ID cards, borders and passports

The Emirati writer Dr Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, writing in the UAE Arabic daily Al Khaleej on the recent decision by the authorities in Riyadh to require UAE nationals to present their passports (previously, ID cards had sufficed) when entering Saudi Arabia, analysed the possible reasons behind such a sudden and unexpected decision. Could it have been the UAE's withdrawal from the Gulf currency project; its broad success in becoming a regional centre for business and finance; its nuclear energy programme and its success in winning the bid to host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) in Masdar City.

Shortly afterwards, Dr Kamal Bin Mohammad Al Asbahy, adviser to the Department of Developmental Projects, Decision Making and Problem Solving in Saudi Arabia, published a reply in which he addressed each of the points Dr Abdullah had mentioned.

" Irena and the pursuit of renewable energy: The UAE is shooting itself in the foot and any success it achieves in this area will undermine the strategic role and value of oil.

" The nuclear programme: The UAE has gone it alone and has agreed to very aggressive terms in signing its nuclear deal. This has created an unfortunate precedent for any future negotiations that other Gulf States may embark on.

" Commercial success and the demographic balance: The UAE - and eventually the rest of the Gulf - will pay a great price for hosting a large number of expatriates.

" Military: The agreement to host a French base will not counter the Iranian threat and will in fact make the UAE subordinate to France.

" Security and the Central Bank: The economic openness of the UAE has attracted many shady characters (members of the intelligence services, mafia, thieves, etc.) and this is the reason why the Gulf Central Bank cannot be hosted in the UAE.

In summary, Dr Al Asbahy explains that it is not an issue of jealousy for Saudi Arabia, but actually one of life and death. A neighbour of ours has opened its doors and imagines that it can become larger than us, despite its limited population, when its prospects are actually limited to being a good neighbour at best, he says.

It is indeed strange when a person makes it so immediately apparent what a difficult exchange of opinions this will be. Dr Al Asbahy's mindset is prehistoric to say the least.

To suggest that embracing new energy sources is foolish and will be detrimental to the Gulf States is incredibly ridiculous. Does he expect the rest of the world to sit on the sidelines and not invest in new technologies? Does he expect the Gulf to continue to play the role of premier energy supplier unchallenged? Does it not make even more sense that we use the proceeds of our current source of wealth to invest in our next one?

I cannot comment on the nuclear deal, except to say that nuclear expertise is no longer a novelty and comparable levels of know-how are available from the US, UK, France, Russia, Finland, South Korea and Japan. Put that together with the economic crisis and the good reputation the Gulf states have as peaceful nations and it shouldn't be very difficult to receive competitive proposals.

Next is the criticism of the UAE's openness to foreign investment and expertise. It is ironic that this supposedly destructive commercial attitude gave rise to Emaar, which has been selected to develop King Abdullah Economic City. This $80 billion (Dh294.2 billion) development, together with five other economic cities, is part of a plan to position Saudi Arabia among the top 10 competitive destinations for investment globally - in the process creating jobs for Saudi Arabia's large, young population. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has awarded this very important project to the one company that more than any other represents the UAE's commercial development and its positioning as a destination to live and work for people from around the world.

Now with respect to the French military base in Abu Dhabi; is this the first foreign military base in the Gulf? Does this military base not balance out the other nations' bases? It is ridiculous to suggest that the French actually believe that they can subjugate the UAE by introducing a military base here. After all, if that is usually the case when a military base is introduced, then the whole of the Gulf would have been subjugated ever since the Gulf War.

Finally, in this day and era, only a simpleton would suggest that the physical location of a central bank contributes significantly to its security.

In conclusion, if this is more than just the point of view of an overly nationalistic writer then this is a sad day for the Gulf Cooperation Council and its member states. To hold the view that the position of the UAE is subordinate to that of Saudi Arabia based on landmass and population can only be described as absurd. Many nations have been successful beyond what their destinies may have foreshadowed to others - they obviously had hidden potential. The UAE is a progressive, peaceful nation that remains committed to the sustainable development of the region; the question is whether some factions in the Kingdom share the same ideals.

Mishaal Al Gergawi is an Emirati commentator on socio-economic and cultural affairs in the UAE.