London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 16, 2025

UK must harness soft power to retain ties with UAE: panel

UK must harness soft power to retain ties with UAE: panel

Britain has lost touch with its capacity for soft power and must seek to regain this if it is to retain ties with the UAE, according to a panel of academics and diplomats.
Speaking on Tuesday at an event hosted by The Emirates Society and attended by Arab News, provost for the University of Birmingham Dubai, Prof. David Sadler, said successive British governments have neglected those countries with which the UK had previously held strong, longstanding relations.

“As a country, the UK has become disengaged in its soft-power relations from understanding a country’s long-term vision for its future,” he said.

“In the UAE, we have a country that has a long-term vision based on a 30- to 50-year timeframe, well beyond the British electoral cycles, and the UK must become better at engaging with this sort of long-term vision.”

Amanda Buckley, cultural affairs officer for the British Embassy’s mission in the UAE, warned that the UK may lose its standing in the Gulf.

“Soft power … is becoming a far more contested and competitive field,” she said. “We need only look at the activities of the non-traditional soft-power superpowers, the likes of China and Korea, who are both making greater efforts on this front.”

William Gueraiche, professor at the University of Wollongong Dubai, and Michael Wilson, executive principal of Cranleigh School Abu Dhabi, agreed with Buckley and Sadler that the seeming breakdown in understanding stems from governments having lost sight of what soft power is.

Gueraiche said it comprises cultural branding, cultural relations, diplomacy and national branding.

“When we talk about soft power, you must understand these different spheres to it, and the wants of diplomats will differ from, say, the wants of the British Counsel,” he added.

“Diplomats will be looking to increase market share for British companies. This is different to national branding, which the UK only started engaging in in 2011, 30 years after the UAE. The good news is that our perception of states changes slowly.”

Despite the UK’s neglect, the panel said the UAE’s perception of Britain remains strong, but it needs to redress the decline before it is usurped by new soft-power players.

Sadler and Wilson agreed that one of the strongest elements to British soft power is the faith and trust held globally in the nation’s schools, which have undergone a rapid process of internationalization in recent decades, with new campuses worldwide.

“There was an ability to translate the very traditional UK school into a, for instance, Abu Dhabi setting,” said Wilson.

“This wasn’t about coming with a flag behind us, but coming with ‘soft schools’ seeking to build common empathies and tolerances.

“This has been a real success story in the UAE, in part because it’s so diverse. We don’t teach diversity, we let the children absorb it.”

This absorption includes recognition of the historical relations between the two countries, according each other respect, and not presuming primacy in the region in the manner that the UK perhaps became accustomed to.

Wilson said the work being done by his school is based around modern dialogue and the notion of equal partnerships.

“We need to be teaching the next generation about each other, about each other’s cultures, and not approach engagement from the basis of a former global power and an emergent international player,” he added.

Saddler agreed that for the UK to regain its standing as a soft-power superpower, projects like those proposed by Wilson could help the country repair its reputation.

Responding to a question put by Arab News, Saddler said: “Yes, it’s through the younger generation that the reputation will be rebuilt. I have confidence and optimism that this will be a success as the youth we work with have a different worldview.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
×