The good, the bad and the ugly leaders in West Asia

The hotel conference room was nearly packed with hundreds of young intellectuals from different continents, in Dubai for the first time, to attend the prestigious annual Harvard Project on Asia and International Relations (HPAIR). It was advertised as an international conference by the students, of the students and for the students — mostly promising and aspiring Harvard University students.

This is the first time the 22-year-old HPAIR held its annual gathering in Dubai. Its first conference was held in Taipei in 1991. It has already travelled to 12 Asian cities including Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and even Down Under to Sydney. All along HPAIR seems to have neglected growing cities in West Asia such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Finally, the dynamic and trendsetting Dubai became visible enough on the global map to catch the attention and interest of so many bright young minds. Dubai was as usual impressive and ready to show off its Asian affinity and identity. The few participants that I had a chance to talk to one-on-one emphasised time and again that they were lucky to be in Dubai even when it was unbearably hot and humid.

Clearly, this was a timely recognition that Dubai, as much as it is an Arab and Middle Eastern city, is firmly an Asian city. Many tend to easily forget that Dubai has deep-rooted historical, geographical, demographical, cultural affinity as well as vast commercial links to Asia.

The five action-packed days of HPAIR 2013 in Dubai were also a clear reminder of the growing strategic and investment importance of the West Asia region, which many tend to easily forget is an integral part of Asia proper.

But the 18 West Asian states are finally discovering their Asianness and have affirmed their long lost Asian identity and affinity. This is, after all, Asia’s moment in global history and they want to be part of it. Looking eastwards is now a trendy foreign policy priority for many West Asian countries, including the Arab Gulf states. They want to have an Asia strategy as their pivot.

Simultaneously, the newly emerging East and South Asian economic powers are discovering the strategic significance of the once neglected West Asia region, particularly the oil-rich Arab Gulf states. They are busy reviving the historic Silk Road and inventing the new hydrocarbon road. All are positioning themselves for the so-called post-American world.

In my brief 15-minute early morning panel discussion, I touched upon these emerging themes and discussed with HPAIR participants some of the challenges facing leaders of West Asia. I had to use my newly acquired Twitter skills to stay within the time constraints rightly imposed by the young chairwoman of the session. I reminded the audience that West Asia has its share of good, bad and ugly leaders. There are leaders who have turned their countries into failed and fragile states and those who transformed their relatively small states into success stories that have captured global attention.

The ugliest leader around today is Bashar Al Assad of Syria. He is responsible for the killing nearly 150,000 Syrians; he literally destroyed one-third of his country and turned a quarter of his people homeless, of which a million are children. He even used chemical weapons against his own people. It cannot get any uglier.

For eight years, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a typical example of a bad leader. He was full of anger, created so much regional tension and made a mess of Iran. Wisely, the Iranians have just elected a seemingly moderate president who intends to reset Iran’s foreign relations amid high regional and global expectations.

But the region is blessed to have good leaders who deserve respect and admiration. The first is Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa of Qatar, who single-handedly transformed Qatar beyond recognition in no time. But at the peak of his glory he decided to step down. When a leader decides on his own free will to say, “I have had enough and the time has come to leave,” that is an exceptional act of leadership that only happens once in a blue moon.

Another example of good leadership is found right in this very city. Dubai is blessed to have a forward thinking and dynamic leader, who has made Dubai the commercial capital of West Asia. The city is full of invisible positive energy, which stands taller than the tallest building in the world. Most of the positive energy penetrating the city emanates from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the founding father of global Dubai.

But whether good, bad or ugly, all the leaders of West Asian states face two formidable challenges. West Asia is one of the least democratic regions in the world and the first challenge is to establish a stable and prosperous democracy. The second challenge is security and stability. West Asia also happens to be the most violent region, not just in Asia but in the world. Think how much daily violence is there in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Yemen.

Maybe there is a connection between lack of democracy and abundance of violence in West Asia, but it is also abundantly clear that leaders matter. More good and thoughtful leaders are needed to make West Asia a stable, prosperous and democratic part of the Asian moment in global history.

Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdulla is a professor of Political Science. You can follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/Abdulkhaleq_UAE