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Former Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan was elected President of the United Arab Emirates following the death of his father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan in November 2004. The secret of his father's success as ruler of this progressive nation for more than 30 years lied in the fact that he allowed different nationalities and religions to live together in harmony and peace. The new President will continue with his father?s policies.

Sheikh Khalifa in Perspective

The present President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a well-prepared statesman who is determined to carry on with the wise policies of his father. This nation has a population of 3.75 million. Some 80% of the people are viewed as expatriates. With only one year in power, President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan has continued to achieve progress, prosperity and stability after the example of his father, Sheikh Zayed who succeeded to create a modern state without losing its local traditional and cultural character.

Sheik Khalifa has inherited the deep love and respect the people had for Sheikh Zayed. This great Islamic nation should feel very fortunate to have as a new leader one who was so close to his predecessor, one who has learned so well how to make and how to keep a nation great from every aspect. Sheik Khalifa has already gained the respect of the various regional rulers of his progressive and peaceful nation. Moreover, he urged these regional rulers to work hard to bring the nation abreast with all the various advancements taking place globally.

Sheik Khalifa was born in 1948 in the oasis of Al-Ain and he was the oldest son of Sheik Zayed. The formation of the UAE took place in 1971 and since then Sheikh Khalifa has occupied many important positions in the government. At one time, he was also deputy prime minister and deputy commander of the UAE armed forces. When the UAE was established in 1971 this newly formed nation was not viewed as economically strong.

However, today the UAE has amassed $70 billion dollars and it has become the third largest GDP in the Arab world following Saudi Arabia and Egypt. This phenomenal progress was attributed partly to the wisdom of the UAE leaders in the nation?s professional management of its extraordinary oil wealth. The United Arab Emirates carries 10% of the world?s oil reserves and 4% of the global natural gas deposits. Its petrodollar surplus has made this great nation highly inviting for leading institutional investors on a global scale.

United Arab Emirates at Work

The United Arab Emirates is the only Arab nation that refused to nationalize or expropriate Western oil concessions. Instead, partnerships and joint ventures were created between Adnoc and foreign energy giants as Total, BP, Mobil, and Chevron in addition to others. Making business with UAE has allowed for such nations as France and Great Britain to feel fully secure in their ventures with this Arab nation. One of the greatest elements that made UAE a great nation both educationally and economically lies in the fact that the leader of this nation and his government viewed the people, and not oil reserves and subterranean lakes of black gold, as the nation?s greatest asset.

If the nations of the world were to assume this kind of philosophy, there will be countless millions of people spared from their suffering and misery almost overnight. In fact, UAE has succeeded to make education the real cornerstone of the development of the entire country. The new ruler of UAE, Sheik Khalifa, has vouched to continue to make education as a top priority in the nation. He seems to believe that the strength of a nation can be measured best by the kind of education its people have and by the way the government looks after their individual and collective needs.

The citizens of this nation are enabled to become real estate owners. At the same time, the government seems to have no tolerance at all for commissions, payoffs or corruption. In fact, Transparency International has rated the UAE as the least corrupt nation in the Middle East. The UAE may be viewed as a nation committed to privatization and new industrial ventures. Thanks to the previous governmental leader, Sheik Zayed, no other leader in the developing world has left such a deep imprint on the nation?s economy with the exception of Singapore?s Lee Kwam Yew. Khalifa had been involved in numerous projects over the past several years and he will see to it that the nation?s industrialization, economic reforms and privatization will be a top priority in his government. The oil and gas industries are bound to grow indefinitely.

Like his father, the previous ruler, Sheik Khalifa seems to have a keen sense of justice. He is quite interested in learning about the concerns of his citizens and to do his best to help them in any way he can. In UAE, women?s rights are being taken into consideration more than in most other Arab nations. To this end, many laws were promulgated for purpose of promoting women?s rights everywhere. As a result, women are empowered to join the highest levels of education, culture, rehabilitation and training. Besides, women are provided with the opportunity to enter administrative and technical fields. Also, women may secure high executive positions in both the government and private sectors.

Safeguard of Women's Rights and World Peace

Nowadays, the United Arab Emirates has shown keen interest in having international organizations that are concerned with women?s rights and with the prevention of violence against them to work in the country. The implementation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights has also become one of the government?s objectives. The strategic oil business in UAE is primarily geared toward the provision of prosperity and better life for all of the nation?s citizens. The government wants the future generation of citizens to share in the oil wealth of the country. Sheik Khalifa has taken several steps in this direction. Besides, the UAE want to play a big role in OPEC for purpose of achieving peace and stability in the region and the entire world.

Under the new leadership of Sheik Khalifa, the UAE is guaranteed of continued progress, prosperity and stability. In fact, Khalifa has urged the new ministers of his government to follow the advancements taking place in the world and to make sure that their nation be second to none. He also made it clear that his government will consist of a collaborative and cooperative ruling with the members of the Supreme Council. Khalifa?s great experience in government is unchallenged. He has ruled Abu Dubai, the richest of the UAE, for over 30 years. In its foreign policies, the UAE has proved to be practical and peaceful.

This nation has asked non nuclear states in the Middle East, the Arabian Gulf Region, and South Asia that were trying to secure nuclear weapons, to reconsider their position. It also encouraged them to resort to self-control and peaceful means in order to settle their regional conflicts. During the 60th Session of the United Nations? General Assembly, the UAE insisted that nations who seek nuclear power pose a threat to the region and help to endanger international peace and security. The UAE has projected a philosophy of peace that stems from disarmament and arms control rather than from arms building and expansion of the military.

The United Arab Emirates is highly concerned to see the world spending over one trillion dollars per year in military expenditure whose ultimate objective seems to foster fear, create panic, and promote various kinds of war activities. In addition, the military build up serves not as a means of safety for the world but as an effective tool to its destruction. The government of this nation made it clear that world peace is best achieved through international cooperation for the purpose of promoting disarmament and arms control. This nation has also urged all nations to observe the United Nations? Charter and relevant UN conventions and treaties that deal with peace.

Importance of Disarmament and Arms Control

This great Arab nation felt quite disappointed in not seeing the United Nations incorporating in its documents of the 60th Session of the General Assembly a commitment toward disarmament of nuclear weapons. This was already advocated in the millennium summit of the year 2000 and yet nothing substantially was done in this regard. Besides, it underlined the importance for an immediate international program of disarmament of weapons of mass destruction in particular. Relative to the turmoil we have had in the Middle East for so many years, the UAE advocated to have this global regional area established as a zone free from weapons of mass destruction. This was contained in the resolution of the UN Sixth Review Conference of the year 2000.

Sheik Khalifa firmly believes that his nation?s greatest asset is the people. This explains his concern relative to the continuous upgrading of the human resources. He knows fully well that all ideas, which are then followed by actions, stem from the human mind. If we educate the human mind in a positive and constructive way, then we will expect an entire generation to perform actions that are merely positive and constructive. He has encouraged the youth of his nation to take interest in different fields especially education, economy, and sports in addition to science and technology.

In ultimate analysis, what makes Sheik Khalifa a great statesman lies in his ability to take interest in the welfare of all people everywhere. He rather stays on the side of the powerless than of the powerful. He rather provides help to the oppressed than seeks for the friendship of the oppressor. He rather works for peace through disarmament and arms control than through the building of the military and the promotion of wars. His presence in the UAE has proved to be a blessing not only to his nation but to the entire region as well. At this stage of history, the world needs to have more of such statesmen to govern it wisely with dedication and service in the best interest of all people without exception.

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