FOREIGN POLICY
The foreign policy of the United Arab
Emirates is based upon a set of guiding principles laid down by the
country's first President, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. These are
based upon a belief in the need for justice in international dealings
between states, including the necessity of adhering to the principle of
non-interference in the internal affairs of others and the pursuit,
wherever possible, of peaceful resolutions of disputes, together with a
support for international institutions, such as the United Nations.
Within the Arabian Gulf region, and in the broader
Arab world, the United Arab Emirates has sought to enhance cooperation
and to resolve disagreement through dialogue. Thus one of the central
features of the country's foreign policy has been the development of
closer ties with its neighbours in the Arabian Peninsula. The Arab Gulf
Cooperation Council (AGCC), grouping the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, was founded at a summit conference held in Abu
Dhabi in May 1981, and has since become, with strong UAE support, an
effective and widely respected grouping.
President HH Sheikh Khalifa sees the promotion of
intra-GCC ties as being a fundamental element in the UAE's foreign
policy:
I strongly believe that the Gulf region is one
entity and one area. Unity is strength. It is my hope that we would be
able to forge a greater union or federation, across the Gulf, not just
in the UAE, and the success of our federation in the UAE is a cause for
hope. Unity is a conviction and a belief.
This objective will be further enhanced by the
announcement at the end of the 28th Gulf Summit in Doha, Qatar, that
the long-awaited common market will be launched on 1 January 2008.
During 2007, the Arab-Israeli conflict continued to
cause concern. Meeting in Abu Dhabi in July 2007 with the visiting
Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, President HH Sheikh Khalifa
reaffirmed the UAE's support for the Palestinian people and for the
Palestine Authority, but called on the Palestinians to come together and
to unite so as to face effectively the challenges before them. He also
called on the international community to work seriously to bring an end
to the sufferings of the Palestinian people and to activate the peace
process on the basis of the Arab peace initiative.
The UAE continues to believe that the restoration of
security, peace and stability in the region, as well as normalisation of
relations between all countries, including Israel, cannot be achieved
while Israeli occupation of the Palestinian and Arab territories
continues and supports an ending of the occupation and establishment of
an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, within
the context of a just and lasting peace agreement based upon the Arab
peace initiative.
Sadly, for a variety of reasons, little progress was
made in 2007 year towards the achieving of a long-term peace settlement.
In an interview in June 2007, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed
Al Nahyan noted that:
The UAE, and other Arab states, welcome any
initiatives taken to revive the Middle East peace process. There is an
urgent need to get things moving again, to stave off the possibility of
yet more violence, and there is also a need for the world's powers to
exert pressure on Israel to accept the need for a full withdrawal from
all occupied territory and for a just and fair peace settlement that
will guarantee to the Palestinians the ability to exercise their
legitimate right to establish their own state, within secure and agreed
borders, and with Jerusalem as its capital'.
He went on, in an address to the United Nations
General Assembly in September, to state that:
We call on the United Nations and the Security
Council in particular, to play a more active role, together with the
Middle East Quartet, in order to give new momentum to the Middle East
peace process. We stress that no comprehensive and just solution to the
Arab-Israeli conflict is possible without Israel's acceptance of the
Arab Initiative, which is based on the relevant United Nations
resolutions, and which offers a balanced and comprehensive solution to
this long-standing conflict . . .
We look forward to a balanced and fair management
of the peace process as well as to an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict,
this being based upon the Arab Peace Initiative, the Road Map and United
Nations Security Council Resolutions as well as on the rules of
international legitimacy in general'
The UAE was an active participant in the decisions
of the March 2007 Arab summit, held in Riyadh, to continue to promote
the initiative agreed by the earlier Beirut summit as a practical and
real solution to the Middle East crisis, noting that it took into
account the fundamental factors that must be included in any settlement,
such as the right of the Palestinians to establish their own independent
state, within agreed borders and with Jerusalem as its capital, the
right of refugees to return and the evacuation by Israel of all occupied
territories.
