Geopolitical Affairs: UAE, Mutations & Challenges to Address the Issues of the 21 Century

Abstract

The UAE confronts emerging challenges of the 21st century geopolitics along with other Arab states and Europe. The purpose of the study is to investigate geopolitical challenges experienced by the UAE and compare them to Arab countries and Europe. The methodology of the current study is qualitative and includes interviews, questionnaires and secondary data survey. The current study will reveal how the UAE can confront existing challenges and overcome them.

Introduction

The Gulf region is strategically important for the world politics and economy. This is why countries of the region, including Arab states and the UAE in particular play an important part in the geopolitical development of the region and the world. the UAE is vulnerable to mutations and challenges which are similar to challenges faced by other Arab countries, such as the exhaustion of natural resources and need to undergo profound transformations. Also the UAE faces challenges that face Europe, such as the threat of international terrorism.

            Problem statement

Current challenges and mutations may threaten to the current geopolitical position of the UAE because the country has to overcome those challenges successfully to maintain its position in the Gulf region and the world.

            Research questions

  1.             What are the major challenges for the UAE?
  2.             What are geopolitical prospects of the UAE?
  3.             How may geopolitical interests of the UAE change?

            Thesis statement

The UAE is one of the leading powers in the Gulf region among Arab countries. However, in spite of the fast and tremendous growth in power, the UAE confronts considerable mutations that affect consistently the position of the country at the moment and raise challenges similar to challenges of other Arab states, especially those rich in oil, such as Saudi Arabia, which the UAE has to overcome to maintain its geopolitical position in the region.

Literature review

The UAE emerged as the major power in the Gulf region due to the huge oil reserves that allowed the country to enhance its economic position and reach the financial prosperity that changed not only the life of the nation for better but also made the UAE an influential power in the region (Rugh, 1996). However, now, oil becomes a scarce resource and the nation steadily runs out of its oil reserves. Hence, the replacement of the oil as the major natural resource and the fundamental industry of the domestic economy by new industries that can boost the economic development of the UAE is one of the major challenges for the UAE at the moment. The transition from the oil-oriented economy to the diversified economy with multiple industries is one of the priorities for the UAE at the moment because the nation will run out of oil one day and the nation needs to have other industries developed enough to maintain the economic growth and to meet current needs of the domestic economy and population of the country. The problem of economic transformations is typical for Arab states because many Arab states depend on the oil industry just like the UAE does.

Otherwise, the UAE will not only confront the economic stagnation and contraction of the domestic economy and economic growth but also the UAE will face the high risk of losing its position as the influential power in the region to the extent that rivals of the UAE in the region may increase their impact on the country. At the moment, the UAE is one of the major geopolitical players in the region at the moment, but once the UAE loses its economic power, the political role of the UAE in the region will decrease (Shahbaz, et al., 2014). The reason for losing the political role of the UAE in the region is the deterioration of the economic position of the country. The economic downturn will weaken the military power of the UAE that will make the nation vulnerable to external military stress and pressure from its opponents, such as Iran. The deterioration of the economic power will also lead to the inability of the UAE government to support its allies to gain their political loyalty and support.

In addition, the UAE confronts the persisting pressure from the part of Iran. Iran is the major threat to the UAE in the Gulf region because Iran increases the military power and threatens to the territorial integrity of the UAE and its national interests. In such a way, Iran is the major external threat to Iran and is the major challenge for the country (Silke, 2008). The UAE should come prepared to challenges from the part of Iran. Iran represents a threat not only for the UAE but also for other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia as the regional leader along with the UAE.

At the same time, the UAE confronts similar problems as does Europe and Arab states. In this regard, the problem of international terrorism is the major threat to Europe and the UAE at the moment. International terrorism may undermine the stability in Europe, the UAE and the Gulf region (Stern, 2009). In this regard, Arab states are also vulnerable to the threat of terrorism, while many countries, such as Saudi Arabia, struggle against international terrorist organizations, such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda and others.

