UAE: A Sovereign Federation of Seven Emirates - Research Paper

Introduction

Located at the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, UAE is a federation that consists of seven emirates with a cultural plurality and diversity seen in its borders. Historically, UAE along with the Gulf region was administered under the British regime. However, with the expiry of the British Trucial Sheikhdoms Treaty in 1971, UAE got its sovereign status with the administration of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah (Foley, 1999). These seven emirates held together under one federation enjoy the autonomous status in the political system of the UAE. Moreover, there are different incidents of problems arising among these states (Foley, 1999).

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UAE is enjoying the per capita income at the rate of $16,470 which makes it a remarkable figure in the whole Middle Eastern region (Foley, 1999). Despite the budget deficits, the UAE does not take loans from the external sources. UAE's economy relies heavily on its gigantic oil and gas resources which hold a significant share of 25% in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Foley, 1999). With the discovery of oil and gas reserves in 1966, UAE's economy got its backbone strengthened which primarily relied on agriculture and fishing in the British regime.

With the export of its resources and the huge foreign investment, UAE has a strengthened economy. The state of the art system of transportation and qualitative roads, UAE holds a privileged and distinguished status among the transporters and traders (Oudah et al., 2018). The settlers of heavy industry prefer UAE's sites because of the easy and swift access to different places because of the convenient web of comfortable roads.

Moreover, with the 15 prominent ports with Rashid and Jebel Ali as the most prominent of them, UAE has always been a very attractive and appealing place for the traders who are involved in the trade of the heavy machinery and material. One of the largest systems of aviation and the highly facilitated airport's setup has also made UAE and its emirates the center place for tourists and foreign investors to come and settle (Oudah et al. 2018).

Despite these glaring aspects of UAE's economy, there are several threats to its economy which are the focus of the technocrats and economists. The constant reduction in oil prices is one of the main causes of the deficit in the budget of the UAE. This reduction in the oil prices started in the last decade of 2014 and lasted till 2018. This has led to the slower pace of the economic development which is affecting the worth of the UAE's markets in the global scenario (Morris, 2019). Moreover, the implementation of the Value Added Taxes added more burden to the economy of the UAE in 2019. The severe financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 added fuel to the fire and left UAE under an estimated $ 130 billion foreign loan with a reduction in its GDP (Morris, 2019).

Culturally, UAE is a Muslim dominated federation with a significant chunk of immigrants comprising more than half of its population. Among the immigrants, the people from Pakistan and India hold the majority share while the rest of the population consist of Arabs, Europeans, Americans, and people from other regions (Foley, 1999). Therefore, a significant cultural assimilation can be seen in UAE where different immigrants live together to gain their economic interest.

History of Qatar

Qatar also holds a history that spans over thousands of years. However, to be more precise, Qatar came under British rule on certain terms and conditions after getting relieved from the Ottoman rule in 1913 (Cleveland et al., 2017). The ruler of Qatar Abdullah bin Jasim agreed on terms with Britain under a treaty according to which Qatar will come under British supervision in terms of defense against its enemies. However, Qatar had to waive off some authorities in return for British supervision.

Abdullah bin Jasim had to face significant resistance from the rebellious tribes who rejected Jasim's rule and tried to overthrow him and gain independence from the British rule. This gradual resistance was transformed into mass level protests by the end of the 1940s and in 1950s (Cleveland et al., 2017). A lot of influential people were behind these demonstrations, and it gradually spread over other regions of Qatar. The protestors increased the severity of their resistance and started attacking the economic assets including the gas pipelines and oil reserves. One of the major claims of the protestors was against colonial rule. They raised their flags and nationalistic slogans and protested for the independence of Qatar.

During 1966 when it was evident for everyone that Britain is planning to grand independence to these states, there arose massive political developments as to the coalition and alignment with each other. Qatar decided to gain an independent status unlike Dubai and Abu Dhabi which decided to remain in the federation. In 1969, Zayed al Nahyan was elected as the president and Khaleefa bin Hamad was elected as the prime minister of future independent Qatar. On the 1st day of September in the year 1971, Qatar announced its status as an independent state free from British rule (Cleveland, Martin & Bunton, 2017). Another political development took place in 1995 when as a result of a coup, Hamad bin Khaleefa ousted his father and announced his rule over Qatar as an Emir.

Qatar started working on its revised constitution in 2003 which was promulgated in 2005 and finally, the social welfare started in Qatar under this light of the newly adopted constitution. A lot of revenue was spent on education, health, human development, and other sectors. Qatar holds good relations with the United States of America, and it served America during the US Iraq war of 2003 (Cleveland et al., 2017).