In his capacity as a member of the Arab Quartet,
also including the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan,
the UAE Foreign Minister was active in efforts to promote the Arab
initiative in a series of meetings, including with the US Secretary of
State and the British Foreign Secretary.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed also led
the UAE delegation to the Annapolis Conference in November 2007 in an
attempt to revive the long-stalled peace negotiations between the
Israelis and the Palestinians.
The UAE continued to provide support to the
Government of Iraq in its efforts to restore stability and security to
the country. In a major interview with a Greek newspaper early in 2007,
the Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, spelt out the UAE's
views on the conflict, and on the action necessary to bring it to an
end:
We reiterate our support for the efforts aimed at
enabling Iraq to regain its security and to strengthen its national
unity. We call on all Iraqis, regardless of political affiliation or
social class, to actively participate in building a new Iraq.
As a way out of the current crisis, it is
necessary to arrive at a comprehensive political formula that is agreed
by all Iraqi parties. Such a formula should be consistent with the
pledge made by the Iraqi government to review and amend the
constitution. We believe that maintaining security in Iraq will reflect
positively on the region as a whole.
In our view, all parties must get involved in the
plan to strengthen security. There is also a need to disarm all militias
and restrict weapons only to the security forces, so as to stop violence
and chaos, and to resume the political process with the objective of
repairing Iraq's economic and social fabric. At the same time, we
believe that there is a pressing need to restructure the Iraqi security
forces, to encourage the different sects, especially the Sunnis, to
participate actively in the political process and to resort to dialogue
for Iraq's security, stability and territorial integrity.
It is imperative that all of Iraq's neighbours
should refrain from interfering in its affairs and that all parties
should deal only with the central government to help the Iraqi
government and people. The international community should also initiate
positive and active steps to help Iraq and its people maintain security
and stability.
Within that framework, the UAE has continued to
extend support, both diplomatic and material, to the Iraqi authorities
and has also endeavoured to maintain relations with all of the country's
communities.
During 2007, no visible progress was made on
resolving the long-running dispute with neighbouring Iran on the
question of the three UAE islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser
Tunb. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan noted, in
an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September that . .
.
until now, no progress whatsoever has been made
on the settlement of the issue . . . This lack of progress has been
despite all the efforts and peaceful constructive initiatives that my
country consistently puts forward, which call for the solution of this
issue by peaceful means, either through bilateral and unconditional
negotiations, or by referral of the issue to the International Court of
Justice for legal arbitration.
The UAE has also continued to express concern about
Iran's nuclear power programme, and has sought reassurances that the
programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Beyond the Arab world, the United Arab Emirates has
pursued a policy of seeking, wherever possible, to build friendly
relations with other nations, both in the developing and in the
industrialised world. While this policy is implemented at a bilateral
level, another important feature of UAE foreign policy has been its
support for international bodies, like the United Nations and its
various agencies. Through its support for such bodies, it seeks to
reinforce the rule of international law, and to support the
implementation of internationally agreed conventions, so as to protect
the interests of the small, the weak and the powerless.
During the year, there was the usual steady flow of
high-ranking visitors from other countries to the Emirates, both from
within the Gulf and Arab world, and from further afield. In pursuit of
these objectives, senior UAE officials have made numerous visits abroad,
both for bilateral talks with individual countries and to attend
international meetings.
Among official visits overseas by President HH
Sheikh Khalifa during 2007 were trips to Syria, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco
and France, while Vice President and Prime Minister HH Sheikh Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum made high profile visits to several countries,
including South Korea, India, Vietnam and China during which a number of
bilateral agreements were reached. He also met in London in October with
the new British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, with the two countries
agreeing to work together, as partners, in primary education for
deprived children in developing countries.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme
Commander of the Armed Forces, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Foreign
Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and other senior officials also made
numerous, important overseas trips, including visits to South Korea,
China, India, Pakistan, Iran, much of the Arab world and Europe and the
United States, testimony to the global reach of the country's foreign
relationships. Numerous top-ranking visitors, including heads of state
and heads of government, also visited the UAE during the year. Amongst
these was Vladmir Putin, President of Russia, whose visit in September
2007 was the first-ever trip to the UAE by a Soviet or Russian Head of
State.