Methodology

The study focuses on the use of the qualitative methodology. The development of qualitative research will involve the use of the secondary data survey, interviews and questionnaires. The focus on qualitative methods will help to obtain accurate information from the part of experts on current challenges the UAE confront and its geopolitical position in the Gulf region and the world. The development of the qualitative study helps to obtain the data from experts about the geopolitical position of the UAE, its prospects and possible ways to overcome.

The secondary data survey will provide the information on the current situation in the Gulf region and reveal the geopolitical position of the UAE and its relations with other nations (Foley, 1999). The use of effective qualitative research methods such as the secondary data analysis helps to identify the main challenges the UAE confronts and how to overcome them. The secondary data will provide the general information on the current situation in the region and help to evaluate the geopolitical position of the UAE. The secondary data survey helps to obtain the key information on the current position in the region.

Furthermore, the current methodology focuses on the use of interviews and questionnaires to enhance findings made in the course of the secondary data analysis. Interviews and questionnaires will involve experts in the field of the political science because they have expertise and can provide the qualified opinion on challenges the UAE confronts at the moment. The qualitative research involves the use of expert opinion to obtain extra information on the geopolitical situation and position of the UAE. In addition, interviews and questionnaires focus on the enhancement of findings made on the ground of the secondary data analysis.

The sample population will be selected randomly on the ground of their expertise in the field of the political science and their knowledge of the UAE and its geopolitical position and international relations. The sample population will include participants of the different age, gender, and ethnic background. The main criterion for the selection is the professional background of participants. The study will involve 20 experts, who will respond to interview questions and questionnaires.

The limitation of the study is the limited scope of the study and involvement of a relatively small number of participants from the narrow professional field.  In this regard, the involvement of economists, historians and other professionals could have helped to obtain more information on the geopolitical position of the UAE and make findings of the study more accurate and extensive. The diverse view on the geopolitical position of the UAE will help to identify challenges more accurately.

The current study will raise some ethical issues, among which it is possible to single out the privacy of participants as the main concerns of the study.  All participants of the study will sign the informed consent form which provides them with accurate information on the purpose of the study, their involvement and role in the study, and expected outcomes of the study for participants.

Conclusion

Thus, the proposed study will focus on the identification of the key challenges the UAE confronts at the moment in the field of geopolitics and how the UAE may confront those challenges that will help to get insight into future prospects of the UAE.  In this regard, challenges the UAE confronts at the moment are similar to challenges experienced by other Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, because they also rely on the oil industry just like the UAE. At the same time, the UAE geopolitical challenges are similar to challenges confronted by Europe, such as the threat of the international terrorism.

The study opens numerous implications because the UAE is one of the major powers in the Gulf region at the moment. Challenges that the UAE confronts at the moment threaten to the future of the country and its geopolitical position. The study will help to understand those challenges better, while better understanding may help to forecast the further development of the UAE. At the same time, the similarity of geopolitical challenges experienced by the UAE to challenges experienced by Arab countries and Europe opens opportunities for the development of closer international relations with those countries to confront those challenges together and to overcome them.

Bibliography:

Cordesman, A.H. (2015). Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE: Challenges of Security. New York: Westview Press.

Foley, S. (1999). The UAE: Political Issues and Security Dilemmas, Middle East Review of International Affairs, 3(1), 25-45.

Rugh, W.A. (1996).The foreign policy of the United Arab Emirates, Middle East Journal, 50(1), 57-70.

Shahbaz, M., et al. (2014). Economic growth, electricity consumption, urbanization and environmental degradation relationship in United Arab Emirates, Ecological Indicators, 45, 622-631.

Silke, A. (2008). Holy Warriors: Explaining the Psychological Processes of Jihadi Radicalization, European Journal of Criminology, 5(1), 99-123.

Stern, J. (2009). Terror in the name of God. New York: Random House.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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