The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), laid by world leaders at the U.N. summit in September, 2000. The aim of the MDGs is to set targets for developing nations to achieve by 2015 to raise the over all standard of living in their countries. These goals range from the eradication of poverty, to education, to proper health care for all. Countries who have the MDGs as a guideline for their development generally receive financial aid and other forms of help from developed countries to help developing countries reach those goals. However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considered a developed, mainly due to its GDP per capita of $25,200. This per capita income, not only allowed the UAE to prosper from within, but also be a contributor to the development of many countries. Furthermore, the UAE has witnessed impressive economic growth over the past years, which raised the over all standard of living in the country. One must put in mind that the UAE experience, as a unified country, is only 33 years old, thus, in spite the impressive success the country still needs improvements in many areas, among which education is a priority. Apart from the education advancement, and not part of the UN MDG list, is the government’s attempt to balance the population of the country, since the nationals of the UAE make up only about 30% of the work force, and around 20% of the total population. This increase of national population, along side education, will create a skilled labor force, thus, the country will be less dependent on foreign workers. However, the UAE will also undergo many changes on a wider, international, scale.

Following the resent events in the region, I believe the United Arab Emirates will be required to adapt to the day-to-day changes in the region, most notably, Israel, and the future of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). However, this requirement to adaptation will come from within, rather than from pressures from the outside. An example to such reforms, the recent announcement of the UAE president, Shiekh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of elections in the Chamber of Commerce in Abu Dhabi, where foreigners can also run for posts in the Chamber. In addition to the election of the UAE National Council, the legislative body in the UAE, that is equivalent parliament or congress.

In this paper, I will attempt to project the United Arab Emirates in 2015, addressing the points mentioned above. I do not deny that I might be somewhat partial in my attempt, considering the fact that I am a national of the UAE. However, I will endeavor to be as objective as possible. It is worthy to note, that during my research for this paper, I have faced many difficulties in relating the MDG goals with the UAE, nevertheless, I believe no country is perfect, thus, I tried to incorporate the UAE and the MDG goals as much as possible without undermining any side. It must be noted, that the projections I make are from my readings and observations on the country and the international developments.

The UAE and education:

Not all investments have an economic return, however, some investments help generate more income. That is how education of the population is to a country. In 1972, when the United Arab Emirates was established under the leadership of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, his first and foremost priority was to educate the local population. By 2005, around 76% of the population is literate; however, further improvements must be done in order to bring up this number to around 90%. The Dubai Knowledge Village, a focal point of education in the region, American University of Dubai and Sharjah, and the various government funded universities and schools around the country, which were setup within the past ten years, are examples of the government’s initiative to provide quality education for its population. Additionally, many government programs, and private institutions, provide full paid scholarships to UAE nationals to study abroad. It is from such programs that the literacy level in the UAE could reach to a 90% level by 2015. Moreover, the increase in literacy level, and education, will be an investment to the country that will produce more economic growth for the country, and less dependency on foreign workers.





The UAE on the eco-political stage:

Ever since the events of September 11th, many things around the world have changed in the Middle East, most significantly the war on Iraq. The war on Iraq sparked a wave of reforms in many Arab countries, such as, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon, as well as the United Arab Emirates. Elections were introduced in the UAE in December of 2005, in the Chamber of Commerce in Abu Dhabi, and the elections of the National Council of the UAE, which marked a notable point in the country’s young history. However, more elections and liberalization will occur. The privatization of many government subsidized entities, mainly the oil sector, and further liberalization of the market is to be anticipated following the wave of restructuring that was witnessed in 2005. However, these improvements in the economy will come at the expense of an old policy that exists in many countries, and that is, the formation of indirect, or direct, trade with Israel.
Regardless of one’s point of view on the issue, there are certain realities one must acknowledge. In 2003, the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank was held in Dubai, and all delegates of all member nations were invited, including Israel. To avoid pressure on the home front, the government of the UAE, cleverly I might say, had the venue of the meeting in a free trade zone area, that is on international ground, where many laws and regulations in the country are not enforced. The interesting fact, is that the Israeli flag was raised on UAE soil, which, according to protocol, is a form of recognition of one country to another country. To the surprise of all parties, the meeting was a success. Although Israel is disliked by many Arabs, however, denying reality is incompetence to realizing where one interest is, and it is in the UAE’s interest, in my opinion, to set up trade ties with Israel. Nonetheless, I must say, this will come only when people are ready to accept the fact, and it will happen discreetly to evade domestic problems. This sort of drastic step might also sway other GCC countries to open up to Israel, mainly due to shared interests of the countries.