Throughout 2007, the United Arab Emirates continued
to extend all possible support to the international fight against
terrorism, while emphasising the necessity both of a clear definition of
terrorism and of ensuring that terrorism perpetrated by states should
not be overlooked. Support has been offered to countries suffering from
terrorism, including collaboration in terms of exchanges of information
designed to help law enforcement authorities track down and arrest
suspects.
It was, however, noted that terrorism often had its
roots in social and economic deprivation. In a speech to the World
Economic Forum in Dalian, China, in September, Vice President and Prime
Minister HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum noted that:
Any soil infested in poverty, ignorance and
neglect is always a good breeding ground for fundamentalism and produces
fundamentalists. It is impossible to remedy this situation without
reason, and probably one of the most important reasons for such problems
is the stubborn resistance put up by fanatic schools of
thoughts.
These stubborn people belong to a different world
from the one in which we live. They try desperately to stop time, and
they think that they can put obstacles in the way of the movement of the
wheel of history. In this, those who expound a belief in the clash of
civilisations are on an equal footing as terrorists and extremists in
thoughts and practice.
Another important advancement made during the year
was the enforcement of legislation passed in 2006 to eliminate all
trafficking in people, as defined under international conventions, with
the first, stringent, sentences being handed down to those convicted.
Numerous bilateral international agreements were
signed in late 2006 and the first half of 2007, including agreements on
judicial cooperation on money laundering and extradition with Britain
and agreements on the avoidance of double taxation with a number of
countries, including the Seychelles, Mauritius and Bosnia, while further
agreements on these and other issues are under discussion with other
countries.
Talks also continued on bilateral free trade
agreements with the United States and Australia, amongst others, while
the UAE continued to work, along with its fellow-members of the GCC, on
a multilateral free trade agreement with the European Union and on
agreements with Pakistan and India.
As noted at the beginning of this chapter, the UAE
has always sought, since its establishment, to work with and to support
the United Nations and its specialised agencies. During late 2006 and
2007, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior continued to work
closely with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on the
rehabilitation of children who had formerly been working as camel
jockeys in the Emirates. The practice, fuelled by smuggling rings from
their countries of origin, was made illegal in 2005. Agreements were
also signed with their countries of origin to lay down a long-term
framework for the rehabilitation programme. The UAE's efforts to
eradicate the use of children in the sport have been widely
acknowledged.
At a multilateral level, the UAE has continued to
work closely with international organisations, including the United
Nations and its diverse family of agencies (see also Foreign Aid Ð
below). As noted, however, by Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed
Al Nahyan in an interview with the Pakistani media in June 2007, Ôthe
UAE supports a re-examination of the UN Charter, to take account of the
changing nature of global society since the body was first created over
60 years ago. Such changes should, in our view, involve changes in the
structure of the Security Council.' The UAE also expressed support for
Japan's claim to a permanent seat on the Council.
Changes in the global community over the last
decades have meant that there has, naturally, been some change in
emphasis in the direction of UAE foreign policy. The reasoning for this
was spelt out by the Foreign Minister in an interview with Indian media
in June 2007.
The UAE adheres to a balanced foreign policy
based on building, developing, and enhancing relations with friendly
countries East and West. However, we have always Ôlooked East' Ð it has
been a feature of our political and commercial relationships for
generations. With the explosive economic growth now being enjoyed by . .
. Asian countries, it is natural that we in the Emirates should seek to
further develop our ties in all fields.
As part of this, a greater focus on developing
relations with countries like Japan, China, South Korea, India and
Pakistan has been apparent, not just because of the close economic ties
with these countries, but because the UAE believes, strongly, that they
should become more actively involved in efforts to achieve a Middle East
peace settlement and in contributing to attempts to resolve the crisis
in Iraq.
In overall terms, as has been the case since the
establishment of the United Arab Emirates, the country's foreign policy
has continued during the course of the last year to be characterised by
prudence, a support for conciliation and consensus, as well as for
international institutions, yet also by a readiness, if necessary, to
support the use of force to defend the rights of the weak.
Building on the initial guidelines laid down by the
country's founder-President, and under the leadership of his successor,
President HH Sheikh Khalifa, that approach will continue to guide the
UAE's foreign policy in the years ahead.
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