400. Message from the United Arab Emirates | His Excellency Saeed Al Nazari

[0] Hello everyone watching and listening.

[1] Today I'm speaking with the Secretary General of Great Arab Minds, His Excellency, Said L. Nathari.

[2] We discussed the origins of the United Arab Emirates, how the Abraham Peace Accords and the Tri -Faith Initiative have taken effect and open dialogue between the peoples of the Abrahamic faiths.

[3] We discussed the project spearheaded by Saeed for the education, entrepreneurial development, and empowerment of young Emirates, and how the unique vision and strong values of the United Arab Emirates have lifted the country to heights unimaginable only half a century ago.

[4] I've interviewed a fair number of people from the Arab world and from the Muslim world more broadly, And I've also delved to some degree into the Abraham Accords, which I'm very excited about.

[5] And I'm very much interested in talking to you today about the United Arab Emirates.

[6] And so I thought we might as well start with some really basic questions because lots of people who are listening won't know as much about your country as they might.

[7] And so the first obvious thing to talk about is tell us exactly where you're situated geographically, who your immediate neighbors are, and the size of the country, just the basic details.

[8] Well, Jordan, thank you to have me on.

[9] It's great to see you screen to screen, and hopefully very soon we'll be meeting face -to -face in the UAE.

[10] The United Arab Emirates, located in the Middle East.

[11] I'm not sure how accurate is Wikipedia, but it says you were born in 1962.

[12] Jordan, if you look at the United Arab Emirates in 1962, you would see an area of sand.

[13] It had almost every single reason for it not to be successful, for it not to exist.

[14] It had every single factor for it to be an impossible nation.

[15] Located in the Middle East, one of the world's most unstable region, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

[16] tensions, failed states.

[17] And then beside that you have the environment, the harsh climate, heat waves.

[18] I just recently saw an article that there are some Western cities who may face an environment or weather that somehow close to what the Middle East is experiencing, but in 200, that risk comes 70 years to experience what we have been experiencing for 50 years.

[19] And then you also had the infrastructure, basic infrastructure.

[20] I grew up listening to stories about how hard it was to move from one place to another.

[21] How small were the houses, families were, and very limited small houses.

[22] where you barely have a place for your build.

[23] You had all these factors, the unstable region, the environment, the infrastructure.

[24] Yet here I am living in one of the most secured, safe, cleanest, diverse cities on earth.

[25] And that's the UE.

[26] The UE we live in today, along with 200 different nationalities.

[27] It has one of the worst top competitive cities, Dubai, Wobadi, and many other cities.

[28] It have been a beacon of hope, it have been a model that is homegrown in the Middle East, and it proved one thing that you have been discussing for so long, vision.

[29] What does it mean to actually visualize a vision, visualize a goal?

[30] I think the UAE is the ultimate case study to showcase the power and impact of a vision.

[31] And so tell me, let's go over some basics again and then we'll talk about the vision.

[32] What's the population of the UAE now?

[33] It's almost 9 .5 million.

[34] And Dubai itself, how many people live there?

[35] Well, the exact numbers, I don't have the exact numbers handy now, but there are millions as well.

[36] And who are your immediate neighbors?

[37] Who are you surrounded by?

[38] We're surrounded by Gulf states.

[39] You have Saudi Arabia, Amman, and many other countries there in the Gulf states.

[40] All right.

[41] Now, you talked about the vision of the UAE, and I presume since we started talking about 1962, that there was very little in the UAE in 1962.

[42] And you talked about the importance of a vision.

[43] So what was that vision and how did the UAE develop both economically and socially?

[44] Jordan, if you look at the history of the United Arab Emirates, how it was formed from basic infrastructure, some Bedouin families living in many different areas, small houses, small towns, divided areas.

[45] our founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed, have came with a vision, thought the power comes in unity.

[46] The power and futures also could be made by unity.

[47] He thought we should unite different Emirates, different tribes, under one vision.

[48] That vision was to create hope out of this region.

[49] That vision was to actually build a nation that represent us in a way that should be represented globally.

[50] Who are we as people of this region?

[51] What are our values?

[52] What are our culture, tradition?

[53] How can we turn every single challenge into a solution, into an opportunity?

[54] Well, if you look at the location, being in the Middle East is not something easy.

[55] It's filled with challenges.

[56] It fills with instability.

[57] but then you could also turn that into a huge opportunity.

[58] You are a hub to the whole world.

[59] You are a hub to 2 billion people.

[60] You could reach east and west.

[61] That's how you turn a challenge into an opportunity.

[62] If you hear the messages that have been recorded by the founder, Sheikh Zayyat, he was a very wise leader who believed that he would see this feeling.

[63] future coming.

[64] He could visualize stuff.

[65] I can still hear some of his TV interviews in 1971 and 1975 as if he speaks about today's reality.

[66] He thought, yes, we will grow.

[67] Yes, we will focus on education.

[68] Yes, we will focus on trade, on economy.

[69] But then we will also stick to our identity, to our culture, to our values.

[70] We will send the message of hope.

[71] out of this region, because I think our neighbors, the 108 million young Arabs, would love to see a message of hope out of this region.

[72] We have seen for so long many challenges, many conflicts happening, and I think there is a huge hunger and need to see more messages of hope coming out of this region, from this region, for this region, to show a model that works.

[73] What were the Emirates?

[74] You made reference to tribal groups that were united.

[75] What were the Emirates exactly?

[76] And when did they unite?

[77] When was the country established?

[78] The country was established in 2nd December, 1971.

[79] At that day...

[80] So it's a very, very new country?

[81] Yes, it's a young country.

[82] And I think being young made us all see how vision and hard work could actually turn the impossible into possible.

[83] Who thought that in 50 years' time, you could turn a place in the middle of the desert into the world's trade hub, into a place where it's among the top 10 most competitive cities in safety and security and trade and business, and you name it.

[84] I think if I'll speak about the rankings and I'll speak about the competitiveness of the cities in the United Arab Emirates, I can speak for the next hour about how many stuff that have been done in a way or inequality that could compete with any city around the whole world.

[85] And what were the Emirates?

[86] If you look at it, well, I wasn't born in 1971, but what I hear from my family, my father, my grandfather, it was desert, sandy area where you had tents in some areas, you had people, who would work in farming in some areas, people who would go into fishing, into pearl diving, into trading.

[87] I think what was there back then, it was a trade hub.

[88] It have always been a trade hub because you trade with India, you trade with many other countries around.

[89] But then the skills were different, the products were completely different, the services were completely different.

[90] But one thing was in common, people wanted to actually invest in themselves and their families so they would even fly to get educated.

[91] They would also go and meet in many different universities or schools to actually get access to education.

[92] Education was very limited in the whole region.

[93] Most of the services were very limited.

[94] But I think our founding fathers the leadership, so a potential, so an opportunity, so a belief.

[95] And this goes back to the history of this region.

[96] If you look at the golden age of the Arab world, this region were behind many contributions, were behind many sciences, you name it, Al Jabra, Al -Khawarizmi, and medicine, names of the exploration of different stars.

[97] There were many people in this region who contributed to the fundamentals of these sciences.

[98] I think this has been building our confidence that we can do it.

[99] And that's the way today.

[100] So you said that, say, back before 1971, the economy was rather rudimentary and the governmental structure was essentially tribal.

[101] and Sheikh Zayyad united all those various tribes.

[102] Now, they had been fractious for a long time.

[103] What did he do that brought the unity about?

[104] You made reference to identity, culture, and value.

[105] But I'd like to know in more detail, why did these tribal groups decide to ban together and why has that maintained itself, given, as you also pointed out, the tremendous instability that has characterized the Middle East for, well, forever, as far as all of us living today are concerned.

[106] So how did he manage this vision?

[107] And what are the elements of identity, culture, and value you think that unite you and allow you to be prosperous?

