Day Two - Exploring Diplomacy
Today we had the incredible opportunity to meet and have dinner with His Excellency Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi at his personal residence. Dr. Nuaimi is double hatted as the Chairman of Hedayah, a global organization committed to countering violent extremism, and Chairman of the UAE Federal National Council’s Defense Affairs, Interior, and Foreign Affairs Committee. While I was already excited to speak with him even ahead of the event because of his experience working on countering Islamic extremism and the key role he played in the Abraham Accords, I had no idea that he had such a wealth of knowledge and insight.
During his opening remarks and our discussion, Dr. Nuaimi spoke about some of the amazing initiatives that Hedayah has been working on around the world and how they all focus on the local level, tailoring the programs on each community’s needs and working with its influential local leaders. That part of the conversation was particularly enlightening for me because of my experience researching and writing about countering extremism in vulnerable populations — especially Syrian camps and prisons. Dr. Nuaimi also spoke at length about his experience working on the Abraham Accords, which in my opinion is one of the most monumental diplomatic achievements of our entire lifetime. I found it particularly thought provoking when he spoke about the multilateral nature of the agreement and that the purpose of the agreement far surpasses security concerns, which is often how it is discussed in the media. He also spoke at length about how Emiratis around the country accepted the move with open arms.
As if hearing from Dr. Nuaimi was not enough, we also had the opportunity to hear from two young Emirati parliamentarians. While sitting with them at dinner, I was so excited to talk with them about their experiences before joining the parliament, the campaign process and laws, and the Emirati political system in general. It was very interesting to hear the differences between the two parliamentarians as one had been elected and one had been appointed to their position. As a woman, I found it particularly interesting to hear about how the UAE mandated that 50% of their parliament be women, and how that affected the elections.
-Emily Milliken
Today we had the privilege of being hosted by emerging Emirati diplomats at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. The academy is equivalent to the U.S. Foreign Training School and is required in order to become a diplomat for the United Arab Emirates. We had lunch at the academy and networked with future diplomats who shared similar professional backgrounds with us.
As a civil rights lawyer, I met burgeoning diplomats who also had law degrees. The lawyers at my table where enrolled at Anwar Gargash for an intensive nine-month program and taking courses on political science, economics, policy and were in the process of learning Korean, Spanish and Hebrew. It was interesting to learn about common challenges that both our countries have in ensuring that our foreign service presents gender diversity in an area of government that still skews towards men.
I learned about Emirati foreign policy and the ways in which these burgeoning diplomats were already keenly aware of how decisions made in the United States impact the global political community. We discussed the importance of international law in creating strong diplomatic ties and conversed about the future of the United Arab Emirates. I appreciated learning from Emirati lawyers about their political and legal systems and admired how they coupled their patriotism with an awareness the United Arab Emirates is still on a journey to increase inclusion for a large population of migrant workers and expatriates.
-Antonio Ingram II
