Former US President Bill Clinton has hailed the social and cultural harmony that Dubai enjoys and lauded the cultural boom that the UAE is witnessing.
His remarks came during a meeting with the UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, on Wednesday.
They discussed a number of issues, from humanitarian concerns to politics to the current situation in the Arab region.
Clinton also shared the success story of Dubai, which resulted in excellent economic and investment diversity. Sheikh Mohammed presented an English copy of his book “My Vision” to Bill Clinton, which depicts Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s visions and personal experience in politics, economy, culture, equestrianism, in addition to Sheikh Mohammed’s positive future outlook on his country and its people.
In a separate event, during an opening session with American University of Dubai students, Bill Clinton said, “Dubai’s model, today more than ever, is an inspiration to many countries in the Middle East.”
“Places that have bounced back quickly from the economic crisis are those who have an operative model which creates cooperation across all sectors of society, races, religions and ethnic groups, where people find a way to celebrate and are proud of their differences and work together in shared responsibility”, explained Clinton.
“That is what Dubai and the UAE represent and I think you are in a strong position to win the bid for Expo 2020 because Dubai’s model of shared prosperity is more important today than ever and an inspiration to many countries in the Middle East.”
Students took turns asking questions on peace in the Middle East, the conflict in Syria and North Korea, as well as the President’s view on Africa as a developing continent.
Bill Clinton lauds UAE cultural boom
Bill Clinton lauds UAE cultural boom
Syrian leader to meet Putin, Russia seeks deal on military bases
- Russia’s continued sheltering of Assad and his wife since their ouster remains a thorny issue
MOSCOW: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa will meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, as the Kremlin seeks to secure the future of its military bases in the country.
Putin and Sharaa struck a conciliatory tone at their previous meeting in October, their first since Sharaa’s rebel forces toppled Moscow-ally Bashar Assad in 2024.
But Russia’s continued sheltering of Assad and his wife since their ouster remains a thorny issue. Sharaa has repeatedly pushed Russia for their extradition.
Sharaa, meanwhile, has embraced US President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday praised the Syrian leader as “highly respected” and said things were “working out very well.”
Putin, whose influence in the Middle East has waned since Assad’s ouster, is seeking to maintain Russia’s military footprint in the region.
Russia withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeast Syria earlier this week, leaving it with only the Hmeimim air base and Tartus naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast — its only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.
“A discussion is planned on the status of bilateral relations and prospects for developing them in various fields, as well as the current situation in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said of the upcoming meeting in a statement on Tuesday.
Russia was a key ally of Assad during the bloody 14-year Syrian civil war, launching air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria controlled by Sharaa’s Islamist forces.
The toppling of Assad dealt a major blow to Russia’s influence in the region and laid bare the limits of Moscow’s military reach amid the Ukraine war.
The United States, which cheered Assad’s demise, has fostered ever-warmer ties with Sharaa — even as Damascus launched a recent offensive against Kurdish forces long backed by the West.
Despite Trump’s public praise, both the United States and Europe have expressed concern that the offensive in Syria’s northeast could precipitate the return of Islamic State forces held in Kurdish-held jails.
