The United Arab Emirates Security Challenges - Research Proposal Example

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES SECURITY CHALLENGES STUDENT NAME PROFESSOR’S NAME COURSE TITLE DATE Introduction According to Adrian Hyde-Price (2001) he states that the word ‘securitizing’ means removing a particular issue from its political discourse and at the same time signalling for it to be addressed urgently and exceptionally. The issue of security is therefore not only a preserve of an individual but that of the state to ensure that citizens or people are secure from any form of threat. Issues of security also relates to what needs to be secured or protected from threat such as , human security, environmental security all which attract different forms of responses and reactions either from the military or a collective imposition of sanction to stop the security threat. On the other hand it is important to highlight what a security threat implies in relation to the circumstances presenting itself in the thesis research. A security threat has been defined and known to be a “connotations of a type of menace to survival (Paris, 2001) for instance an act of attack or sabotage from one state to another is a classical of internal threat to security of a particular state. On the other hand, according to Ullman (1983) he gives a broader definition of what a threat is. He states that “a threat is an action or a sequence of events that threaten drastically and over a short period of time to degrade the quality of life of the inhabitants of a particular state (Ullman, 1983). It therefore implies that insecurity negates the presence of a threat or action that threatens the very existence of a state or the population within the state. Additionally one can say that the issue of security is twofold: that is the negative dimension of going to war and a positive dimension of avoiding war or conflict. This thesis therefore aims to discuss the internal and external threats that are bound to have an impact or affect the people of UAE. The threats can either be external or internal and this implies the actions that need to be undertaken by the UAE to quash such threats. Background Information The United Arab Emirates (“hereinafter “the UAE”) is amongst the GCC member countries that include: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Republics of Iran and Iraq, Qatar with Saudi Arabia exerting more influence in pushing for GCC agenda and policies on security issues (Peterson, 1986). The issues of security in the UAE are commonly known as the concept of ‘Gulf security’ and that there are numerous challenges that leads to the increase in the threats of insecurity. The UAE and other GCC countries are known to be the world’s economic powerhouses especially due to the economic exploitation of “black gold”-oil and gas and any threat to peace means that the global economy will be affected. The threats that faces security are either dependent on the conflation of regimes in power or with national security especially since the UAE is considered a developing country. The UAE just like many Arab states have constantly faced threats and their transition in the oil era and retain control of this “black gold” in the last century shows its resilience in ensuring that the state is peaceful. The threats that are commonly associated with UAE and in most of the Gulf States include; food, water, the energy security, climate change, population. Nuclear proliferation and transnational terrorism are amongst the significant security threats facing the GCC countries and spills over into the UAE. In the last two years, the US has constantly sought interventions in order to contain the nuclear ambitions and threats of Iran and the UAE has come to play a critical role in this course. Though the nuclear threat presents a security risk to the UAE, sanctions and isolations are factors that affect trades within a region and therefore, the UAE though ambiguous is significant in relation to maintaining security. The UAE for instance has spent billions in order to call for military intervention to stop nuclear programs while at the same time the UAE hosts Iranian Diaspora communities in Dubai to gather information on Iran (Sadjadpour, 2011). It is important to state that since the US, the UK had interest in the UAE, and especially most Middle East countries, their policies have continued to influence the different ways in which the UAE governs itself. External pressure from interested parties in the Gulf has often led to conflict and even “west” versus “east” wars especially related to economic development and prosperity. At the same time, there are instances where threats in other countries has often caused unnecessary panic in the UAE due to fears of spill over and the UAE has always played an important role in quashing such threats. The GCC and the UAE The GCC a regional block created in 198, who objectives were to realize the cooperation in all economic, political, social and informational areas. During its early years the GCC member states including the UAE sought to have a defense agreement, a common formula but was shelved. The calls to create the GCC members states was in responses of the deterioration regional security in the Iranian revolution of 1979, the Afghanistan invasion by the Soviet Union and the 1980 outbreak of the Iraqi-Iran war. This created a security panic in the region with the fear of potential spill over