Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan
Operating in the shadows, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan is one of the most influential figures in the United Arab Emirates.The major negotiator behind normalizing ties with the Israeli regime, Sheikh Tahnoon is representative of the younger royals who have come to the fore over the past decade, thanks to their inherited power and wealth.
Tahnoon is the UAE’s national security adviser, involved in many opaque businesses in the key areas of trade and security.
In fact, he epitomizes the confluence of absolute power and money in the UAE ruling family, and the concomitant corruption.
A full brother of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, in January Sheikh Tahnoon was named chair of Group 42, an artificial intelligence company based in Abu Dhabi.
He is also chairman of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the country’s biggest lender; Tahnoon also chairs ADQ, one of the emirate’s most active investors; he is also head of International Holding Company, another conglomerate with assets of about $4bn in 2020; and Royal Group, another multinational conglomerate.
This is not a constitutional monarchy, this is an absolute monarchy.
It wields control over every aspect of life in the UAE, with people that are vulnerable to the whims and fancies of these individuals.
There are no state structures, there is no organization, there’s no social organization, as a people in the West would understand it, is ruled by diktat at the whims and fancies of these absolutists, decadent rulers, and it’s a disgrace that is allowed to occur in the 21st century in any part of the world, never mind the Middle East.
And so, as I say, it’s, it’s, it’s a consequence of these Gulf states which live on oil revenues, the UAE also has large revenues based on its development of Dubai as an international tourist resort, a flesh pot, as you will, where Hedonism reigns.
We have the slave labor at one end of the spectrum, and there’s decadent luxury at the other end of the spectrum.
John Wight, Writer and Political Analyst
Tahnoon’s holding numerous positions in vital sectors reveals the inner workings of Abu Dhabi’s absolute monarchy, where the royals dominate key parts of the economy, blurring the lines between state and private enterprise.
In the words of Kirsten Fontenrose, Director of Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, “Sheikh Tahnoon oversees everything. He’s the trusted under-the-radar guy. Part of that is mystique. He’s quiet and he’s always everywhere.”
The increased presence of the royal family, however, has been to the detriment of the private sector which cannot burgeon in an economy practically monopolized by the court.
These Gulf states, including the UAE, these are not real states, these are family businesses masquerading as such. They are run by diktat, by royal families who are unaccountable to any other entity, they do what they wish, they have absolute power over the people they rule over.
John Wight, Writer and Political Analyst
An expat executive with years of experience in Abu Dhabi told Financial Times on condition of anonymity, “I don’t think there are any credible private sector players in strategic sectors. If you wanted to negotiate a commercial deal with the family, not at the palace, you would approach through Tahnoon.”
Whereas the border between the state and royal interests have always been blurred in the Persian Gulf countries, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, what is new, however, is the rising leaderships in the two countries are becoming more autocratic, and more centralized, disturbing the power balance even among the royal families themselves.
According to Steffen Hertog of the London School of Economics, “It’s a bit like the new generation of royals in Saudi Arabia who are all sidekicks of Prince Mohammed [bin Salman]. It’s [centralization] being deployed more as a tool of the leader rather than the amorphous block that you had before.”
The UAE, is one of the most corrupt Gulf states around, if not the most corrupt, the focus is always on Saudi Arabia, the UAE has become the, the rest home for international criminals. It used to be the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Now, it is the United Arab Emirates, because these people bring in money, and they’re able
to operate from there almost with impunity. And this is a big, big, problem because some of these criminals are responsible for murder and mayhem on the streets of cities like Dublin and London and so forth, and the UAE is tarnished with this corruption and corruption, eventually eats the corrupt.
John Wight, Writer and Political Analyst
And that’s what I think may well happen in the case of this individual, and indeed the case of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates.
Sheikh Tahnoon was born in December 4, 1969, as one of six full brothers who are the sons of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, and his third wife Sheikha Fatima. He is a martial arts expert, avid cyclist, runner and a keen chess player.
In 1992, Tahnoon set up First Gulf Bank when he was only 23.
In 2013, he was appointed deputy national security adviser and promoted to national security adviser in 2016.
In 2020, the prince was appointed to the board of Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs.
So this gentleman is obviously a key player. He’s obviously been given licence to run the affairs of the UAE, all over the world. And as I say it’s very corrupting, and it’s very corrosive and the UAE will suffer going forward as a society, because no country can stand for all under diktat, there has to be accountability in the affairs of any nation state if it is to take its proper place in the modern world.
John Wight, Writer and Political Analyst
Sheikh Tahnoon is said to be a huge believer and investor in hi-tech regarding it as a way of diversifying the country’s oil-based economy. But his love for technology has a dark side as well.
For example, his company Group 42 is accused of releasing ToTok, a free messaging app for the main purpose of spying on its users, including journalists and dissidents, according to a New York Times report published in 2019.
Well that’s what these people do, they don’t, they fear the people they rule over because they know that they are operating a system that’s rooted in injustice and is rooted in oppression. So They fear their own people, they fear their own people will wake up to their condition, and they will act accordingly. This is why they expand and exert so much energy and money and time in surveilling their own people, because they’re scared of the consequences of their people awaking, as I say, to the reality of the condition in which they live.
John Wight, Writer and Political Analyst
The second most influential man in Abu Dhabi – as he is usually referred to – Sheikh Tahoon is a constant reminder that there is not enough room for everybody in the major sectors of a country that claims to be the most progressive in the Middle East.
The problem really is not so much how much power he has or whether he’s a typical prince, the problem is that there are such things as princes in these Gulf States. That’s the problem. This is an aggressive and archaic concept, having a Prince, having a royal family, and certainly a royal family with absolute powers. And the sooner that they are consigned to the dustbin of history, the concept of princes and royal families, the better off the people living there will be, the better off the region will be, and the better off, ultimately, the entire world will be.
John Wight, Writer and Political Analyst
Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat elbow bumps with an Emirati official ahead of boarding the plane before leaving Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates September 1, 2020. REUTERS/Nir Elias/Pool / AFP / POOL / NIR ELIAS
It is not compatible with the modern world, is not up to meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
Lack of democracy and equal opportunities are all too visible in the innumerable titles and positions the middle-aged prince holds far from prying eyes. But will he remain Superman forever?
This article has been adapted from its original source
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