There is an old Arabic saying that says, it is easy to break a single stick, but if you have a bundle of sticks, it is much harder to break. Unlike the European Union, which its members have very diverse cultures and different languages, the countries of the GCC have a shared language, culture, and religion. These were the main reasons that started the GCC, and those reasons, along side mutual interest of the countries could also start a unified monetary union. Such a union will allow the ease of flow of capital between the countries, as well as, the inflow of direct and indirect foreign investments from abroad. Although there are currently some issues to be resolved between the member states of the GCC, however, they are far more acute than those of the EU, which in return, would make more sense for a GCC union, and a bundle that is harder to break. I reckon that the single biggest, as well as indirect, threat to the GCC countries is Iran, and especially after its recent attempts to acquire nuclear energy. I am a firm believer that when there is mutual interest between countries, disagreement can come to a minimal. A unified monetary union between the GCC countries could also be beneficial to Iran’s economy, due to the existing interests between the countries, and the potential increase in shared interests, which could bring the countries closer.



The United Arab Emirates’ young experience is very impressive, by all standards. Although the UAE has yet a long way to go to becoming a key player in world economics, nevertheless, it is on the right path, and has gone a long way since it began. The conclusion of my research is that the UAE has already met all the MDGs of the United Nations, and now it must upgrade its current services to a more advanced and more sophisticated standard. In addition to the opulence that the UAE will experience, it will continue to contribute to the development of other countries to better the overall progress of other Arab and Muslim countries. At the end, one can only speculate and hope for the best to happen in this turbulent world.

22.07.05

Secularism and the Middle East



The discourse on secularism in the Middle East has been overvalued in resent months. A few days ago I saw on Al Arabia TV, an Arabic news agency, a discussion between Europeans, which were from secular countries, and Arabs, who were split on the issue. While I watched the discussion, all what I had in mind is how much secularism we already have in our countries. Of course not from the government’s side but rather from the people them selves. All the fast food chains, bars, clubs, and the list goes on and on. We are already ‘secularized’ when we want, usually at night, and when we do not want, usually when it concerns family, we are the religious of the religious, or the cream della cream of the clergy. In short, this dilemma is the reason why we are not secular, and why our governments do not want to secularize their countries. I ask my self sometimes, how can our governments allow secularism and democracy, when we are confused on the subject matter? Why should governments be secular to its confused population? At this point, I would like to mention that I strictly speak of the U.A.E., although some of what I say can be applicable to other countries.
On the discussion of secularism, I will only discuss Islam, first as a religion, and then as an identity. Then after, I will relate both with relation to secularism. The identity is what I will try to focus on. While the religion is common and straight forward to the common Muslim.
Islam as a religion, as we all know, has not changed since it was bestowed onto the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Although the practices of Islam and its explanations has change, or in some cases misinterpreted in many cases, nevertheless, it has been the same religion as it was nearing 1300 years ago. The followers of Islam today fall into two major categories, the hard-liners, usually called extremists, and the moderates.
The moderates in Islam are those who try to cope with the everyday changes of the world, and in return try to adapt themselves, as Muslims, to those changes. They are, as I would like to call them, the “Guardians” of Islam, against the hard-liners, who usually give an ill-image of Islam. In addition, the “Guardians” also protect Islam and its image against Western governments, who provoke Islamic ‘anti-Semitism’. I will discuss this terminology as I go along. As for the main problematic within Islam, it comes from the hard-liners.
I will not go into details about those ‘extremists’, since both Arab and Western Medias discuss them affairs on a daily basis. All I will say on this, and in my opinion, and from that one can make his/her own opinion. Those hard-liners, and likes of Bin laden and Zarqawi, have only contributed to Islam in a way which gave it a bad image. Therefore, as a result, this ill image given to Islam by Muslims has only allowed some people in the West a reason to target Islam, especially after the fall of the great ‘Red Army’, the Soviet Union, or Communism.
At this point I would like to make a clear distinction between Arabs and Islam. Not all Muslims are Arabs, and not all Arabs are Muslims. Terms like ‘Islamic terrorism’ are used incorrectly, since most people perceive that Islam is the reason for terrorism, and as a result, the untrustworthy media and politicians trigger a phenomenon, which I would like to call it, Arab Anti-Semitism, rather than, Islamic Anti-Semitism. Islamic Anti-Semitism would be wrong, since not all Muslims are Semitic. Just like the Israelites are Semitic, so are Arabs. The word Semitic is derived form Sam or Shem, son of Noah. That said, the acts of hatred carried-out against Arabs, not Muslims, are also Anti-Semitic, just like the acts of hatred carried-out against Jews in Europe in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The question remains, why is secularism not found in Arab countries?
Secularism, in my opinion, is not found in our countries because we are young nations, and as young nations, we are unable to support our selves with out the pampering of our government, and surveying every move we take. Secularism, at this point, is between people, as I said, usually at night, and religion is saved for the family. This confusion is another reason why we do not have a secular government or democracy. In addition, I truly believe we still do not deserve democracy. I wonder, how will democracy or secularism help us? Or, how will the hard-liners help us?

Nearly 1400 years have passed since the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was bestowed with the final message from Allah (God) to the human race. During the 1300 years, the Islam, as an identity and a religion reached a climax, where no other religion has reached. I, by no means, am belittling Judaism nor Christianity, or any other religion; on the contrary, I have great respect for Judaism and Christianity and other religions. However, most of the Muslim scientists, philosophers, doctors, politicians, imams, scholars, and other knowledgeable men and women, dedicated their lives in the name of Islam, rather than glorifying their names in history. At the height of Islamic civilization, Islam reached East Asia, stretching to Al Andalus, or Andalusia, modern day Spain. I will not discuss the long history of the Islamic civilization, nevertheless, I would like to discuss, or rather propose questions, on how a great religion and civilization has been abused by some of its own ‘cohorts’ to reward the religion an ill perception by many people, or even a pure word such as ‘Allah’ become taboo. I would like to welcome you to “The Dark Age of Islam.” I call it the ‘Dark Age’ for a simple reason, that is; I find great similarity between how the Muslim world, generally, and the Arab countries, specifically, are today and how Europe was after the fall of the Roman Empire, up till the Renascence. It is worthy to mention that the Islamic civilization lived many years into the Renascence, in fact, many great artists and philosophers of the era, resorted to Islamic scholars, artists and scientists for assistance. The fact remains, in 2005 us Arabs live a disgraceful part of our history. In this point of our history, we witness an internal struggle within us that can shred us further apart more than we already are. Some of those who claim they are religious have battered the religion, just like some people ill-treated the religion when the Church was in power in Europe in the Dark Ages. I may sound as a pessimist; however, based on my modest readings in history, the future looks promising. Nothing remains on the top, anything that goes up must and will come down, the law of gravity proves it, as well as the law of life. Therefore, this pessimistic view will change soon, and when it will change, that is when we, as Arabs, will have our righteous stand in the World. I would like to end this essay with Cicero’s quote: "To be ignorant of what has happend before your birth is to remain always a child.For what is the meaning of a person's life unless it is interwined with that of our past by memory of history." Now I will discuss, in brief, our socities and the media

I could not help but notice the ongoing debate on how our society, as many say, is ‘falling apart,’ or how the youth of our countries are brain washed with Western propaganda. Allow me to express my points of view on the subject. As a disclaimer, I, by no means, am trying to defend any side or anyone. The constant bombardment from the Western media on developing countries, generally, and Arab countries specifically, has changed many of our old traits and habits. For example, a few years back, no one would see on Arab television a woman singing and dancing wearing a tank top, while now we do. This is only one small example of many other examples we witness around us. I must admit this ‘phenomenon’ disturbs me greatly. Where did our values and morals, which we have abided by for many many years, go? Where did our sense of dignity go? Where did we, as Arabs, go wrong? Or is all this part of history never ending cycle? When Julius Caesar was the dictator of Rome, Cicero, a famous Roman statesman and writer, strived to remind Romans of what they are made of. Cicero was killed mainly because he went against the ‘flow’ of the Empire, since Cicero wanted to keep the Republic. Many people just like Cicero either ended up dead, or with out status, while the ruling class enjoyed their power. However, as time went by and the Empire further grew the sons or even grandsons of those who went against the flow benefited from the ‘new image’ of the country, an Empire rather than a Republic. I believe we can use this example on our countries. It is true that we are being affected by Western propaganda and its changing many things in our culture. It is true that many of our youth are being brain washed and sucked into corporate America’s web. However, I strongly believe it will help us in the future. I would love to say the near future, but I do not see how all this can help us in the near future, but rather the far future, that is not before 20 years. How will this help us? one might ask. Our greatest weakness as Arabs is that we do not know how the West think, thus, always giving them a few steps lead over us. Nevertheless, we must also not forget that the single most important factor which will help us is Education, and we are not educated on our rivals. In conclusion, I would like to illustrate what I wrote in a picture we all saw a few weeks ago. The bombardment of Western media is like a tsunami, it destroys everything in its way, however, if we run away from a tsunami and go on an elevated hill and watch, we can always go back and rebuild what has gone to be stronger and also rebuild our foundation to be wider.



N.B. this is an old essay which i have wrote, I will be posting some newer ones shortly.