UAE's foreign policy promotes tolerance

It is a matter of pride that the UAE operates a foreign policy that is based on a set of publicly-declared principles based on moderation and tolerance. This means that the UAE is able to articulate a coherent way forward for the whole region rather than react to events as they happen. "It also means that it can work for itself and the greater good, rather than focusing solely on narrow national interests," local English language daily, Gulf News, commented in its editorial on Saturday. It added that the UAE's foreign policy is based on its identity as an Arab, Muslim and Gulf state, which it combines with its committed membership of the global community. It supports the principles of tolerance and respect for others, which are rooted in its identity. A practical expression of this commitment is how the country has worked hard to share in those global tasks that it is able to contribute to, in areas as far apart as renewable energy, the G20, and contributing to international action in Afghanistan and Libya. "The UAE has been outspoken in its opposition to the rise of religious fundamentalism in politics and regional affairs, and has supported a more moderate and liberal agenda, and the UAE has been clear that it sees the often violent political expression of religious extremism and fundamentalism as diametrically opposed to Islam," the paper said. It noted that the UAE's second principle is that it rejects sectarian politics, and regards the divide into Shiite and Sunni groups as self-defeating politics, which has nothing to offer the region or world. A third principle is that the UAE is well aware of the dangers of religious extremism, and has placed great importance on combating its dangerous appeal by developing what UAE officials call "the economics of hope" that offer young people a far more productive alternative to nihilistic misery. The paper concluded that a more immediate priority is that the UAE is firmly against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and as it develops its own civil nuclear programme "it is setting a golden standard on how countries can operate in a nuclear environment with no danger of proliferation."