[108] I think Jordan, one thing that was clear enough for everyone, that the direct intention that the late Sheikh Zayed had, he wanted good for everyone.

[109] He wanted to ensure that unity bring better good for everyone.

[110] It didn't happen in one day or one month.

[111] He had been into that continuous conversation with the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rasha bin Seid, with the ruler of different areas at the United Arab Emirates, discussing how we can bring unity.

[112] How can we build something that's bigger than all of us?

[113] That's what we study in history.

[114] That's what our parents actually have experience and lived.

[115] So my dad was following these discussions and everyone celebrated on the 2nd December in 1971 when it happened actually happened because they heard about many trials of unity in the region.

[116] Many of them fate and many of them didn't work.

[117] But what made it work, I think, that deep, bold, hard work planned to stick to a vision.

[118] and showcase a vision with good intentions, with purpose, and with passion.

[119] If you hear the Leuch -Zhezai speaks about unity or human resources, he usually do it with passion.

[120] You can know how honesty is, you can know how he actually visualized that vision.

[121] And that's, look at the way today, went from a sandy place to exploring Mars to right now we have an astronaut at the International Space Station?

[122] So one of the things that everybody who's watching and listening might do well to consider is that Saeed just made reference to the honesty of Sheikh Zayed.

[123] And we have this idea often in our culture, especially among the people who are more cynical than nihilistic, that if you're manipulative and you take advantage and you win in your business dealings and you're a hard -ass sort of wolf of Wall Street kind of character, then you'll come up on top with your dominance and your willingness and ability to use force.

[124] And almost all that's nonsense.

[125] I mean, most of the criminally psychopathic -oriented types who use dominance, they end up, well, they often meet a violent end, but they're very rarely successful.

[126] And the reason for that is that you can fool people once or twice, but you can't fool them consistently.

[127] And this is actually why I was so interested in how the unity of the UAE was brought about.

[128] Because in order to make something work over, well, let's say generations, but even over the span of a lifetime, you better not be lying to the people that you're negotiating with, because if you do, especially if you've come, you know, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, they will not, be happy about that and they will absolutely take their revenge and so if you want to be successful you said he he did genuinely want the best for the people of the region so he was aiming up and he was honest and you can get an awful long way aiming up and being honest and so all right so he had a vision and he was a trustworthy person and he spoke with passion now how did the UAE develop economically that was primarily oil i i presume and and and but and people might think, well, the reason the UAE is doing so well is because it has oil and that's basically cheap riches and it doesn't take a lot of work to do well when you're receiving billions of dollars.

[129] But I would counter that by saying that there are plenty of countries on the planet that have no shortage of natural resources that are corrupt beyond belief and that are miserable beyond imagination and all of whose wealth is devoted to a very small number of people who are in fact very crooked and everything is hell.

[130] And so money alone is not going to bring the kind of stability and vision that you're talking about in relationship to the UAE.

[131] So what, tell us how the economy of the area has grown and how you guys have determined to diversify and to like stabilize your economy across time?

[132] Well, you say that Jordan, oil is an enabler and you can't be over -depending on oil.

[133] Actually, if you look at many different countries, oil could be a curse sometimes because over -dependence on oil would let you make short -term decisions to actually increase your revenue and so on.

[134] What have been made in the UAE is completely different.

[135] Actually, we started thinking of diversification of the economy right away.

[136] Let's say Dubai, for example, today 95 % of the GDP is not coming from the oil.

[137] It's less than 5 % depends on oil.

[138] That's Dubai.

[139] One of the most competitive economies in the whole region.

[140] I think what we did very well is turning of your problem into an opportunity.

[141] We use location very well to be a hub and a trade, but then to actually be a hub, you need a complete redesign of the environment.

[142] You need to design logistics, you need to design enablers, you need to design an environment where people feel safe to chase their dreams, feel safe to actually be part of what's being built.

[143] And I think that what made today's economy, the economy we see, because everyone Everyone felt that they want to be part of this thing happening in the UAE, part of bringing hope to life, part of bringing vision to reality, part of challenging every single obstacle.

[144] I think it became a sort of a movement that humanity felt we could see a civilization being built here right in the Middle East in the UAE.

[145] And then you see many companies have trusted the UAE and its stability.

[146] They move their headquarters to the EA.

[147] There are many homegrown companies like Emirates Airline, which is among the worst top airlines, Etta -Had airline, another great company.

[148] And then you have DP Ward handling many ports worldwide.

[149] You have many other companies, one after another, and then you have foreign investors coming.

[150] I think we also went into advancing our skills in many different industries.

[151] We have now many Marathis actually in many different industries in logistics and transportation and materials and engineering.

[152] They have different companies, they have products, and we maintain to have credibility on the way we work.

[153] we maintain to have also consistency, because if you look at the UAE in 1971 and then 1975 and then 1990s, 2005, 2020, every year makes the UAE stronger, brighter, it turns the story into a story of vision that came through and a vision that guides us for the next 50 years.

[154] Yeah, well, you know, my daughter has spent time in Dubai, and she's enjoyed it a lot.

[155] She said that the entrepreneurial buzz there is remarkable, I suppose, analogous in some ways, to Silicon Valley, or maybe analogous at the moment to also modern Israel, a real hub of development.

[156] She also said that it's an extraordinarily safe and clean and well -run city.

[157] And I have some questions about that.

[158] So I had talked to her about potentially considering moving some of the operations that I'm involved in to Dubai.

[159] And let me ask you the questions that came to mind as a consequence of that.

[160] And you must obviously know the answers because you've attracted all sorts of companies.

[161] I know the tax situation in Dubai is favorable to people who are engaged in entrepreneurial enterprises.

[162] The concern, one of the concerns I had was, let's say, the sanctity of private property.

[163] I mean, a lot of people who've invested in China have had second thoughts in recent years because they've found that it isn't obvious exactly what they own.

[164] You know, and one of the advantages to being located in somewhere like the United States, in particular the United States, but you could say the same thing about Great Britain and most of the countries derive from English common law tradition is that if you own something, you can be pretty damn sure that it's yours.

[165] And that's a really hard thing to establish, right?

[166] Because in the entire history of humankind, one of the most likely consequences of owning something was that someone was going to take it from you.

[167] And now you said, you know, the UAE has had a pretty good track record for now on 50 years, and that's starting to become a reasonable amount of time.

[168] Why do you think it is that companies have trusted you to move their assets to the UAE?

[169] And why do you think it is that they can trust you?

[170] Jordan, well, I'm glad that your daughter experienced what Dubai is, and I'm very excited for you to experience what Dubai and the UAE is.

[171] I think they didn't just move their companies and businesses.

[172] I think they moved their most valuable asset, their families.

[173] I hear hundreds and thousands of stories of people who, have been moving to Dubai and Wadabi and the UAE with their families, growing their children here in this environment.

[174] I think what we did very well, and I can't speak about the whole government or the UAE, but with my own personal view, is we designed an environment where we feel we we own what we work hard for.

[175] Now, currently, the real estate market is booming in Dubai.

[176] There are thousands of people moving into Dubai.

[177] There are thousands of people buying in Dubai.

[178] They do that because basically they trusted the system.

[179] They trusted the government.

[180] They trusted the environment.

[181] And you can't buy trust.

[182] There is no way you can buy trust.

[183] but you can build it and you can earn it.

[184] And this earning and build comes in a result of a long, credible, consistent, hard work and a system that works.

[185] I live in this neighborhood in Dubai in every single neighborhood.

[186] You would find a Marathi family.

[187] You would find families from Canada, from UK, from, UK.

[188] China, from Bangladesh, you name it, from India.

[189] Many other people, 200 different nationalities, have chosen Dubai to be a place for their business, for their families, for their growth.