to the neighbouring states. Consequently the GCC in the 1990s in the Doha declaration states that the GCC defense was ineffective and the security arrangements and their failure would deter the aggression of Iraq and the protection of Kuwait from invasion. It is issues of constant internal and external threats amongst the GCC member countries that necessitated the creation of the organization to oversee security issues amongst the Gulf States. In this thesis it is important to discuss the role of the GCC in the creation of security amongst the Gulf States and the UAE. The UAE recently was chosen to host the Gulf Academy for Strategic and Security Studies in order to create a uniform command centre for defence expert, create a regional security doctrine. This was necessitated by the decision on Iran’s and the world powers agreement on nuclear program (Hadeel, 2013). The role of the GCC in ensuring that there is peace and no external threats in the UAE is of importance in this study, since it highlights the role of regional bodies or organizations in ensuring that there is security within a particular region. Areas of Security in the UAE In the UAE issues of security arises through political, social or economic security. Political security of any state entirely depends on whether or not a country has the competence to ensure political independence and that it is able to crush any external or internal threats within and beyond its territorial borders. This means that for presence of security, there needs to be an effective political framework that protects institutions. Economic and social security relates to the ability of UAE to provide its citizens with the minimum living standards, improve the quality of life through policies that recognizes the rights of the people. Security issues need not only conform to ordinary issues that are considered security threat to humans but also threats arising from technological advancement and security that indirectly affects the social-economic aspects of the people. For instance internet security causes threats especially in the stealing intellectual property, industrial espionage, mobile threats and malware. This is linked to the growth of social media at an alarming rate in the UAE (Naushad, 2013) Research Focus The research aims at focusing on issues that relates to security issues in the UAE. Since the UAE is amongst the GCC states, most of the security challenges both internal and external are known to be a like and are shared on cross-borders. For instance according to Buzan and Weaver (2003) they assert that in dealing with issues that relate to security, the discourse ties in to international beliefs, the social constructs that relate to answering the questions of power and security. It therefore means that when focusing on the UAE in terms of security, one need to consider the regional framework, policies and political issues to exactly determine the extent to which security in the UAE is threatened. The research also focuses on both the internal and external threat in the UAE and this includes; the internal dimensions of security issues, how they relate as well as other ideas on security issues. It will also focus on the role of security agencies in dealing with both the internal and external issues that dominate the agenda of security. It will also highlight the contemporary security threats that are brought about by the development of innovative technologies and how they affect the security status of the UAE. Purpose of the Study ` According to Salem (2007) they assert that the growth and globalization of the Gulf makes the Middle East states such as the UAE by virtue of its economic and financial resources and therefore its rapid expansion and the political links with economic powerhouse such as China and Russia has created a shift in the international relations within the region (Yetiv & Lu, 2007). This shift poses a great risk to the security of the States especially from those states the feel left out in relation to the use and exploitation of resources. It is also a contentious issue amongst many Arab countries and in the UAE on the threats that influence from other powerhouse has on their won societies especially on the idea of “western security” (Krause, 1996) The purpose of the research thesis is to discuss the issues of security challenges in the UAE. This relates to both the internal and external threats and those whose origins are considered international for instance the war on terror, perception of funding and those that relate to matters of national security. The paper to an extent recognizes the different strategies developed in order to maintain security in the UAE and amongst the Gulf states. It also discusses the place of globalization and revolution in information technologies in maintaining peace in the Gulf region and the UAE. It discusses the interconnectedness of the UAE with other Gulf countries and how this has an impact on security issues. For instance, security threats in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the state contraction in Somalia and Yemen, the nuclear proliferation in Iran and in Pakistan have a great impact on the security in the UAE (Rathmell et al, 2003) The UAE is a country bordered by many oil rich countries and the UAE plays a significant role in the oil industry, market and hence faces the challenges linked to resource control. It is of importance to discuss the 2008 outbreak of