The UAE is the first Arab in the soft power index and the 10th globally in the global influence and international relations

The UAE ranked first in the Arab world and the tenth globally in the standards of global influence and international relations from the point of view of an audience of 55 thousand people who participated in studies preparing the "Global Report for the Soft Power Index 2020" issued recently during the World Summit on Soft Power.

The results of the international report prepared by Brand Finance in cooperation with Oxford University were announced during the World Summit on Soft Power 2020, with the participation of former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and in the presence of 500 international officials, government, diplomats, and media professionals in the fields of business, economy, culture and diplomatic work , In the British capital, London, on February 25, 2020.

The audience members who participated in the study chose the UAE as one of the top ten countries in the world in terms of the noticeable global impact, with each of the United States that exported, followed by China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, Russia, Canada, and Italy.

The public also ranked the UAE first in the Arab world and the tenth globally in the international relations standard, with each of Germany leading the axis, followed by Britain, the United States, France, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Sweden and Russia.

The report was based on the opinions of the public and the specialists in assessing the soft power of countries, and polled the opinions of the general public consisting of 55 thousand participants from 87 countries, while the survey of specialists included 1012 interviews. Both specialists and the general public agreed that the UAE has a significant positive impact on the regional scene And international.

The specialists involved in preparing the report also ranked the UAE first in the Arab world and the tenth globally according to the business sector standard, which was issued according to the specialists in Switzerland, followed by Sweden, then the Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Norway, South Korea and Singapore.

The countries covered by the annual report, which won the international ISO accreditation, were evaluated according to ten main criteria: the remarkable global impact of the state, the country's reputation, general knowledge of the country, business and trade in it, culture and heritage, education and science, governance, international relations, media and communication, Peoples and values.

The global influence component gained the largest share in the evaluation of each country by 30% of the total soft power, while the state's reputation and general knowledge met it with 10% of the evaluation for each of them, and the other 50% was distributed over the rest of the criteria.

On the general level, which includes the ten criteria of soft power, the UAE ranked 11 globally in the global impact standard, and 18th globally in the overall ranking after the United States, which was followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, France and Canada , Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, Denmark, Spain, and Norway.

On the level of global reputation, the audience participating in the study on which the report was based placed the UAE in the 20th rank globally, and the report monitored a positive reputation for the UAE on a large scale, as the majority of participants saw it as having a positive impact on the global scene, with more specific opportunities to improve Its presence globally through its reputation.

On the economic level, the report monitored a distinguished presence of the UAE in the region and the world due to the axes of business and trade and the stable and growing economy of the country and being a preferred global destination for doing business.

On the level of international relations and diplomatic representation, the report monitored a strong presence of the UAE in the field of humanitarian work, with promising opportunities to enhance its pivotal role in international cooperation within the sectors of education, science, information and culture.

The results of the report and other specialized international reports reflect the success of the efforts made by the state and its institutions to enhance its positive reputation, the latest of which was the launch of its visual media identity at the beginning of this year under the slogan "nothing is impossible".

The report's outputs confirm the global audience's follow-up to the exceptional achievements of the UAE economically, socially, culturally and informally, until it occupied a distinguished position on the international scene less than half a century after the founding of its federation.

This advanced classification coincides with the government’s taking deliberate steps during the past few years to consolidate the advanced position of the UAE in various global indicators in a way that enhances its competitiveness and its international position, including the launch of the “Soft Power Council of the State of the Emirates” and the “Soft Power Strategy of the UAE.”

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, formed in May 2017 the “Soft Power Council of the UAE” which follows the Cabinet, to draw a general strategy for soft power and consolidate the positive image of the UAE in the world Among peoples and governments.

The council’s tasks include setting the general policy and strategy for the soft power of the United Arab Emirates to enhance the reputation and standing of the country regionally and globally, consolidate its soft power, and follow up its implementation.
The soft power strategy of the UAE, launched by the Soft Power Council in September 2017, aims to prepare a comprehensive government system to develop sustainable work programs and policies with a regional and global dimension, including the economic, cultural, artistic, tourism, humanitarian and societal dimensions of the state, with a focus on the humanitarian role and the civilized dimension, and construction On the country's reputation and to highlight the civilizational image of the UAE, its heritage, identity and distinctive culture.

The strategy includes four goals: to develop a unified identity for the state in all humanitarian, economic, tourism, media and scientific fields, to enhance the UAE’s position as a gateway to the Arab region and its cultural stock and as the capital of the Arab world for culture, art, information, tourism and science, and to develop effective international networks with individuals and institutions around the world to serve the country's goals and interests And consolidating the reputation of the state as a modern, open, tolerant and loving country for all the peoples of the world.

The UAE's Soft Power strategy works on 7 main axes that form the framework of the UAE's public diplomacy, namely unified identity, human diplomacy, personal and international representation diplomacy, popular diplomacy, scientific and academic diplomacy, cultural and media diplomacy, and economic diplomacy.

The "Global Soft Power Index" report works on arranging the countries covered by the evaluation in terms of areas and axes of soft power, by developing a global soft power index from a broader and broader regional and international perspective, and identifying areas with a more positive reputation against negative areas, leading to identifying factors forming opinions on The state, identifying gaps and challenges and extracting recommendations on how best to enhance the country's reputation and introduce it globally.