[190] They chose the UAE because they know that living in one neighborhood, walking at 3 a .m. at night, they wouldn't even face a 0 .1 % of a threat to their safety.

[191] to their security, to their assets, to their privacy.

[192] We have respect, but we also have order and order that works to maintain a lifestyle that humanity deserves.

[193] I think what we managed very well is now they speak a lot about micro ecosystems and micro -environments when you try to design a micro -environment, a garden, shading system in your house where you design your own micro -environment.

[194] I think what the UAE have been doing, it designed a whole micro -word in Dubai and in Wadabio and the UAE where you would see the whole world, the ideal part of the world, being flourished here.

[195] And that's why people trust, because they trust the system, they trust the order, they trust the way it was designed.

[196] Okay, so let me ask you.

[197] some questions about that.

[198] You know, I spent a fair amount of time 25 years ago looking at the difference between Japan and the United States on the education front and also the economic front.

[199] And this was at a time, I guess it was in the 1980s, so I guess that's more like 40 years ago, when there was concern throughout the Western world or apprehension that Japan was going to be a monolithic and dominating economic force because it had, you know, exploded onto the scene in an absolutely remarkable manner, produced a huge economy.

[200] And one of the things that struck me about Japan and was that it was in some ways a very, very conservative society.

[201] Now, there was some advantages to that.

[202] The Japanese education system before university is top Their universities aren't very good, though, and that's relevant to the place that I'm going.

[203] Now, in the U .S., the grade school system isn't as good as the Japanese school, but the universities are a lot better.

[204] And in the U .S., there's more crime, but there's also more creativity.

[205] And if you look at the curves for criminality and the curves for creativity across the age span, they actually match pretty closely.

[206] And that's because there's actually a fair bit of entrepreneurial drive in criminal activity.

[207] So, for example, among drug dealers in the United States, drug dealers are more likely than their peers to also be employed.

[208] And so now, I'm not making a case for the benefit of criminal entrepreneurial activity.

[209] My point is this, is that it's very difficult to get the balance between security and freedom right, right?

[210] And if you tilt towards too much towards security, you risk suppressing people to the point where you'll interfere with creative -free enterprise expression, not just on the business side, but on the generally creative side.

[211] And so I know that from all reports that Dubai is an incredibly safe environment.

[212] And, you know, you hear exactly the same thing, for example, with regards to Singapore.

[213] And Singapore also is doing extremely well economically.

[214] But the question arises in my mind is that, well, are you buying that security at the price of a necessary freedom?

[215] And is, what's the evidence that that's a reasonable medium to long -term trade?

[216] So have it.

[217] I'd like to know your thoughts on that.

[218] Well, Jordan, if you look at the security, there are many parts of it.

[219] Yes, one part is government interference, regulations, loads, and stuff that we maintain to maintain security and order.

[220] But then another part goes deep into who we are, our DNA, which character we build in our people.

[221] And that goes into the society, into the environment, into generations.

[222] I think what we managed to do is we managed to build people, are attractive in people who, who can know the difference between order and chaos, who can know the difference between having a secured environment, safe environment, and having a creative environment, which also could be along with that environment.

[223] I think the issue is not with how security restricts creativity, but how actually have a room for creativity while you maintain security.

[224] And there are many opportunities where you can see that happening in Dubai.

[225] If you just Google Dubai or Google do a search on the most beautiful buildings worldwide, or when did humanity actually showcase their creativity in the way they build stuff, on the way they design stuff, you would always hear Dubai.

[226] You would always see Dubai.

[227] We have creative artists, designers, from all over the world, came to this place to actually showcase their creativity, to actually also showcase where humans can show different ideas.

[228] We have ideas on tolerance, ideas on connectivity, ideas on culture differences and similarities.

[229] We hosted the word Expo, Expo 2020, where almost every single.

[230] country participated, designed something that represent that nation and showed the whole world on what are their values and beliefs and their culture.

[231] And it was like a beautiful competition where we compete on building better civilization, better future for our generations.

[232] And that's happening right away.

[233] It was live in Expo 2020 in Dubai.

[234] And yet zero crimes at Expo 2020.

[235] extremely safe environment, I guess the number of each, 25 million visitors to that show, the X -Wi -20 -20 show.

[236] And you see that happening every day.

[237] You have zones, you have the clusters like the Dubai Internet City, Dubai Design District, Dubai Media City, where you have people from all over the world coming in to work and build and design something.

[238] So I think if you design the right and then build the right or embed the right values in people's DNA, you can actually hit the formula right.

[239] Okay, okay, so let's talk about that for a minute.

[240] I mean, one of the major contributors to criminality and general chaos in the West, and that's particularly true at the moment in the United States is the rise of single -parent families, right, fatherlessness kids, especially fatherless boys, because they're much more likely to grow up to engage in untoward behavior.

[241] And so that raises a question, which is if you're not going to rely on oppression and the police, for example, to maintain security, but you want to build a society that's predicated on values that are solid so that security and creativity can both flourish, what are the values that you have to instantiate?

[242] And so what do you think that you're doing right on the value side with regards to your culture that's providing this more optimized mix of security and creativity?

[243] I think Jordan part of that comes from who we are.

[244] If you look at the Arabic values, Arabic culture, the values of this region for decades have been based on tolerance, based on accepting others, based on generosity, based on the golden rule that many different faith and religion speaks about, that you wish for others what you wish for yourself.

[245] Hundreds of quotes and examples and stories about that, that what our parents and families speaks about, our responsibilities towards the community, towards neighbors, you will find it in our faith, you would find it in Islam, you would find it in Arabic culture.

[246] Hospitality is a huge thing in the Arabic culture.

[247] You would see it in the traditions, you would see it in every single part of our culture.

[248] And looking at all of these, I think we managed to build a character.

[249] And character building something that somehow turned to show its results today.

[250] Because when you build a character with the right set of values, you embed the right set of values, you actually also build immunity, immunity against different thoughts that may not work aligned with who we are.

[251] And that's something very, very important for us to maintain as a legacy, that yes, we are a global city, yes, we are part of the whole world.

[252] But then we also know exactly how to differentiate between what represents our value and what doesn't represent.

[253] represent our value.

[254] This doesn't mean that we will disrespect the other.

[255] This doesn't mean that we may always put a block in different thoughts.

[256] We learn, we grow, but then when you build that immunity system, I think it works like how our body works.

[257] It knows which vitamins or which part to take and which part to leave or actually defend against.

[258] And that's what we made.

[259] I think it's It happened.

[260] I see it.

[261] I see it every day.

[262] I see it in families.

[263] I see it in parents.

[264] I see it in school.

[265] I see it in universities where even before you see an action in government, I think you would see people mentioning that, oh, this idea actually represent who I am and this doesn't represent who I am.

[266] I think we should maintain this for the next generation because you see how the world is getting scary to see where the world is heading in some areas.

[267] You scroll down on your phone, you may see Jordan Peterson speaks about vision and personality, but then you swipe and see some horrible ideas on different acts or different beliefs that I don't, that aims to take us back 100 years ago, 200 years ago, or takes us into chaos.

[268] And here is, I think, where we build them unity and the way.

[269] wisdom, wisdom of picking the right decision.

[270] So, so I'm particularly curious on the family front.

[271] How, what, to what degree are families in the UAE still traditionally intact rather than broken?

[272] What's your divorce rate like?

[273] I don't know if you have those stats at hand and maybe you don't.

[274] And what's the birth rate?

[275] because you know in the West the birth rate in many countries has plummeted far below replacement.

[276] And it's part of the fractionation of the family.

[277] And that seems like a very, very bad long -term strategy.

[278] So how are you guys doing on the birth rate and divorce front?

[279] And what's the typical structure of a family in the UAE?

[280] Well, I usually prefer to be accurate when it comes to numbers, but then I don't have the numbers handy yet.

