When Sheikh Khalifa was elected president, a degree of apprehension would have been wholly understandable. Not only was he dealing with the personal impact of the death of his own father but he was also taking over from a leader who was not just genuinely transformative but also internationally respected and truly loved by his people.
Ten years on, Sheikh Khalifa deserves a great deal of praise. Using the foundation created by Sheikh Zayed, he has continued the UAE’s progress and made this a better country for its citizens and its expatriate residents. He has also improved the country’s standing in the international community.
This is, of course, not simply the work of one person, but the collective effort of the entire country. The importance of having the right person at the top cannot be overstated. The demands on the president are many and the onerous responsibility of reading global trends and carefully steering the country towards tolerance, stability and prosperity is not a simple task. One need only look around at the turmoil of many other countries in this region to see what happens when that judgement is found wanting.
The verdict on the UAE’s past 10 years is obvious when one looks at Abu Dhabi and compares the capital now to November 2004. Emirates Palace, Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, New York University Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque had not opened then, Saadiyat and Yas islands were mostly populated by gazelles, the Formula One season bypassed the UAE, and Masdar – along with Irena, the world renewable energy association, being based in the UAE – would have seemed like science fiction.
That point is emphasised when one’s gaze turns to the country as a whole, with development of the Northern Emirates continuing unabated and Dubai having weathered the global financial crisis and rebounding even stronger than before.
Sheikh Zayed set the bar extraordinarily high, not least because, as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid put it, he was a rare leader who ruled through love rather than fear. Sheikh Khalifa ought to be proud of the legacy he has created in his own right.