It is only recently that the UAE has found its voice as a bastion for tolerance and the rule of law, as the government has started to regularly articulate the principles for which it stands and take a lead in the Arab world in the counter-attack on the anarchy of radical terror. This welcome willingness to speak up is new since for most of its existence since it was founded in 1971 the country has preferred to let its deeds speak for its record, which meant that decades of quiet progress went largely unnoticed for the world at large. The government and the people focused on social development, education and economic growth with very little public comment other than periodic summaries of some very broad over-arching themes.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the young federation was still new, and much of the national energy went on building the new institutions of federal government, and matching them with the areas of competence managed by the seven emirates. In addition, traditional structures still played an important part in running the country. All this meant that there was little structured public debate to help define the wider essence that was building what we now know as the Emirati national identity.
One example of such quiet progress was the story of the early days of the UAE University, the first institute of tertiary education in the country, where a whole range of courses were offered to young Emirati men and women. There was an obvious educational benefit to the country, which gained a growing number of graduates in the job market, and to the students who did not have to travel to Europe or America for their studies. But a further very important gain was that the university was also bringing young men and women together across the boundaries of family, tribe and emirate to create a truly Emirati federation generation, which was a common phrase at the time.
This early exercise in learning to live together is one example of how the seven emirates combined to build the federation and also of how the required acceptance of people from other towns and cities helped create the essential tolerance that is part of the Emirati psyche and is very relevant today.
For many years, the UAE quietly built the society that we all know but without fanfare or shouting. The lack of public articulation had an impact during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 when the world descended on the country, determined to find failure. The rational argument offered by the country failed, and so the UAE simply had to ride out that storm.
Modest start
But things started to change in late 2011, when the Cabinet passed an apparently bland motion commending a policy of tolerance. This modest start (which went largely unnoticed) was the beginning of an intermittent series of comments in favour of open-minded thinking and tolerance, which nonetheless remained very much a part of the background noise until 2014, when Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) invaded large parts of Iraq and Syria.
The Arab world had been rocked to its roots by the revolutions that followed the Arab Spring of 2011. The spreading chaos and anarchy that had overwhelmed several leading nations of the region and the emergence of Daesh in June 2014 offered an existential challenge to the entire structure of enlightened government and the rule of law. At that vital stage, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minster of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, wrote a famous Op-Ed in September 2014, calling for the intellectual battle against Daesh’s malicious ideology to start with enlightened thinking, open minds, tolerance and improved governance so that people can live stable lives. This position outlined what the UAE has been practising for decades, but had not articulated into its publicly expressed vision of itself. The statements may have been in response to the hatred spewed out by Daesh, but were based on generations of Emirati living. The UAE then played a significant part in mustering a coherent regional response to the growing violence in the region, which included military action in Iraq and Syria and later in Yemen, but also a conscious effort to stand up for the wider human values that are at the core of the UAE’s Arab and Islamic identity.
This is why today the UAE is in the vanguard of the Arab world, leading the fightback against chaos and anarchy with allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. This includes extensive action in military, intellectual and social fields, but also a refreshing willingness to discuss governance and examine the purpose of government. This kind of open thinking was part of the recent World Government Summit where the leaders of the UAE continue to make clear that the purpose of government is to support the people, create stability and ensure the rule of law to allow individuals to flourish and achieve their ambitions. And this clarity also allows more effective public participation in these aims, to the benefit of the government and people together.
This column is based on a talk given at the recent Emirates Festival of Literature.