[281] if you look at how the lifestyle of families here in the United Arab Emirates, I could see my family itself.

[282] The bonding is all the family is always a big thing here.

[283] The family always comes first.

[284] The family always is the first guiding campus for us on where are we heading, who we are, what are our beliefs and values and I think we have many rituals where we actually always allocate some time to spend days, spend different occasions with family.

[285] Like just last week was the Eid holiday where you'd see family is gathering, it's a celebration for everyone.

[286] And then I know most of the families around where they meet every week.

[287] And we used to have way bigger families before where almost every family consists of five to six members, maybe with the current busy lifestyle.

[288] Numbers sometimes gets decreased a bit, but I think the value of family stayed very, very strong.

[289] Well, I've got some stats here that are very interesting.

[290] So in 2018 in the UAE, the divorce rate stood at 12%.

[291] And then it was 13 % in 2019 and 20, but it dropped in 2021 to 9 and continued its downward trend in 2022 to 3 % testifying to the development of processes and interactive programs that have proven beneficial to the parties to the conflict.

[292] So it looks that Abu Dhabi Judicial Outreach Program succeeds in reducing divorce rate to 3%.

[293] So it looks like you're doing pretty good on the divorce rate front.

[294] The birth rate, let me just check that because that's also an issue of interest.

[295] Let's see, what have we got here on the birth rate?

[296] 1 .46 per woman.

[297] So it's low, but not as low as it is in many countries.

[298] So now, okay, so now you talked about the values that stabilize the country, that make it secure, and that also allow for creativity.

[299] And maybe we've gone over this, but I'm going to hit it one more time.

[300] Those values in the Middle East have been around for a long time, including the value of hospitality, but the region still has been extremely fractious.

[301] Now, you've quelled that to a large degree in the UAE, and so I'm still curious about that.

[302] You've obviously done something like universalized these values so that they can embrace a larger number of people.

[303] And you said you did that through passionate leadership and vision and trust, and then fortunate economic circumstances, and maybe that's a sufficient answer.

[304] Maybe we'll turn to something else.

[305] Yes, a couple of other things.

[306] What's the situation with women's rights in the UAE?

[307] And how is that similar or different to the state that obtains in the countries around you?

[308] Well, the case for women rights and gender balance in the UAE is very, very unique.

[309] I think it's competitive worldwide.

[310] If you look at the workforce in our government, for example, more than 60 % are women.

[311] I have worked in 12 different jobs.

[312] Six of them, I had female managers in many cases.

[313] Women rights is something we have been raising and growing and having it as a priority.

[314] priority.

[315] It's part of who we are again.

[316] I have a daughter who I think every single member of this family have celebrated from the day she were born.

[317] When she is born, she got a letter from the UA president telling her that we want you to actually represent the values of the late Sheikh Zayed.

[318] We want you to carry that legacy forward.

[319] And then women get educated.

[320] And I think we are on the top highest rates from moving to school to university worldwide in terms of how many graduates women we have.

[321] I think the rights women have in every aspect of the quality of life here in the United Arab Emirates.

[322] You could see the balance.

[323] You could see the support.

[324] You could see everyone enable her to flourish, enable her to be who she, to build a family, to build a career, to build a success.

[325] Look at marriage.

[326] There are hundreds of policies to actually support marriage.

[327] Look at being in the workforce.

[328] There are lots of policies.

[329] Now, with Harvard model of work, with flexibility in hours and timings, attendance, and all these stuff, I think it made it even not only easier, but also made it even safe to be who you are.

[330] If you decided to focus on your family or you focus on your studies or focus on your office working hours or focus on your career growth or your business, you can basically, get support and the government will handle its responsibility and families will handle its responsibility to celebrate you wherever you are.

[331] And so you may hear that many people actually call, let's say, my name is Saeed, but some people call me Bu Shem, which means the father of Shem.

[332] And we have that in our Arabic tradition where they know that the most valuable thing for a man is his daughter her son.

[333] So they name me after my daughter.

[334] That's how much we respect actually women or how much I respect my daughter.

[335] And actually, I feel proud every time I hear her name.

[336] And I want to be the best father I could or be the best employee I could for her and for many others.

[337] So now, it seems to me, although Saudi Arabia has been liberalizing its attitude towards women's rights in recent years, it seems to me that there's a marked difference between the UAE and Saudi Arabia on the women's rights front.

[338] And so why did those two societies develop in different directions?

[339] And what do you see happening in Saudi Arabia on the women's rights front?

[340] Well, I like how I think the region is diverse if you spend time in Dubai and then go and spend time in Cairo or spend time in Masquat or spend time in Amman is different.

[341] Yes, there are common values.

[342] They are always Arabic language.

[343] There is always Islamic traditions.

[344] But then the way the societies live or grow is completely different.

[345] There's different opinions.

[346] There are different point of views.

[347] And I think the region is somehow heading to a very bright, positive side.

[348] I see something happening in the region.

[349] region.

[350] I see hope in the region.

[351] When I meet young Arabs, when I meet decision makers in their report, Dubai just hosted World Expo.

[352] And now you, Saudi Arabia is applying to host World Expo.

[353] Doha hosted the World Cup.

[354] You have many other cities are planning to build new cities, build on new islands, have new tourism experiences.

[355] And I think that goes back to an event that I attended in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

[356] where the Crown Prince had a talk there.

[357] And he said, back in 90s, he saw a man or a leader that showed and proved to the whole region what could be possible and how to design and build something global out of this region.

[358] And that person was His Honor, Sheikh Mohammed, the UAe Prime Minister.

[359] It made me feel proud at that moment.

[360] of who we are and what's our impact.

[361] But then I see it everywhere, Jordan.

[362] I don't see it only on GCC.

[363] I even see it across the globe.

[364] I see articles.

[365] I saw an article on BBC where it was about the next Dubai of Africa.

[366] Where it could be the next Dubai be in Africa?

[367] Where it could be where are the next growing cities in the Middle East or many different areas?

[368] I like how the UAE, how Dubai, how Balabia became a model that works and that shows you can actually achieve what your dreams or vision are in a very short time.

[369] In your age, in my age, we can actually build a whole nation.

[370] So let's talk about your, I'd like to talk about the international scene a little bit now.

[371] And so how are your relationships?

[372] with your immediate neighbors.

[373] And so I want to know that.

[374] And what direct influence you think the success of the UAE has had on their development strategies?

[375] Let's start with that.

[376] How are your relationships with your immediate neighbors?

[377] Who are your strong allies?

[378] Who do you feel that you're collaborating with to build a more positive vision of the future on the Arab side?

[379] Okay.

[380] I'm not a diplomat.

[381] I won't speak on behalf of our, embassies or our ambassadors, but what I see is you have maintained a positive relationship, a respecting relationship with almost every single country worldwide.

[382] That's why we gained trust from many different countries.

[383] That's why we became a smaller word in this nation.

[384] You would see us participating in every single mission or act that helps humanity grow.

[385] Look at the numbers.

[386] Look at the numbers.

[387] You would see the UAE among, always among the top five when it comes to four and eight, when it comes to support humanitarian activities.

[388] That goes back to 1971.

[389] You would see many hospitals, many schools, many universities, many clinics.

[390] Worldwide are named after the Lechechizade or named after the UAE.

[391] Just recently I was in Washington, D .C., and I met a friend of mine there, he told me, I actually go for my clinic appointments to a hospital where the UA invested heavily in for its research, for its services, in Washington, D .C. And the same, you would hear it in many different countries, where actually you would see the UA's and its leadership footprint there, that there is something good happening.

[392] There is that what again built credibility in this country.

[393] That's again built why this country is special, this country is different.

[394] You would hear many head of states speaks proudly about their partnership with the UAE.

[395] It's a small country, but it showed the whole word that you could actually have a huge impact.

