Day 4 | Power

Today got off to a hot start when I woke up to a New York TImes notification that Iran had retaliated to the US assassination of General Qassim Soleimani by striking two US military bases. After getting ready for the day, I ran into Isabella, one of the students in Dr. Sylvia Maier's Gender & Sustainability class, on the way down to the Energy Forum. We got to talking about how things were going so far and she mentioned a presentation they had the day before in which the presenter said, "yeah, that democracy thing you guys have, I don't like the idea of it. Look how long it takes to get anything done!"

We've heard from Brad, Saba, and others to try to have an open mind and try to not always look at things through an American lens while we're here. Brad spoke about how the UAE is less legislatively developed due to its relative youth as a nation, but he actually categorized that as a strength in his PESTLE analysis because it means things don't always get tied up in courts and necessary change can happen fast. The leaders of the UAE have absolute power, but the people of the UAE trust them to use that power for the greater good.

In the US, the situation couldn't be more opposite. We're probably legislatively over-developed and—luckily, in my most humble opinion--our commander-in-chief is subject to the law (at least in theory). One of the few times that the American President has absolute power is to defend the country from imminent threats to national security, and the current occupant of the White House has use that power in a dubious fashion in recent days.

While the executive branch in the US is checked by the judicial and legislative branches, our President has a tremendous amount of power over the rest of the world. This was evidenced by the number of times his name was invoked at the Gulf Intelligence Energy Forum today--as well as by how quickly any conversation shifts to Trump the moment someone finds out your'e American while traveling abroad. The decision that one man will make regarding how to respond to Iran's attacks will ripple throughout the world.

Power is a fascinating concept. As we're seeing in the UAE, power with trust can lead to great outcomes. As we're seeing int he US, power without trust is more uncertain. We'll soon find out how it plays out.