piracy in the Gulf of Aden that sparked reactions from the international community creating insecurity challenges at the same time created a change in policy in the governance of the Gulf. The European Union had its operations in the Gulf followed by China, the USA all seeking to protect their maritime interest in the region. This increased the impact of international policies in the GCC and UAE in relation to security interest within the Gulf and beyond. This paper therefore seeks to highlight the impact of external influence on issues of security and policies in the UAE, regional blocks such as the GCC and the international community. The research highlights the UAE is playing a major role in dealing with security issues amongst the Gulf member states, the Middle East, and the way its internal management averts security threats. Research Questions What are the historical aspects and culmination of security challenges and threats in the GCC countries? What are the external and internal security threats in the UAE? What is the link between international and regional policies and interests in the UAE and the security threats? What next for security threats, policies and war on terror and the changes in the security policies? What are the intervention measures, procedures and mechanisms of dealing with security threats in the UAE? Methodology The thesis is a library-based research that includes issues that relate with the security challenges, international law and policies that relates to the theoretical viewpoints of the security challenges in the United Arab Emirates. The theoretical underpinnings in this research will be premised on academic research published on journals, projects, papers and those that are developed by international organizations. The research will also make use of contemporary publications and make direct queries on issues that relate to security issues in the UAE as well as views from contemporary writers on international security. The practical aspects of the research will examine and relate to the UAE security threats as well as the impact of other threats existing among the GCC countries and its impact on the UAE. It will also highlight the effects of policies on UAE. The practical aspects o the research will be conducted through interviews, theoretical research of scholars in GCC security issues and from academically accepted web publications. Chapter Outline Chapter 1 Introduction A Brief Overview of the United Arab Emirates Security Policies 1.1. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) 1.1.1 History of the UAE 1.1.2 The UAE and the GCC countries 1.1.3 Past Conflicts and Threat perceptions in the UAE 1.2 International Interest in UAE security 1.2.1 The United States of America 1.2.2 The United Kingdom 1.2.3 The International Community 1.3 The War on Terror and the UAE 1.3.1 The Al-Qaeda Influence in the UAE 1.3.2 Terrorism and Response of the UAE government 1.3.3 Terrorist activities in other Middle East Countries and Impact on the UAE Chapter 2 Foreign Administrative Policy Influence on UAE 2.1 The place of US policies in UAE security Issues 2.1.1. The Bush Administration 2.1.2 The Clinton Administration 2.2.3 The Obama Administration 2.2 The UK administrative policy 2.3 The UAE administrative policy and security issues 2.3.1 The Military Reponse 2.3.2 Response from other police departments 2.4 The War on Terror and Security policies in the UAE Chapter 3 The threats to Security in the UAE 3.1 The External threats 3.1.1 The USA, Iraq and Power Balance in the Gulf 3.1.1.1 Nuclear Proliferation and Nuclear Weapons 3.1.2.3 Terror attack, political extremism and Al-Qaeda weapons 3.1.2.4 Israel-Palestine Wars and Gulf Security threat 3.1.2.5 Iran and the regional geopolitics 3.2 Military Policy and Procurement of Arms 3.3 Piracy in the Gulf of Aden 3,4 Exacerbation of Existing Ethnic, Religious or Social Divisions 3.5 Cyber Space and threat to Security 3.6 Border Disputes 3.6 .1 Iran and dispute over Abu Musa and Tunbs 3.6.2 Territorial dispute against Saudi Arabia and Oman 3.6.3 Relations with Qatar 3.2 Internal Threats 3.2.1 Political Changes within the UAE 3.2.1.1 Rivalry amongst ruling families 3.2.1.2 Desire for Political autonomy 3.2.1.3 The rise of civil society 3.2.1.4 Succession in UAE politics 3.2.2. Expatriate labour and Threat from Immigrants 3.2.3 Economic and Social Security 3.2.3.1 The oil industry and imbalance 3.2.3.2 The labour market 3.2.3.3 Demography and internal security 3.2.3.4 Modernity and the traditional Arab society 3.2.4 Colonial heritage 3.2.5 Regional security as an internal security threat Chapter 4 Policies Addressing Security Challenges in the UAE 4.1 Internal Policies Addressing Security 4.2 External Policies Addressing Security 4.3 Safeguards on Security issues in the UAE 4.3 Procedures for Intervention and non-intervention in Conflicts Chapter 5 Countering Security Threats 5.1 Measures to counter threats 5.1.1 Internal threat 5.1.2 External threat 5.2 Role of the GCC in countering threats (Regional organization) 5.3 The Role of the International Community in countering security threats 5.3.1 Intervention 5.3.2 Ceasefire Agreements 5.3.2 Sanctions 5.3.4 Military deployment 5.4 Security Responses 5.4.1 Thematic approaches 5.4.2 Role of Allies in countering insecurity Chapter 6 Conclusion and Recommendation 6.1 Conclusion 6.2 Recommendation Bibliography Al-Naqeeb, K. 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