[396] What's your relationship?

[397] Let's talk a little bit about the Abraham Accords and your relationship with Israel.

[398] What's happening on that front and what are the challenges and advantages to such initiatives?

[399] You have lived it, you have here it for 20, 30 years.

[400] Conflicts and tensions, we didn't see a result.

[401] I think there were no winner in conflicts and tensions.

[402] The UA took a whole different directions.

[403] the UA took the direction of actually looking at peace and tolerance, but then be brave and bold enough to act on peace and tolerance.

[404] We all want, we're all in campaigns and strategies say that we want to be more tolerant, more accepting, more respecting.

[405] But then what proves is all these campaigns or all these beautiful messages is what are your actions or what are your actions?

[406] movements toward peace.

[407] And I think that something we have showed very clearly in the UAE, where you would see everyone from any other nationality, any religion, that would feel respected, it will feel safe, and actually feel inspired.

[408] Feel inspired to accept the other and feel inspired to see what brings us together.

[409] I can spend this hour, Jordan, to speak about how close we are, when it comes to thoughts, or I can also look at it from a very dark lens where we see how different we are.

[410] I think we chose the right lens.

[411] We chose to be also a beacon of hope to send that message loud to even inspire others.

[412] If it works in the UAE and you see peace actually in action in the UAE, you see respecting different cultures and nations are happening here right now, Why do you want to wait for you to actually be more tolerant?

[413] I think no one will win against tolerance.

[414] So you mentioned earlier that you see in Dubai a competition between different modes of productivity and generosity, let's say, who can make the best offer?

[415] And I've been thinking this through, on the religious front, in the world, we have three major religions emerging from the Middle East, all part of the Abrahamic tradition, all monotheistic, all people of the book, embroiled internally in conflict over nominally religious matters for centuries in the West and in the Middle East.

[416] and then also engaged in conflict between the major religions.

[417] And it seems to me that we're at a point in our historical development where what we should be engaging in is something like a competition of invitation.

[418] And you could say, well, if you have faith in your tradition, then you could be an avatar of that tradition, and you could live in the most noble manner you could possibly imagine.

[419] And if you turn out to be a shining beacon on the hill and other people are attracted, well, then you win.

[420] and that's a good competition.

[421] And now, I know there have been multi -faith initiatives in the UAE.

[422] It has a tradition of, I don't think religious tolerance is exactly the right word.

[423] It's more like something approximating a genuine appreciation for diversity.

[424] Do you want to talk a little bit about what's been happening in the UEA on the faith side?

[425] Because I think that strikes me as extremely important.

[426] In the UAE, you would find mosques, you would find churches, you would find synagogues.

[427] We have the Abrahamic house in Bolivia.

[428] I think what we have been building here in the UAE is actually an environment where we respect every single religion and we respect our differences in a way that we accept others, we accept what's different and what.

[429] and we focus on what brings us together.

[430] I had a conversation with many from different faiths, and we were speaking about leadership building and about character building.

[431] And then the name Prophet Moses came, a prophet who we do respect, and the counterparty spoke to me about a leadership program where they designed based on the journey of Prophet Moses and how he actually became who he is and who he was.

[432] And that's something we really appreciate in the Islamic culture and Islamic tradition because there's stories in our Quran, you would see it in Bible, you would see it in many other books.

[433] And I think focusing on areas where we see how different faith brings different messages or different stories or different values.

[434] and see where are the common areas, I think that's where our strength come from.

[435] And there are hundreds and thousands of areas where you could agree and I could agree and many other people from many different faiths could agree that, yes, this is part of who we are or this is part of who we believe in, or this is the God we worship.

[436] And that's how we worship them, and that's how we actually serve our nation, our planet, our community?

[437] Well, one of the most remarkable initiatives that I've seen in recent years, along with the Abraham Accords, which established peace between Israel and a variety of Arab states, is the Abrahamic Family House, which is a very impressive complex, that has on the same site a mosque, a church, and a synagogue.

[438] And, you know, that seems to me to be, symbolically emblematic of what's happening in the UAE.

[439] Now, that just opened recently, I believe, right?

[440] That's opened what in the last, is it the last six months?

[441] It's certainly within the last year.

[442] Yes, it is.

[443] And so what has been the consequence of that enterprise?

[444] And how was it set in motion?

[445] Why did it succeed?

[446] Today, I were spending some time on social media.

[447] And a video of a student, I think almost seven years old, the student came out, that he actually went to a tour with his family to that Abrahamic house.

[448] And he was telling the whole word, I think, sorry, it was among 10, 12 years old.

[449] I'm not sure how old he was.

[450] But he was telling the whole word that, oh, look at this place where actually Muslims, Christians, Jews could worship in different buildings that represent their different worships or different faith worshipping one god actually happen here right away in Dubai in Abu Dhabi.

[451] This place is public.

[452] It built on an idea that's simple, yet bold and sharp.

[453] Just think about it.

[454] Many different religions, faiths, people from many different faith, together in one place, living with peace.

[455] It's actually possible.

[456] It's happening.

[457] You don't need a magic stick for it to happen.

[458] You will need to design the right environment for it to happen, the right conversations, the right dialogue, the right inspiration for the next generation.

[459] And I don't see any challenge to bring it to life, to bring us all of us together and closer.

[460] Yeah.

[461] Well, wouldn't that be a wonderful?

[462] thing.

[463] I mean, you know, I was ill for a couple of years and wasn't paying much attention to initiatives on the international front.

[464] But when I sort of sprang back to life in 2020, one of the first things I turned my attention to was the Abraham Accords and the fact that something genuinely new and positive seemed to be emerging in the Middle East.

[465] And like, it was a big deal.

[466] And I was quite stunned by, in some ways, by how little attention was paid to that in the West.

[467] because it struck me as one of the most vital developments on the international front, well, certainly in the last 50 to 70 years, but perhaps even beyond that, especially if it's allied, as you're pointing out, with an actual transformation of vision, you know, if we could tilt things, the collective we, if we could tilt things so that we started to regard people of faith, let's say, as allies, instead of as mortal enemies, then God only knows what we could.

[468] produce.

[469] And I would also say that the people of the Abrahamic faiths, let's say, have bigger fish to fry on the enmity front than each other.

[470] You know, there's, there's, and this is particularly relevant in the West.

[471] If the traditional religious structures collapse, all sorts of bizarre systems of belief make themselves manifest as a replacement.

[472] And as far as I can tell, those replacements aren't all that desirable.

[473] And so it seems to me to be only wise on the parts of Jews, Christians, and Muslims to look to what they have in common and to foster that.

[474] And it's very, very heartening to see a country like the UAE, which can punch above its weight and which is small enough to be governable but large enough to be a model to actually take the initiative on this front.

[475] I'm very much looking forward.

[476] I'm going to go to the UAE.

[477] I think I'm going in October, in early October.

[478] I'm very much looking forward to going to Abu Dhabi and seeing this tri -faith establishment, that's for sure.

[479] And then also, obviously, to see the other cities.

[480] I'm very much looking forward to that because I think it's a huge deal.

[481] This is something of historical significance, the establishment of the Abrahamic House, you know, the fact that you were able to do it, that it's been successful.

[482] I know that it was in, let me see here, the Pope visited in 2019.

[483] It was the first by a Pope to the Arab Arabian Peninsula.

[484] During that trip, he signed a joint declaration with the grand imam of El Azar that called for religious tolerance and dialogue.

[485] It's like, well, you know, hey, a little more of that would be a very, very good thing.

[486] So that's all extraordinarily positive.

[487] And so, all right, so let's turn our attention a little bit more specifically to the sorts of projects that you've been involved with.

[488] You have spearheaded 50 projects, a lot of them concentrating on youth.

[489] So why do you delve into what you've been doing on that front?

