MUN position paper UAE topic 2 Cheat sheet President and ruler of Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (known as MBZ) Annual spending on defence industry: ranking number 8 worldwide in defence industry, UAE spent 19.8 Billion dollars in 2020, 5.6 percent of GDP. GDP: 358.9 Billion USD in 2020 Foreign relations: Joined the war e ort in Yemen with Saudi Arabia and also helped the United States ght Al Qaeda. U.A.E has also partnered with Israel to create an anti-drone AI system. United States: “Contrary to a number of news reports, U.S. policy does not prohibit the development or employment of LAWS. Although the United States does not currently have LAWS in its inventory, some senior military and defense leaders have stated that the United States may be compelled to develop LAWS in the future if U.S. competitors choose to do so.” Russia: Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has stated that Russia’s intent is to nd and strike Ukraine’s long-range artillery elements such as the HIMARS provided to Ukraine by the west. This implies that Russia “either needs or will soon eld loitering munitions”. The Lancet is an example of the most advanced loitering munition in use by Russia. It has autonomous target seeking capabilities. Both the Lancet and KUBBLA, cutting edge loitering technologies, have three kilogram warheads which don’t seem like much, but these are precise-target-seeking ordnances. This means if there is civilian infrastructure nearby, it is likely to get damaged. Zala aerospace company, manufacturers of the Lancet autonomous loitering munition. The KUB-BLA was also developed by Kalashnikov and unveiled by to the world at the UAE’s IDEX (international defence exhibition and conference) in 2019, which implies that Russia is aiming to export these drones to nations in need. It is also important to note that Russia has been using very similar Iranian Kamikaze drones in Ukraine. These are fully autonomous and videos online of them striking civilian infrastructure has been spreading. - Possible future actions: as the UAE has shown neutrality towards the Russian invasion, it has fi fi fi ff fi good relations with Russia. Therefore, as the war in Ukraine unfolds and sentiments towards technology designed to kill and worldwide advocations for peace, the UAE will campaign for these weapons to stay in use but as defensive elements. Israel is an example of a nation which deployed weapon systems driven by AI to defend themselves (IDADS). - Raise awareness on human rights violations by the United States in case the argument becomes too biased towards Russia. (Patriot act and US justi cations for collateral damage when striking targets).
