For many years our UAE foreign affair ministers worked in the shadow moreover our foreign relations were based on reactions with few exceptions. We mostly coped with GCC oriented diplomacy under the Saudis leadership. The Saudis are the rock of GCC diplomacy & when the Qataris tried to stand up against it, they adopted an extreme radical one. The one that host the Americans, contaminate the Lebanese & collaborate with the Iranians-Syrian alliance. However after some ups and downs Qatar returned to be under the Saudi shadow. The Emirati foreign policy was & still under the shadow of its powerful neighbor the kingdom of Saudi Arabia but 2009 is significantly different. Though part of UAE diplomacy is still under the Saudi shadow, 2009 showed us that there is a new diplomacy that seeks only the UAE interests. Simple comparison between the activities of the first UAE foreign affair minister Ahmed khalifa Al Suwaidi & the current minister Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zayed will make this view obvious.We could have long debates over the reasons but who thought that one day the UAE will pullout from it’s much beloved project, the GCC currency union. And by doing so who thought that the UAE could stand the angry fires from the Saudis via a strong but quiet diplomacy. I still remember the 40 km line of tracks waiting under bad weather conditions for weeks just to pass the Saudi’s boarder.
Also 2009 was the beginning of the strategic military alliance with France. As a result, France launched its first military base in the Arabian Gulf few miles away from the Strait of Hormuz. Peace Camp base, a base that consist of naval force, army division and the air force. This Peace Camp comes just few months after French air force joined the US air force installation in Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi.
Then nuclear program came to birth. Landmark agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation between the UAE & the US government. This agreement will allow the UAE to receive sensitive information and materials from the US to help create the Arab world's first civilian nuclear power industry.
Finally and after months of diplomatic lobbying & campaigning Abu Dhabi was chosen to host the headquarter of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
In an article published in The National on Sunday the 20th Sultan Sooad Al Qassemi said that 2009 is the most important year in the UAE’s foreign relation. I can’t agree more with Sultan and without a doubt we can declare Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zayed 2009 most influential official in the UAE.
The embassies map is from The National