[490] Because I'm very curious, we talked before, this part, partly what brought this podcast about.

[491] We had a conversation previously about what might be done on the psychological front to end the demoralization of young people and to provide them with a certain amount of hope.

[492] And it's certainly the case that helping young people develop a vision for the future is, well, an obvious necessity, but also an extraordinarily cost -effective and efficient way of guiding, developing souls into a beneficial and productive and generous future.

[493] You've been doing such things for a very long time.

[494] So why don't you walk us through some of your projects?

[495] So, Jordan, I'm also very excited for you to visit and experience the UAE.

[496] And one part of UAE being a young country, most of our population are actually young people.

[497] Almost 50 % of the UAE's population are young under the age of 35.

[498] The EU government have established the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and have established, I think, it took the boldest and biggest steps when it comes to youth empowerment.

[499] You would hear people speaking about youth empowerment in many different countries, in panel discussion and roundtables.

[500] In many occasions, these are strategies that management consultant offered 500 pager strategies.

[501] that end up in the desk or sometimes end up to be a recommendation or a discussion, and you don't see it often in reality, or you don't see actual steps taken by the government to transform all these recommendations into actionable results or facts and figures.

[502] The case is completely different in the United Arab Emirates.

[503] I used to work as a director, General, for the Federal Youth Authority, What my main ultimate mandate was to actually ensure we design the right environment for young people to reach their full potential.

[504] And today, if you look at the young people of the United Arab Emirates, you would see that spark in their eyes.

[505] They want to be part of something bigger.

[506] That's something that I always wanted to be part of.

[507] back in 2009 when I was a high school student like many other young people I thought what would I want to be part of why do where I'm heading what's the work I have I want to accomplish or what are my achievements one ultimate source of inspiration was the UA leadership I saw the crime minister working on many different projects, working on delivering different clusters, different economic achievements, different staff when it comes to infrastructure and so on.

[508] So like many other young people, I went and asked the big question on where I'm heading.

[509] Where do I want to be 10 years from now?

[510] That was back in 2009.

[511] So I found the prime minister's webpage, And back then, Hotmail was something cool and everyone used to mail others.

[512] And I found a link to actually email the Prime Minister.

[513] And I ended up emailing the Prime Minister telling him that I'm amazed with all these achievements.

[514] I'm amazed with the way you transform vision and reality.

[515] And I want to be part of this.

[516] I want to be part of your team.

[517] I want to be part of this purpose.

[518] I want to actually help others the way I saw you guys inspired me, inspired me to be part of something bigger.

[519] And I sent that email in many countries you would think there are 10 ,000, 20 ,000, 50 ,000 of emails goes to the leadership and are sometimes ending up with the assistance.

[520] I didn't have big expectation.

[521] I thought maybe, maybe one day.

[522] the 100 or 1 ,000 emails that my email could reach to the prime minister.

[523] Surprisingly enough, a few days later, I get an email.

[524] It says, dear, it said, ambitious is great, work hard, look at the role models around, believe in what we are building, and one day you will have the opportunity because every single young person here in this country would have an opportunity.

[525] It was signed, personally by the prime minister himself.

[526] I kept that email printed and framed in my office.

[527] I remember 10 years from that email.

[528] I met the prime minister for one of the events.

[529] He was in my office.

[530] During that time, the smile I saw, the moment I lived, I felt every second.

[531] And deep inside, I felt that's the power of having the right role model.

[532] That's the power of actually having and visualizing a vision and then working hard for that vision to happen.

[533] And that's the moment where I thought I should be part of and be responsible to help others find their goal, find their path, find their role models.

[534] That's when I ended up being part of the youth in power.

[535] initiatives and policies.

[536] We have many policies and projects where it sets young people into their priority.

[537] They are the one who design their strategy.

[538] They are the one who design their policies.

[539] We used to have circles where we actually have the top decision makers, young people, students discussing certain problems or certain challenges, and then actually empower them to design the solution, stuff related to education, to mental health, to housing.

[540] And let me give you an example on housing.

[541] We had the public policy advisor, we had a decision maker participating in one of the circles, and we were young people discussing, well, building a house is not a task that is as easy as we think, because many of us are not designers or not engineers, and sometimes you will need proper budgeting, you would need proper timeline processes and so on.

[542] And we discussed maybe part of the solution could be actually to have a one -on -one fundamental course or guideline to help young people take that step.

[543] And there were the government, a week later signed a policy by the prime minister, where actually to equip and train people to take that milestone forward, to actually be prepared to build their house.

[544] And we have the same for building a family.

[545] We have the same to actually joining a workforce or a university.

[546] We have a lot of enablers and we have policy.

[547] Okay, the same meaning.

[548] Okay, yeah, okay, so the same meaning, you talked about family, you talked about career, you talked about education.

[549] these enabling processes, what exactly do you do?

[550] And how many people is that affecting and how do you know what the effect is?

[551] So how do you enable the young people on all these fronts?

[552] Well, we design products, products and policies and services.

[553] So one example, we have a policy where in every single government authority or a department or agency, you allocate a seat for young people, where a young person would be part of that board would be part of that board meeting, would be part of that discussion to actually transfer young people's views into the ultimate decision -making layer at that authority.

[554] That's one.

[555] That policy is signed.

[556] You have seats allocated for young people.

[557] You wouldn't find that in any government worldwide, where we allocate a seat for young person in every single board.

[558] And another initiative of policy was actually designing different youth councils across the country, across the institution, across cities.

[559] We have the Dubai Youth Council, the Obadi Youth Council, we have councils across companies like Emmer's Youth Council, DP Awards Youth Council.

[560] We have in agencies and ministries where you have the Ministry of Economy, Youth Council.

[561] This youth councils act as representation of what young people aspire from these different ministries or these different corporations and they sit high enough to have a direct engagement with the leadership.

[562] So they actually have some influence.

[563] Exactly.

[564] It's not just pro forma.

[565] Yes, they do have influence, they have the toolkit, they have the support, they have the enablers.

[566] And I think what's very, very special in the United Arab Emirates is that direct bonding between young people and the leadership.

[567] Go in the streets and the neighborhood during your visit.

[568] A random survey on how many young Emirates are actually met the president himself.

[569] You would find numbers and answer that you couldn't find in any other country worldwide.

[570] our president, as in Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, I think he designed an engagement model between leadership and young people that doesn't exist anywhere.

[571] He opens his place every week, sometimes every Monday, sometimes every Tuesday, where anyone I could go and visit and discuss some of my aspirations or discuss some of the challenges I'm facing.

[572] He is part of where are we heading.

[573] When I got married, I got a letter from him on congratulations on your marriage.

[574] And then he also, I have met him almost five times.

[575] That's me, I think there are hundreds of others and thousands of people who met him maybe 10 times or 20 times.

[576] But that built the trust.

[577] So if you look at the formula on why the UAE is successful in terms of youth, in terms of economy, we have the vision.

[578] we have a leadership that we trust and we trust because they represent who we are when it comes to values but they also show performance performance that is exceptional I think if you look at the achievements and the deliverables and the policies signed during crisis during hardest times it shows that this leadership not only care about this country, but cares also about the generation would come 10, 20, 30 years from now.

[579] And part of it comes from the responsibility of representing the founding father's value.

[580] I remember one of the occasions where the UA president had to meet one of the state leaders in one of the buildings.

[581] And I was there at that building, and I saw his agenda.

[582] I know he had a long program then.

[583] While he walked in in the building, he actually spent time to have a direct interaction.

[584] He came not only to say hi, but to also ask about any challenges we face or ask about our dreams, have that conversation.

[585] I think what this leadership show in the United Arab Emirates, it gives people the value, the value they deserve.

[586] I have been living in the United Arab Emirates, I never, ever saw any part of the ruling family cross a signal, the street.

