Rousseau and the UAE's unwritten contract

During one of our meetings, Meher, Managing Editor of Emirates 24|7, had shown me a video of Jazz, his German Shepherd puppy, watching a World Cup match and snacking, I found the scene so cute that it stayed with me. A few nights later, I sent Meher my new column late in the evening, shortly before France and Spain met in the World Cup semi-final, and added a question: “Who is Jazz supporting tonight?” “Has to be France!” he replied. Meher studied history and remains fascinated by the French Revolution, Voltaire and Rousseau, so our conversation soon travelled from football to philosophy. I told him I had always loved Rousseau’s concept of 'Le Contrat Social'. To me, it remains one of the clearest ways to think about the relationship between people and the state, a relationship the UAE has been shaping in its own way for decades. The idea, published in 1762, is deceptively simple: a society agrees to be governed, and in return, the state provides protection, security and the conditions for a good life. Legitimacy, Rousseau argued, is earned through service to the common good. For more than two centuries, discussions about the social contract have focused on political structures: elections, constitutions and parliaments. The UAE approached the same question from another angle, instead of asking how legitimacy is granted, it asked how legitimacy is experienced, and answered with delivery. Since 1971, the country has written that answer in concrete terms: free education, comprehensive healthcare and housing programmes for citizens. In 2016, the UAE created the first ministerial position of its kind in the world, appointing a Minister of State for Happiness and turning wellbeing into a formal government responsibility, later embedded across government entities through happiness and positivity officers and dedicated councils. What sets this apart is that every obligation is measurable: each tracked, each enforced, each managed through data and deadlines. Rousseau described an idea, the UAE put it into practice. In peacetime, the model attracts, people from every continent moved their families here, enrolled their children and invested their careers, and each of those decisions became a signature. The UAE ranks as the safest country on earth, ahead of 147 nations, and leads the Arab world in happiness, outranking the United States, the United Kingdom and France, the country most closely associated with Rousseau’s political legacy. In wartime, nothing was renegotiated, a regional conflict struck the country’s energy, logistics and defence systems simultaneously, electricity stayed on, water kept flowing, food remained on shelves, government services continued at every level, schools shifted to remote learning within days, and companies activated continuity plans tested during Covid. The people stayed. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, visited five wounded civilians during the conflict, two Emiratis, one Indian, one Sudanese and one Iranian, and told them they were all a responsibility on his shoulders. He asked the nation's pardon if expectations had not been met, acknowledged that the country was in a time of war, and promised: "We will fulfil our responsibility to defend you, our people and our families." He also addressed every resident: "In the UAE, everyone is Emirati through their love for this land and their contributions to it." His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, appeared among the public at the Super Saturday races at Meydan. The message carried the same weight: clauses honoured in person, at the moment they cost the most. Rousseau imagined a contract between people and the state, the UAE reminds us that the strongest ones reveal themselves when people are free to leave, and choose to stay. Jazz was disappointed, France finished fourth. Spain went on to win the World Cup, and I hope he still watched the final with enough snacks, I watched every minute, happily cheering as Spain lifted the trophy. -- (Naoufer Ramoul is a senior TV presenter and producer at Dubai Media Incorporated, and the host of the award-winning political show Qabel lil Niqash on Dubai TV. She has worked as a presenter at Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and Alhurra.)