EMERGING COUNTRY

Emerging Country



Table of Contents

Introduction3

Political System8

Constitution9

Branches of Government10

Administrative Divisions12

Provincial and Local Government12

Judicial and Legal System13

Electoral System14

Armed Forces Overview16

Foreign Military Relations17

Economic System17

Legal System19

Global Trading and Financial Systems20

Social System22

Cultural Systems22

Impact of Globalization25

Business and Investment Opportunities26

References29

Appendix31

Emerging Country

Introduction

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a union of seven sovereign sheikhdoms, formed when the British withdrew from the Gulf in 1971. It boasts mountains, beaches, deserts, oases, camel racing, Bedouin markets and the legendary duty-free shopping of Dubai, all packed into a relatively small area (Hawley 12). History

The earliest significant settlements in the UAE date from the Bronze Age. In the 3rd century BC, a culture known as Umm an-Nar's arose near the site of modern Abu Dhabi and its influence extended well into the interior and along the coast of what is now Oman. The Greeks were the next major cultural influence and ruins showing strong Hellenistic features have been found at Meleiha, about 50km (30mi) from Sharjah, and at Al-Dour, in the emirate of Umm al-Qaiwan. During the Middle Ages, much of the region was part of the kingdom of Hormuz, which controlled the entrance to, and most of the trade in, the Gulf (Hawley 40).

The Portuguese arrived in 1498 and by 1515 had occupied Julfar near Ras al-Khaimah, building a customs house that taxed the Gulf's flourishing trade with India and the Far East. The Portuguese stuck around until 1633 and were followed by the Brits, who began exercising their naval power in the Gulf in the mid-18th century (44). The British came into conflict with the Qawasim tribal confederation, a seafaring clan whose influence extended to the Persian side of the Gulf. The British dubbed the area the Pirate Coast and launched raids against the Qawasim. In 1820, a British fleet systematically destroyed or captured every Qawasim ship it could find, imposed a General Treaty of Peace on nine Arab sheikhdoms in the area and installed a garrison in the region. As life quietened down, Europeans took to calling the area the Trucial Coast, a name it retained until 1971 (55).

Throughout this period, the main power among the Bedouin tribes of the interior was the Bani Yas tribal confederation, made up of the ancestors of the ruling families of modern Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The Bani Yas were originally based in Liwa, an oasis on the edge of the Empty Quarter, but moved to Abu Dhabi in 1793 (56). They engaged in the traditional Bedouin activities of camel herding, small-scale agriculture, tribal raiding and extracting protection money from caravans passing through their territory. After the British outlawed slavery along the coast, the Bani Yas took over the slave trade and Buraimi became eastern Arabia's main slave market - a position it held right up until the 1950s (57).

The British were not particularly interested in what the Bedouin got up to; they were focused on securing their line of communication to India and keeping European competitors, such as France and Russia, out of the region. They formally established a protectorate over the Trucial ...