Why is the UAE a Federation?

Over centuries the role of religion prohibited the area’s integration into ‘Ibadhi Oman. Tribal allegiances at times promoted, and at other times inhibited the formation of a larger political unit on the territory of the modern UAE. The exploitation of geographically-conditioned diverse economic resources re-enforced the tribal differences. However, it was the nature of the engagement of the various coastal tribal chiefs with an outside power, the British in India, which laid the foundations for the UAE’s federal political system.

A public presentation in the NYUAD History Department's research seminar series. Please note the mid-day timing.