Athol Yates - Böcker

Today, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces is recognised as the most proficient military set-up in the Arab world, recently engaged in operations in Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen, and in the fight against ISIS. This book examines a pivotal component in how the UAE built such effectiveness: Western military professionals embedded in the Emirati forces. Some of these expatriates have commanded major military formations, others served as high-ranking staff, piloted front-line aircraft, developed and delivered training, or advised senior Emirati officers.The first such individuals arrived in 1965, when they were engaged to establish the state’s initial professional military force. Expatriates have since served continuously to the present day. This volume traces their history through 14 case studies, covering the period between 1965 and 2023. It offers a comprehensive picture of the expatriates’ backgrounds, the rationale behind their recruitment, and how they have been utilized. This information provides the foundation for the book’s key research question: to what degree and how have such individuals helped to generate a sustained military advantage for the Emirati military?The implications arising from this study are important, particularly for the UAE as it contemplates the potential replacement or phasing out of Western expatriates. They are equally consequential for Western defence policy-makers seeking innovative ways to develop the capabilities of friendly advanced nations, and for the more than a thousand expatriates currently serving in the Gulf who aspire to increase their influence.

Like any country, the United Arab Emirates have had their share of criminals, accidents, natural disasters and downright weird incidents. Most of these events merit a few pages in the newspapers before disappearing from history. This book brings the tragic, strange and illuminating stories from the 1970s back to life in a compilation of 168 of the best, drawn from past UAE newspapers - UAE News, Emirates News, Abu Dhabi News and the Gulf Weekly Mirror. The common theme of the articles are that they have all had an impact on safety, security and stability of the UAE, and cover a vast range of topics from smuggling deaths to murders, from assassinations to plane hijackings, and from mermaid hoaxes to UFO sightings. Together, they provide a fascinating glimpse into the past, and many of the stories still resonate today.