Annual Letter 2020 – We say thank you!

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a population of 9 million people, 9/10 of whom are foreigners. Overall, 200 nationalities make up the population of the UAE, with an overwhelming presence of Indian and Pakistani expatriates, followed by Asian, African, European, and American populations. The UAE is hence a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society, governed by the typical laws and customs of the Muslim religion.

Arabia was a significant part of the Late Antiquity from which Islam emerged. Contrary to traditional sources, writer Muhammad Ali Sohail article argues that what eventually became the Islamic civilisation was a continuation of Late Antiquity's most salient features, with late antique empires establishing the foundations for the initial development of Islam. Moreover, it highlights the role played by traditional sources in instigating academic curiosity and mistrust from revisionist scholars who challenged the traditionalist premise entirely.

Maritime piracy is a challenge in the 21st century because of how it affects international trade. The rise of globalisation, described as the growing interconnectedness between states, highlights the growing dependence on maritime trading routes which is vital to the economic development of many coastal states. The Gulf of Guinea, where Nigeria is located, possesses a high number of natural oil resources which have been put at risk due to the rise in oil theft. As Nigeria has no narrow straights to restrict shipping, it is more susceptible to violent pirate attacks than other areas in the region. The launch of the Deep Blue Project was pivotal in the Nigerian maritime domain and could serve as a blueprint for preventing piracy in other regions.

Whenever national security is brought up in public discourse, it is commonly thought of and discussed in stricter terms. Images of military personnel performing combat operations, government-sponsored hackers performing network intrusions, or hypersonic missile launches are among the first images. However, these are only part of the entire national security threats posing nation-states around the globe. Non-traditional security threats pose a real and serious challenge to the Intelligence Community and the U.S. national security strategy as a whole.