Challenging the accepted understanding of the executive branch of the UAE’s Federal Government

The accepted understanding of what constitutes executive government in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is that power rests with the Cabinet. This is, however, only partially correct. In reality, executive power over national security is excised from the Cabinet, and instead rests with a group of legislatively-defined agencies and posts. In other words, institutionally the UAE’s executive branch is bifurcated, with one part handling ‘high’ policy, meaning national security, and the other ‘low’ policy, that is all the rest. This article describes the unobserved part of the UAE’s executive branch. In doing so, it provides a significant advance in the understanding of the somewhat opaque nature of government in the UAE. Importantly, it provides a more nuanced understanding of the sources of power as they relate to the powerful Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a person often (mis)characterised as the de facto leader of the UAE.