ABU DHABI // Historical papers released yesterday reveal fractious relations around the time the UAE was founded, including rivalries and international territorial disputes.
Julian Walker, a retired member of the British Foreign Office, presented an insider's perspective on the creation of the UAE at the Centre for Documentation and Research's International History Conference in the capital this week.
Mr Walker worked with the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan to stitch the seven emirates into a unified country.
People with close links to the Government at the time of federation have presented academic papers based on their recollections and later research. Dozens of academics, diplomats and government officials also spoke during the three-day conference.
Mr Walker noted that in 1968 the British were ending their involvement in the region and announced they would withdraw from the Gulf states for financial and political reasons.
This left the British protectorates, which also included Bahrain and Qatar, only a few years to form independent nations. Sheikh Zayed met with Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the then-ruler of Dubai, to form a union between the two emirates, which had warred over their borders only a generation before.
Dubai initially had hoped it could survive as an independent city-state under the protection of Iran, which was then the dominant military force in the Gulf, Mr Walker said.
Sheikh Zayed eventually convinced Sheikh Rashid that a unified country was necessary to prevent fighting among the Northern emirates, which might draw other Gulf states into a wider conflict.
Bahrain and Qatar eventually pulled out of talks and formed their own states.
Mr Walker said that, at the time, those nations did not need to form an alliance because they had greater oil wealth, better developed infrastructures and their citizens had received better educations.
While the Northern emirates argued over boundaries, Ras al Khaimah quit the negotiations as it was not granted membership into the UAE on the same terms as Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The planned union of nine emirates had become a union of six but, in December of 1971, the UAE was formed.
It already faced an uncertain future as Saudi Arabia had an ongoing border dispute with Abu Dhabi, and the Iranians were furthering their own territorial ambitions.
As part of its agreement with the UN to leave Bahrain, the shah of Iran pressed his claim over the three islands that sit in the Strait of Hormuz, to the north of the UAE.
Just before the British handover, Iran occupied the islands of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs.
"It was certainly an occupation and it was occupied by force, and there was nothing we [the British] could do about it," Mr Walker said. "The shah was the great power in the lower Gulf."
John Duke Anthony, the president of the National Council on US-Arab Relations and a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, said the Iranians "gave the residents of the Tunbs two options. They could become citizens of Iran, or they could return to Ras al Khaimah. All 120 returned to Ras l Khaimah."
Abu Musa was divided into two parts: the northern tip went to Iran, while the southern section was granted to Sharjah.
The dispute with Iran continues to this day. Ras al Khaimah joined the UAE in February of 1972.
Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, the deputy chairman of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, said diplomats and international media were sceptical of the new nation's ability to survive.
At the time of federation, Mr Nusseibeh was a journalist working for the new Abu Dhabi civil service department.
The UAE was formed in a time of regional instability, had a small military force and no protection from the British, and emerging oil reserves, he said. "All the observers believed that this new political entity was poorly equipped to survive as an independent state."
Newspapers pointed to the factional disputes between the leaders of the emirates, and the fact that the British had given the UAE little time to create the administration and military it would need to run and protect a modern state.
All of the speakers credited the work of Sheikh Zayed in helping the country overcome the odds.
Mr Anthony said the late ruler was able to stitch the nation together by being pragmatic. "He was no idealogue or starry-eyed visionary," he said.
Mr Walker agreed: "The UAE owes much to the initiative, persistence and generosity of Sheikh Zayed."
Papers presented at the conference will be compiled into a book that will be made available to the public next week. Each paper was accompanied by a lecture, which is available online at the centre's website at www.cdr.gov.ae
jgerson@thenational.ae
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Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Last-16
France 4
Griezmann (13' pen), Pavard (57'), Mbappe (64', 68')
Argentina 3
Di Maria (41'), Mercado (48'), Aguero (90 3')
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
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MATCH INFO
Championship play-offs, second legs:
Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 0
(Aston Villa advance 1-0 on aggregate)
Fulham 2
Sessegnon (47'), Odoi (66')
Derby County 0
(Fulham advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Final
Saturday, May 26, Wembley. Kick off 8pm (UAE)
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
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Fixtures
Opening day Premier League fixtures for August 9-11
August 9
Liverpool v Norwich 11pm
August 10
West Ham v Man City 3.30pm
Bournemouth v Sheffield Utd 6pm
Burnley v Southampton 6pm
C Palace v Everton 6pm
Leicester v Wolves 6pm
Watford v Brighton 6pm
Tottenham v Aston Villa 8.30pm
August 11
Newcastle v Arsenal 5pm
Man United v Chelsea 7.30pm
No_One Ever Really Dies
N*E*R*D
(I Am Other/Columbia)
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
World Sevens Series Pools
A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan
B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland
C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales
D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya
Copa del Rey
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Semi-final, first leg
Wednesday (midnight UAE)
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort: