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Chapter Nine

Iran swept through every majlis of the other littoral Gulf states,
demonstrating to the Rulers the urgent necessity for closer political
co-ordination among themselves. On the 25th to 27th May 1901 the
six Heads of Slate of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE,
and Oman formally established the Gulf Co-operation Council,
which had been in the making since January 1901. On this occasion it
was again shown forcefully that, even at such a regional event, only
the UAE’s national leadership nowadays acted on behalf of the
federal stale.
Thus the foreign policy or the UAE was successful in firmly
placing the new State on the map regionally and internationally, from
which it could no longer be erased without provoking an inter­
national outcry.
During and after the 1973 October War the UAE actively
participated in the revived drive for closer Arab co-operation and the
more concerted, deliberate and even aggressive foreign policy of the
Arab World.
The very successful foreign policy was equally beneficial in
rendering further credibility to the Federation at home. The majority
of the population in the seven Emirates took much less time than
expected to transfer much of its tribal allegiance from the local Ruler
to the UAE government and its President, particularly when it
became obvious that their new State was recognised, respected and
even courted by governments and organisations the world over.

Growth of the federal administration
To many outside observers and to many participants in government,
progress towards the creation of federal authorities and the transfer
of local administration to the latter appeared too slow. They would
favour a much tidier and more manageable highly centralised
administration. This view is shared by foreign technocrats, by
commentators who lack experience of federal systems, and by many
of the educated, young and often idealistic nationals who became
civil servants in federal ministries.
Yet if one recalls the reluctance of some regional governments to
integrate their administration into the new systems, and if one
considers the constitution’s deliberate imprecision on the procedure
for the unification of certain authorities, the overall record of
consolidation of the federal administrative authority has been quite
spectacular in recent years.
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