The Transferability of Western Security Practices to the UAE

Abstract

The UAE, like many other countries, have continually adopted foreign ‘best practice' as a mechanism to modernize and develop the state. This process can be seen in the UAE's security agencies which in recent years have introduced a number of practices, including community policing and national service. Sometimes importing ‘best practice' is a success, and at other times, it is not. This thesis examines the role that culture plays in the successful transfer of a practice from a foreign state to the UAE. This research will answer the explanatory question: To what extent can Western security models be successfully transferred to the UAE? The research has two sub-questions: 1. What factors, actions and behaviors are linked to limiting/facilitating the transferability of Western security models? 2. To what extent do the identified factors, actions and behaviors link to national culture? A qualitative and comparative research approach was applied with data collected from in-depth interviews of security consultants and experts. Using a content analysis method, the thesis sought to identify behaviors and patterns that limit/facilitate the transfer process and actions taken to implement transferred model. The next stage involved linking the identified factors with Hofstede's four national culture characteristics for which there is UAE data on. The study concluded that only two of Hofstede's cultural dimensions that have high impact on the likely success of importing foreign practice - power distance (i.e the strength of societal social hierarchy) and uncertainty avoidance (i.e. society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity). These findings point to the conclusions that the greater the alignment between an imported practice's underpinning cultural assumptions, and the UAE's national culture as measured by both a high level of power distance and uncertainty avoidance, the greater the likelihood that the practice will be success. This explains why procedural-based practices are generally more successful than those with a high level of tacit knowledge, and predicated on information sharing and informal cross-agency communication.

Date of Award	Dec 2019
Original language	American English