Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On Monday 14 March 2016, our group had a meeting in Abu Dhabi with the American Desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates.  Over one and a half hours the group discussed many issues, e.g. the history of US-UAE relations, the foreign policy of the UAE, as well as the Republican and Democratic primaries in the United States. After a brief introduction by our eleven group members and the four members of the American Desk (three female and one male) the discussion started with an overview of the US-UAE relations which were established in 1971.

About 2,000 Emiratis are studying in the United States and that about 50,000 Americans are working in the UAE. Besides the embassy in Washington, the UAE furthermore has four consulates in Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York.  Currently, there are around 22 agreements  in place between the US and the UAE, and an additional 15 are being negotiated. The American Desk praised the good communication between Washington and Abu Dhabi, which was demonstrated further by the fact, that Vice-President Joe Biden had visited the UAE just prior to our trip. On the bilateral level the US and the UAE are engaged in a strategic and economic dialogue and on a multilateral level , Abu Dhabi was recently hosting the sixth session of the IRENA (International Agency for Renewable Energy) Assembly which was held on 16 and 17 January 2016.

The discussion about the dynamic economy and the transformation of the country over the last decade was especially interesting. Today, the oil revenues only contribute 30% to the GDP of the UAE. The addition of two new museums on UAE culture, one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai, as well as the cooperation between the UAE and museums in the US and Western Europe, are supposed to increase the range of cultural activities. Besides hydrocarbons and finance, tourism is becoming an increasing contributor to the economy of the UAE.

After discussing the economy, the group and the American Desk elaborated on the biggest security threats for the UAE; regionally as well as globally. In regards to foreign policy in the region, the discussion touched upon the civil war in Yemen and Syria, as well as on the US-GCC summit and the prospect of US-UAE relations under a new administration in 2017. The American Desk was interested in the perception of the UAE in the United States. It was agreed among our group that among the American population the United Arab Emirates is basically reduced to the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. A discussion about the Emirati view of expatriate workers from the United States and Western Europe was followed by a lively debate over the Republican Primaries and the forthcoming US Presidential Elections.

After an intriguing discussion our group and all the members of the American Desk took a final picture in the beautiful lobby of the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

~Kevin Matthees, second year Middle East Studies concentrator, SAIS