Perceptions of Emirati Youths on National Service at Initial Implementation Stage

Abstract

In 2014, mandatory national service for male Emiratis was first introduced in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Youths' perceptions of national service influence their expectations of and subsequent adjustment to service life. This study examined perceptions of male Emirati youths on enlistment propensity and motivation, interest in a military career, and information sources on national service. Eighty male Emiratis from two age groups (high school students, employed youths) were surveyed 4 months post-implementation of the law. It found that younger participants were more negatively propensed toward the service than older participants. Regardless of propensity, benefits, dignity, family, and fidelity were main factors in youth enlistment decision. Most participants were ambivalent toward a military career post-national service. Younger participants' main information sources were limited to immediate family relations. These findings would contribute to national capability development and could be used by the UAE Armed Forces to adapt its recruitment and advertising strategies.

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“…In the broader Middle East region, compulsory national service programs are currently in place only for limited Arab countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Syria, and Iran. In a strategic response to rising geopolitical tensions and declining number of volunteer recruits, the GCC states have recently instituted the mandatory national service program (Lim, 2018). In 2017, Kuwait reinstituted compulsory national service that was suspended in 2001 (Sophia, 2015), whereas the UAE and the State of Qatar implemented for the first time compulsory national service in 2014 (International Labour Organization, 2014).…”

“…In sum, private sector employers pay 50 percent of the salary of employees recruited and the UAE Armed Forces pay the remaining half. Public sector employers pay the full salary of recruited employees (Lim, 2018; Al Jazeera, 2014).…”

“…While the military start has the capacity to harm the young and all future generations due to its potential distortion of human capital (Poutvaara and Wagener, 2007), some UAE local populations viewed the national service as a way to address the growing youth bulge unemployment domestically, where high unemployment rate (between 40 and 15 percent) among young UAE nationals were present (Khaleej Times, 2016). Some even noted that the UAE state views the mandatory national service as a panacea to strengthen the national identity and patriotism by building “collective bonds” among UAE nationals from different emirates (Lim, 2018). Others view the state decision as an ensuing solution to resolve the health threats among young UAE nationals (UAE being the second highest in diabetes rates), while some assert that such state project is a response to regional geopolitical threats such as the Arab Spring and others (i.e., 9/11 terrorist attacks) in the UAE and other GCC region (Ardemagni, 2018).…”

“…This type of state national approach only occurred during the post‐Zayed era, whereby the UAE state started to secure more affirmative action to strengthen regime loyalty among its local population by transforming and legitimizing its governing state establishment through local participation and recognition (Salama, 2014; Sabban, 2018). Sabban (2018:301) highlights that the “state constantly and continuously supported the family and its well‐being as part of its patriarchal ideology and raison d e'tre.” The UAE national service, in fact, became a vital tool by the state to affirm the political, social, and cultural loyalty and support of its governing population toward the nation (Lim, 2018; The National, 2017). To an extent, some mothers viewed the national service program as a way to serve and protect the UAE state from the recurring external threat in mainstream society, while simultaneously promoting nationalism, patriotism, and love of country for the UAE through the recruitment of young UAE nationals into the national service.…”

“…Acting as a new disciplinary measure that improved behavioral attitudes and served as “a rite of passage to manhood” among young populations, the UAE national service has also become a source of national pride and an important element of social cohesion among UAE national mothers and their respective families (Vinen, 2014; Lim, 2018). As one UAE mother, Aisha reflects on her initial reaction toward the national service: “After the three weeks when he came back, I felt proud.…”