ABU DHABI // The UAE is an inspirational model of unity and development in the Arab world, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs told a conference in the capital on Monday.
Dr Anwar Gargash said the people’s will was an effective component of that unity – a concept the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed, grasped early on.
“The UAE is considered as a nucleus of Arab unity and we can see its success embodied in today’s achievements,” said Dr Gargash at the opening day of the Fikr15 conference.
“Sheikh Zayed believed that success of unity required strong leaders with strong opinions, and he was the right person at the right place and time.
“He believed that achieving unity would be a gradual process and therefore adopted a certain path that started in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the 1960s and expanded to other emirates in 1971 and Ras Al Khaimah in 1972.”
As he presented the UAE’s experience during the conference entitled Arab Integration: The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and the UAE, Dr Gargash said its success proved that failure was not a “necessary destiny” and that individual interests did not build countries.
“You never back out when obstacles appear and the UAE has always faced challenges throughout the years, but it has never stopped going forth,” he said. “Unity is not built on emotions or on slogans alone. It is built through serious work and the UAE is a true embodiment of this success.”
Regional officials and experts discussed Arab integration by studying the experiences of the GCC and the UAE.
“The journey towards the GCC has complemented the UAE’s unity,” said Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani, the GCC secretary general. “GCC countries gained their independence and gathered under one umbrella. Both the UAE and the GCC are a model of complementarity and successful regional integration.”
The GCC was established in 1981 to confront security challenges collectively in reaction to the regime change in Iran and its war with Iraq.
With the fall of the shah in Tehran, the six Arabian Gulf countries created an organisation to mark their political, military and economic unity when faced with threats.
“We encourage all Arab countries to follow the model of the GCC, to benefit from its experience,” Dr Al Zayani said. “Complementarity is an efficient means to achieving success. It is through human beings that we achieve development and we should nurture our youth, ensure education and eradicate unemployment as well as improve public safety through managing risks, catastrophes and crises to strengthen the status and rank of the GCC.”
He spoke of a coordinated strategy for joint GCC work that would protect Gulf countries from threats and ensure a knowledge-based economy, built on creativity and innovation.
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, secretary general of the Arab League, said the UAE model was one-for-all at a time when divisions and disintegration were hitting Arab countries.
“The crisis is very deeply rooted,” he said. “There are millions of refugees in the Arab world, among them women and children, and in the midst of this great instability, some see there is no time to think.”
He said there would be no solution to the crisis without the involvement of the region’s intellectuals.
“It is true that coordination has not been as high as what was hoped for, but it is on the right track,” said Mr Aboul-Gheit. “We need a philosophy, including the renewal of Arab identity, which should continue to evolve to avoid divisions, and an intellectual awakening.
“Geography isn’t what brings those member states together, it is culture and linguistics, therefore it is a necessity to establish an ideology to define Arab culture and promote the Arabic language.”
cmalek@thenational.ae