[587] I saw them in our weddings, I saw them in our, with us in our hardest time, I saw them actually leading projects and going into the field to see their projects and vision coming to life.

[588] And I don't, and you would see that, and you'd experience that.

[589] that during your visit because it's facts and figures, it's numbers, it's achievements.

[590] It's not an emotional opinion, but it's a credible opinion.

[591] Do you feel like there's, I would say there's widespread demoralization among young people in the West.

[592] And I think that's particularly true of young men.

[593] And I think the reasons are basically threefold.

[594] The first is, is that we do a very bad job of managing the play preference and the activity preference of boys in our early education system.

[595] And so our elementary schools are not well designed for what boys need.

[596] And then on the ideological front, we insist at every possible turn that any manifestation of masculine ambition is part of the system of patriarchal oppression that's what would you call wreaked havoc in a demonic way since the beginning of time.

[597] And so the boys learn to identify their ambition with pathological power.

[598] And then if they manage to escape those two things, then the next thing they're told is that all human activity is nothing but destructive that we're taking the planet into an environmental apocalypse and that everything's going to collapse in any case, and it's the fault of human action.

[599] And the combination of those three things is, you could add pornography into the mix just to mop up any boys that might have escaped from those three things.

[600] And we've done a pretty spectacular job of demoralizing young people in the West, and it's not pretty.

[601] And so would you say that in the UAE that the young people that are part of your culture are looking to the future with hope.

[602] I mean, I know you're putting forward an optimistic vision, and it's a credible vision, and it's credible because there are markers of its success, right?

[603] It's not just talk, but you know, at least to some degree, what's happening in the West on the ideological front and the demoralization front.

[604] Do you think that you guys have been successful at providing a positive vision and motivating, while young men in particular?

[605] We talked about young women already.

[606] you've got the women's rights approach fully active.

[607] You said women are well integrated into your culture at every level.

[608] Are your young people looking forward to the future with a certain degree of hope?

[609] So, Jordan, I have studied with young people, worked with young people, and also been offering public service to young people.

[610] Part of my mandate was to actually interact with young people on daily basis.

[611] and what I saw is not just hope I actually saw a drive to build something big to build the next big thing for this nation to actually turn another impossible into possible and we have many examples on stuff that happens in schools in universities 10 years ago if you ask a young man would you ever dream to go to this space or what would be your dream?

[612] I don't think the answer about going or exploring space would exist back then in the Arab world.

[613] It was something almost impossible.

[614] It was something that's far away.

[615] You don't see young Arabs actually exploring space for decades, for 30, 40 years.

[616] Now if you go to the schools in the United Arab Emirates and meet many young kids, and young men, many of them would say, we want to be the next astronaut who goes and explore space because they have someone and they have a role model that exists today.

[617] We take that box.

[618] We made it possible.

[619] We turned something impossible into possible.

[620] We turned a whole dream into an actual visual story.

[621] And we have many of these stories in the UAE where actually men could see others do it and they feel that, oh, I can also do it.

[622] I can also design my own startup.

[623] I can also be part of this mission.

[624] I can also be part of this program.

[625] Actually, if you look at the cabinet, many members of the cabinets are young ministers.

[626] They are under the age of 35.

[627] They are under the age of 30.

[628] They are ministers of economy, ministers of artificial intelligence, Minister of Youth Affairs, Minister of Community Development, and in a way, showcase again hope in many different formats.

[629] And that goes back to the whole region.

[630] There were a survey called the Arab Youth Survey.

[631] Now, they did it almost 10 times.

[632] Every time they questioned almost 3 ,000 young Arabs.

[633] Every time the UAE became the U .A .E. ideal location for them to actually follow their dreams.

[634] And every time they saw the UAE model as a model of hope and a model of optimistic future.

[635] And not only when it comes to views or how we see the future, but actually how we design it and how we build it.

[636] You go and walk in the United Arab Emirates, you would find incubators everywhere for young entrepreneurs.

[637] You would find youth hubs where actually either if you were an art. artist, a musician, a scholar, a writer, a researcher, where you can have a whole path.

[638] One thing that we did very well, Jordan, is basically we taught people how to find their point B and then how to go and walk that way toward point B. Because not knowing the destination is scary, and it creates that gap.

[639] Hopeless.

[640] Yes, exactly.

[641] If you look at most of the challenges Arab youth face a big part of it because many of them are hopeless or many of them didn't find hope in a way.

[642] Almost 70 % of PhD holders in the Arab world are living outside the Arab world.

[643] And there where we have an initiative called the Great Arab Mines, an initiative that was launched last year.

[644] The ultimate idea, and purpose and objective of this initiative is actually to build role models in medicine, in physics, and chemistry, in economy, in technology, and engineering, and in design.

[645] It's an award that's not only contributes with the financial rewards, but actually it's recognized different contribution.

[646] It's recognized the gems we have in that report.

[647] For so long, many of our scientists and scholars were hidden gems in our society.

[648] And sadly, in our communities in the Arab world, if you look at the numbers, many are leaving their report, and that's something, I don't mind people chasing their future anywhere, but then we should also understand that the Arab world needs them the most.

[649] It needs more role models for the 108 million young Arabs in science, and economy and design.

[650] That's where the UAE came up with this initiative, which I'm currently busy with, is actually not to explore who are our hidden gyms and turn them into visible gyms, but also to recognize them, to empower them, to reward them.

[651] Sometimes all what they need is a path on the back.

[652] They want someone to tell them, well done.

[653] You have done it.

[654] You are a role model for our kids.

[655] And sometimes we do that late.

[656] You have many names in that report.

[657] Like look at Zaha Hadid.

[658] She was a designer.

[659] She built and designed buildings in many different places in the whole world.

[660] I think today we value her and we notice her value.

[661] But then who is our current Zaha Hadid?

[662] Who is our current Ibn Khalduin of psychology?

[663] Who is our current Al -Qaerizmi?

[664] And the whole Arab world.

[665] And that's what we are trying to find.

[666] And I think this is the ultimate message of hope and confidence.

[667] Because part of what we do is we build confidence in people.

[668] If the UAE made it, if someone made it to the space station, if someone built a city in 50 years, the most ideal and one of the worst best cities, you can also do it.

[669] So let's turn for a moment to tell me a little bit about what problems you see besetting the UAE.

[670] What are the major challenges that you guys are dealing with at the moment?

[671] And maybe we can conclude after that with a description of where you'd like to see things head over the next 10 years.

[672] But let's start with challenges.

[673] What are the major challenges that you face in the UAE?

[674] I think we face challenges that are similar challenges that many nations and generations are facing worldwide.

[675] One thing is the impact of social media and the impact of bringing everything closer.

[676] Well, that had a very positive impact on doing business, on work, on studying, on education, but also showed some threats that we, some, I see in many different areas worldwide, people are losing their identity, they are losing their hope, or sometimes I don't know how can I define what we see in many different parts of the whole world.

[677] So my ultimate goal always, that's I see it for myself and my family, how to ensure that we have that immunity and we have that guarding values to ensure that not only my generation can take the right decision, but my daughter's generation could take again the right decision and her next generation could they also take the right generation.

[678] Well, the problem with that information influx, as you said, is very, very rich, but it's also sufficiently overwhelming to be a dissolvent and an agent of chaos, right?

[679] I mean, when you have access to everything, it's hard to be something.

[680] And we don't know what this extension of our nervous system, because that's definitely what the social media platforms are.

[681] We don't know what that extension exactly is going to be.

[682] do for us.

[683] And you know, you made reference back to some of the earlier points you made in the discussion is that you guys are trying to identify your core values and to leave them in bedrock position in your culture.

[684] And you're hoping that that will enable your young people to turn to the benefits of our interconnectedness without falling prey to the possibility of chaos being induced.

