The Foreign Policy of the United Arab Emirates - Tapa blanda

Foreign policy has been crucial to the UAE, ever since its birth in 1971 following Britain's decision to withdraw from the Gulf. How is the federation's foreign policy formulated? What are the internal and external pressures which shape it? How can a small Gulf state survive in the modern world? Dr Hassan Hamdan al-Alkim, himself a UAE national, has not only studied the Emirates' policy-making process in depth. He has also interviewed some of those closely involved in it. His detailed and fully documented study outlines the origins of the UAE and describes the evolution of its policies towards its neighbours, the wider Arab world, and the big powers. Three case-studies examine relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the UAE's attitude towards the Palestine question.

Hassan Hamdan al-Alkim was born in the UAE in 1958 and obtained a PhD in International Relations at Exeter University. He is a professor of Political Science at the UAE University, and the author of numerous articles on world politics.