperity. The UAE's ultimate daily undertaking, among other things, is to foster a tolerant social milieu that caters to a diversity of interests, modern and traditional, foreign and local.

Indeed, the leaders of the UAE will be the first to admit that present-day conditions in the country are still less than ideal for some members of society and that there is substantial room for adaptation to international standards. As such, they have demonstrated the corresponding willingness and resolve to redress societal problems, be it the state of working conditions for its foreign labourers, or hunger, poverty and illiteracy abroad.

Clearly, the UAE is beginning to see itself not just as a nation united but also as a powerful universal agent with a global duty to humanity at large. For this reason, it is quite fitting that on the occasion of the UAE's 37th National Day and the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we should reflect on the relative universal stature achieved by the UAE in the few short decades since its inception.

Ultimately, the country's tallest achievements are successes born out of tolerance and respect for basic human rights and freedoms. The existence of different values within the UAE's social fabric, alone, makes a strong case for the possibility of peaceful coexistence among diverse factions within any society, whether in the Middle East or the global community as a whole.

Starting point

The example of the UAE serves as a worthy starting point for crafting an international framework for enforceable human rights that can be in place by the year 2048, the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 77th National Day of the UAE. With an eye to the future, the Emirates Human Rights Association, together in partnership with the 2048 Project, a new initiative of the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, is working to ensure that the UAE and its neighbours in the Arab and Islamic world have a say in this global contract for humanity so that all countries and their respective peoples can also live under a shared roof, in peace, for millennia.

Abdul Gaffar Hussain is a UAE writer and Chairman of the Emirates Human Rights Association. Mishana Hosseinioun is a postgraduate student of International Relations at Oxford University and Rapporteur for a Middle Eastern Convention on Human Rights with the UC Berkeley Law School's 2048 Project.