Op-ed: Geopolitical Axis And The UAE Out-of-the-box Thinking

Both regionally and globally, there have been a number of important political and economic developments preceding and following the recent second annual meeting of the UAE government, which examined a set of strategies and initiatives launched to enrich UAE Vision 2021 and the Centennial Plan 2071 with the aim of ensuring that objectives designed to maintain the country's leading stance in global rankings are reached.

(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 08th Dec, 2018) by Mohammed Jalal Alrayssi, Executive Director of the Emirates news Agency

ABU DHABI, 8th December, 2018 (WAM) – Both regionally and globally, there have been a number of important political and economic developments preceding and following the recent second annual meeting of the UAE government, which examined a set of strategies and initiatives launched to enrich UAE Vision 2021 and the Centennial Plan 2071 with the aim of ensuring that objectives designed to maintain the country's leading stance in global rankings are reached.

These developments mean that the geopolitical axis is of paramount importance in the agenda of the government meetings, which, in accordance with the vision of the wise leadership, try to answer the following two questions: Where have we reached today as a country? Where do we want to reach in the coming years? In light of the international political and economic changes which mean that governments, including the UAE government, must compete for the world's top positions, there is a need for serious study, research and analysis. In the last few days, there have also been developments in the oil sector which have an impact on Vision 2021. These too need review, so as to see how they affect the future indicators adopted by the UAE's leadership in its development of scenarios and the launching of pioneering and innovative strategies and initiatives.

The two-day UAE Government meeting addressed these questions in detail, demonstrating how professional geopolitics form essential part of the strategic planning process in the UAE, whereby studies are conducted on the future of all key sectors as part of the formulation of the appropriate policies and plans.

As Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, noted during his comments at the meeting, the UAE and its wise leadership is aware of the size of the regional and global challenges and the importance of building a strong and effective Arab structure capable of facing all the challenges.

In the first session of the Government meeting, a workshop on ‘Global Policy Variables’ examined the strategic partnership agreements with India and China. It noted that the early development of these agreements reflected a recognition of the fact that a process of major change is under way in favour of the new emerging world economies, with the centre of the global economy turning towards the East.

The design and construction of these strategic agreements, based on the same principles as the Visions of 2021 and 2071, reflect innovative "out-of-the-box thinking" and a constellation of diversification of resources and sectoral partnerships.

These are principles that strengthen the credentials of the UAE's economy and its markets, recognised as a gateway to the middle East. In 2018, this approach was expanded to include the Red Sea and East Africa as a result of historic reconciliations sponsored by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

During the presentation of the global political variables, and how the UAE addresses them, it was shown how internal development successes are transformed into external successes that ensure the sustainability of continued improvement in the fields of competitiveness, efficiency and achievement. Domestic policies are ultimately also aspects of foreign policy, according to Dr. Gargash, since success in the first, in sectors such as education, health, government services, the promotion of a culture of tolerance and combating violence and terrorism, then have a positive external impact on the expansion of international strategic partnerships and the number of countries with foreign investments, through increasing confidence in the UAE in a range of fields, from agriculture and food security, to the management of international port networks and aerospace industries.

In explaining the mechanisms and engines of the geographical strategy of the UAE, and how they are part of the foundations of the Visions of 2021 and 2071, the explanations of the interdependence between the internal and external strengths of the state are clear and coherent. They also show how internal development plans can contribute to the dissemination globally of the UAE's message, based on sovereignty, moderation and rationality, the fight against terrorism and extremism and the empowerment of international partnerships based on economic and social openness.

With the same power of a future vision based on "institutionalised geopolitics", it was also clear that international variables and the challenges arising from it mean that the UAE must employ its soft power and reliability and humanitarian messages to contribute to building an effective Arab structure, that will have a voice that will ensure long-term stability with a proactive vision. The hundreds of strategies, projects and initiatives that were launched during the second annual meeting of the UAE government are contributions to this process.