Qatar's economy rests primarily on its resources of petroleum and natural gas which constitute about 70% of its GDP and around 80% of its exports. This makes Qatar economy counted among some of the most stable economies of the world. This natural gift in the form of oil was discovered in the 1940s when the efforts finally began before which Qatar was counted among the weak economies of the world (Fromherz, 2017). However, by 1980s, Qatar emerged on the economic map of the world as an oil-rich country which attracted global attention towards it.

The industrial sector has also emerged as the backbone of Qatar's economy after the discovery of oil. Qatar pays heavy attention to the development of its industries which are performing a remarkable role in boosting up the energy sector. The industrial circle, naming petrochemical and fertilizers as the most prominent genres, is constituting around 8% of the GDP of Qatar. Along with this, tourism and transportation also contribute a lot to the economic growth of Qatar (Fromherz, 2017). According to an estimate, more than 2 million tourists visit Qatar every year. Moreover, due to several an international sports event in Qatar, a significant amount of revenue is generated (Fromherz, 2017).

Rising of Tensions Between UAE and Qatar

The situation between Qatar and UAE started getting tensed in 2014 with the rise of the Arab Spring and the prominence of Fattah el Sisi's regime in Egypt. UAE supported el Sisi's political advancement whereas Qatar was in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood (Fromherz, 2017). This step gained the opposition of UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia who withdrew their diplomats from Qatar and announced the termination of diplomatic relations with it.

In order to refrain Qatar from its constant support for the Muslim Brotherhood, UAE is alleged to have funded the American journalists in Qatar to raise the propaganda of Qatar's involvement in supporting the insurgency in Egypt. This step by UAE added fuel to the fire and widened the rift between the two. This propaganda was a widespread narrative which distorted the image of Qatar in the international market. Moreover, it also affected the 2022 FIFA world cup's possible venue in Qatar. This situation got worse in June 2017 when Qatar was again alleged of supporting Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. UAE, Saudi Arab, Bahrain, and Egypt closed their ties with Qatar (Fromherz, 2017). UAE went one step ahead and disallowed all the Qatar nationals from living in the territories of UAE.

This step cast a huge blow to the Qatar and UAE relationships in 2017. Later on, in December 2017 and January 2018, Qatar put two severe allegations on UAE for violating its airspace with malicious intentions, and the matter was referred to the United Nations by Qatar as a complaint against the UAE (Brannagan&Giulianotti, 2018). The later however denied such complaints and claimed to have not committed any such offense. This was further escalated with UAE's allegation on Qatar for surrounding its two passenger planes traveling towards Bahrain in January 2018.

The series of these allegations led to a severe Qatar UAE crisis of 2017 and 2018 in which the whole Gulf region suffered a lot. The UAE led countries maintained their accusation on Qatar for supporting terrorism and interfering in the affairs of the other countries (Brannagan&Giulianotti, 2018). Based on this accusation, they withdrew their diplomatic relations with Qatar and both Qatar and UAE tried to defame each other on the global front.

Accusations on Qatar for Supporting Terrorism

Qatar has constantly been accused of funding, supporting and providing safe havens to the terrorists who belong to the internationally banned outfits. In 2014, Qatar was accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and was held responsible for the disturbance of social and political order in there. However, Qatar enjoys very good relations with the United States of America, and it has provided the largest military base to the US army in the whole Gulf region. Still, Donald Trump has warned Qatar of refraining from its ties with the terrorist.

A number of times, UAE has blamed Qatar for funding and protecting the terrorists from Al Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah and ISIS. UAE claims that Qatar provides weapons, machinery, funding, and protection in its borders to the terrorists belonging to these banned outfits. This has been repeatedly announced by several Emirates Ministers. Moreover, this accusation is backed by Saudi Arab, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya barred their relationships with Qatar and disallowed Qatar nationals to live in their territories. These countries also drafted a list of around 58 most wanted people linked with terrorism which included some of the most influential businessmen and nationals from Qatar (Brannagan&Giulianotti, 2018).

The coalition of states opposing Qatar decided to come up with a deed in order to soften their relations with it in 2017. According to this deed, Qatar was asked to stop funding Al Qaida, ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Moreover, Qatar was supposed to limit its ties with Turkey and lift its support for Iran. In response to this agreement, Qatar denied all the accusations of supporting and financing terrorists.

During the same period, The United States Department of Treasury blamed Qatar of financing Hamas. It was claimed by the department that Qatar is offering its soil openly for carrying out the fundraising to support the terrorist organizations (Brannagan&Giulianotti, 2018). The United States also sanctioned some individuals from Qatar for allegedly involved in supporting the banned outfits.

Muslim Brotherhood

In 2014, after political unrest in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE declared the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and decided to oppose it on any international forum. However, Qatar is blamed for having supported the Muslim Brotherhood in the whole Egypt turmoil. Not only this, Qatar's Prime Minister is accused of transferring a h...