World Country Guide

History and Government

History
This group of small sheikhdoms on the coastline of the Persian Gulf was a backwater of the Islamic civilisation that prospered in the Middle East from the seventh century onwards. The sheikdoms then came under loose Ottoman control until the arrival of European colonists in the 1820s. After attacks on British-owned shipping by pirates operating in the Gulf region, they were brought under British suzerainty. The local Arab rulers signed a treaty with the British in 1853, under which they accepted British military protection and, in turn, promised to refrain from piracy.

The sheikhdoms – which became known as the Trucial States – carried on largely unmolested and ignored until the 1950s when the British started to relinquish control as part of its post-imperial retrenchment. The British plan for the Trucial States was to weld its seven distinct regimes into a single administrative bloc. The discovery of oil, which gave the local economy a sudden and rapid boost to the local economy, helped to ease the process.

The United Arab Emirates came into being as an independent state on 2 December 1971. Internal politics are prone to instability, because of the uncertain nature of the federation and boundary disputes. Sharjah, in particular, has been the subject of a couple of coup attempts. However, the ruling families in the two main emirates, Dubai (the al-Makhtoums) and Abu Dhabi (whose ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Sultan al-Nahayan, is the president of the UAE), have managed to stabilise the federation. The other four emirates are: Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Qaiwain.

After a quiet start on the international stage, the United Arab Emirates has taken an active role in Middle Eastern politics, both as a founding member of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) – the principal pan-national grouping in the region – and as a mediator in disputes including those between Israel and the Palestinians, Morocco and Algeria, Iran and Iraq, and Oman and Yemen. It was also one of the first Gulf states to establish diplomatic relations with China (PR) and the nations of the former USSR.

In August 1990, in common with other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council, the United Arab Emirates gave its firm backing to the US-led anti-Iraqi coalition. After the war, the United Arab Emirates enhanced its national security by participating in various GCC defence initiatives, as well as signing bilateral agreements with both the UK and the USA. The United Arab Emirates is essentially pro-Western but American strategy in the region has caused some difficulties for the government: most of the population were strongly opposed to the American-led assault on Iraq in 2003 and the United Arab Emirates provided cautious political backing (plus a support airbase in Abu Dhabi) for the operation.

Within the region, the United Arab Emirates has a long-standing territorial dispute with Iran over ownership of three small Gulf islands – Greater and Lesser Tunbs, and Abu Musa. These islands, presently occupied by Iran, are in a strategic position close to Gulf shipping lanes and sit over substantial oil and gas fields. That dispute has yet to be resolved, although several other lesser disputes with other Gulf states (principally Qatar) have been settled.

Government
The highest federal authority is the Supreme Council of Rulers comprising the absolute rulers of the seven emirates. Decisions reached by the Council must have the agreement of at least five members, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the two largest members. The council appoints a president to act as head of state. There are no political parties.