[685] You know, it's very hard to set up a complex information system that's optimally what, interconnected.

[686] So the brain is set up so that it has areas that only communicate locally and then those areas communicate distally.

[687] Like every neuron isn't connected to every other neuron.

[688] You get nothing but chaos in that situation.

[689] And so there has to be a balance between order and stability and connectivity.

[690] And we are all wrestling with that around the world, right?

[691] I mean, these new technologies are absolutely amazing, but they definitely do have the possibility of spreading chaos at the same rate they distribute benevolent information.

[692] I think that, again, goes to the way we want this generation to raise and grow.

[693] Part of it we take a full responsibility on.

[694] I think we should take full accountability and responsibility on what are the values we want to embed in the community's DNA and our family's DNA and how do we do that often in different doses?

[695] We do it in school, we do it at all, we do it in university, we do it in workplaces.

[696] I'll give you an example.

[697] I had a program called the National Values Program here at the United Arab Emirates and one of the main products of that program was to actually measure values in the society and in the community.

[698] So we used to do social experiments.

[699] And then one of the social experiments, I said, okay, let's take a permission where we have a car by the side of the street where someone who needs help with his mechanics of his car, his car is not working, it's at 2 p .m. afternoon in the summer, it's a time where maybe most people would be busy having lunch with their families.

[700] And we said, let's record that and see how many actually young Emirates would come and provide help or provide support.

[701] Jordan in one hour, the number of people who actually stopped and paused their journey to wherever they were heading and paused by and parked beside that car to actually offer help, it was more than 15 young people.

[702] They decided to actually, voluntarily, something in them felt that, oh, I should offer help.

[703] And that's something I see on daily basis.

[704] I don't think you will see a single incident where we think twice before providing support or before providing help to people around.

[705] And that's that value.

[706] That's part of that tradition of hospitality.

[707] Yes, that was part of our generation's hospitality and the way we have been raised.

[708] But then my ultimate concern is always, I have to be as good as my father and my grandfather and building that and my daughter and building that in the next generation to ensure that I embed the same values that grows in her the way I saw it happening in me and in many other people during one of my latest visits.

[709] I was waiting for a plane and watching the news on TV and there were an incident in one of the cities in the Western world where someone was being killed in a subway and people were filming that and people were standing still and filming that.

[710] It's a scare To me, at that moment, I felt where are we heading as human beings?

[711] That's something I don't want to ever see, not in 50 years, but in 100 years in our country.

[712] And I'm sure it won't happen because we are taking full responsibility and accountability on defining who we are.

[713] Because that have been happening since 1971, and it will keep happening until 2071 for the years ahead.

[714] But then also that reminds me to a story we all know, Cain and Abel.

[715] I think, yes, Cain was angry, he was jealous of his brother, and he ended up killing him.

[716] But then if you look at the word today, I think Cain and Abel exist almost in every single community.

[717] And sometimes maybe some people would say they exist even in you.

[718] but then you decide on who wins and you decide that you never allow to calabble in your community or you calabled in yourself and that's something very, very important to us because we know that sometimes in some communities and we saw it happening people lose it.

[719] I think they lose the idea of being a human being.

[720] The being part gets lost.

[721] they don't define their values or they don't define what's right and what's wrong.

[722] I think that's something we do very well and my ultimate passion is to continue to do that.

[723] I want to close this with an invitation to you.

[724] I've been working with a group of people centered in London, but with active participants all through Europe and Australia and Canada and the U .S. And then increasingly in other places in the world where we can manage the reach.

[725] We have a conference coming up in London at the end of October, October 31st, 30th, 31st and November 1st, followed by a public event at the O2.

[726] The group is the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, And what we're trying to do is to formulate a positive story for the future, a positive vision.

[727] And I would like to extend an invitation to you.

[728] And also, what would you say, codicil on that invitation, it would be delightful and helpful if you could also help us identify key people that we might invite in the UAE and in your broader network of contacts to bring people there.

[729] because we want to get everybody on board to the degree that that's possible.

[730] And we are doing kind of what we discussed during this podcast.

[731] You know, we want to put together a vision of the future that isn't going to involve compulsion and force, but that offers an active invitation to the kind of future that we might all want to have if we could pick the future we would actually want to have if we were being able and not cane, let's say.

[732] And so, you know, it sounds like our interests in that regard are very much aligned.

[733] And I'm also looking very much forward to coming to the UAE and to meeting you in person and to seeing what's going on in there.

[734] And I would like to thank you for talking to me and to everybody else here today to clue us in about the positive developments in the Middle East.

[735] I mean, in the West, you know, we've sat through decades of stories of misery and dread emanating from the Middle East.

[736] And, you know, that's kind of part for the historical course in some ways.

[737] and it's so bloody positive to see things switch around and to see peace break out and to see the possibility of real generous cooperation emerge.

[738] And so, you know, congratulations on that front.

[739] It's such a major accomplishment.

[740] And hopefully that ethos can spread throughout the Arab world and everywhere else.

[741] Wouldn't that be good?

[742] Jordan, well, thank you for hosting me. Thank you for your invitation.

[743] you're a psychologist, and I think you know that feeling when you have a dinner with your wife and you eat something that's tasty and delicious, and you go and tell her, oh, I think you should try this, or you watched a movie that's somehow moved apart on you, and then you said, oh, I think you should watch this movie.

[744] Is that feeling where you want the other side or the other part or the other community or friends or family to enjoy what you have enjoyed or to actually have something good or experience something good as you did it as a human being.

[745] And I think that feeling, you would see it in a more office, in UAE nationals.

[746] We feel our leadership did and built something that works and something that shows results, something that built hope, something that made me feel I'm unstoppable when it comes to serving, when it comes to building something better.

[747] And I wish I see that in more communities.

[748] I wish I see that in many different areas.

[749] Because I have tasted it, I have lived it, I have experienced it.

[750] And that's my ultimate purpose in life to actually help others see the good we saw and we experienced because part of being who we are or part of defining your purpose is seeing the good in others and having a good impact on others as well well amen to that brother so well i'll see you in the UAE in not so many months, and I'm looking forward to collaborating with you on that front and to having you in London.

[751] And for everyone watching and listening, I'm going to continue speaking with Saeed on the Daily Wear Plus platform.

[752] We're going to delve a little bit more into his personal history and to discussion on the autobiographical front.

[753] And so give some consideration to joining us there if you're inclined.

[754] Otherwise, I'll say, Say, Anora, to you all.

[755] And thank you very much for your time and attention to the film crew here.

[756] in Northern Ontario and also in the UAE.

[757] Thanks for your participation and always to the DailyWare Plus folks for making this possible.

[758] It's much appreciated.

[759] Very good to talk with you, sir, and we'll take five.

[760] And for the rest of you watching and listening, you know, join me in the next podcast as well.

[761] Very good to talk to you today.

[762] Thank you.

[763] Thank you, Doctor.

[764] I enjoyed the conversation.

[765] I think I see your clips more often.

[766] feed of our young people.

[767] I see my nephews watching some of your clips because actually your content when it comes to setting goals, sitting vision, character building or exploring character.

[768] And a lot of the values you are speaking about, it's somehow the same language we understand and we see.

[769] I'm not sure how much you dig deep into the culture of the Middle East, the Arabord and the Islam accord.

[770] But I could say that the areas where we could see alignment and agreements are huge and that represent who we are.

[771] I think it does the news you hear about this region and the conflicts and the people of this region.

[772] I think we again we didn't do enough when authoring our own story.

[773] Many people spoke about who we are but I think we know better who we are, and we should send that narrative to the whole world.

[774] Great.

[775] Well, you know, all of that shared foundation means that, in principle, we have something to build, solid to build on in the future, and so, you know, hooray for that.

[776] All right, good to talk to you, sir.

[777] Bye, bye, everybody.