TRENDS-Millennial Cover Story

Cover Story
20 TRENDS | June 2016
They are in their 30s. They have a vision.
And they have captured the imagination
of the new generation. By Shafquat Ali, Dubai
20-27-TRE-214-Cover Story-Leaders.indd 20 5/30/16 4:54 PM

June 2016 | TRENDS 21
isionary thinking. Bold moves.
A can-do attitude. Armed with
the necessary tools and skill-sets
to shape a brighter future, a new
generation of leaders is bringing hope
in these troubled times. And, slowly but
surely, these millennials are redefining
the Middle East and fast changing how
the world at large perceives the region.
If the 30-year-old architect of Saudi
Vision 2030, Deputy Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, is promising
to usher in a new era by overhauling
the Saudi economy with a series of
path-breaking and unheard-of reforms,
33-year-old Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh
Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum is gearing up to propel Dubai to
the next stage in its growth by following
in the footsteps of his father, Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice-President and Prime Minister of the
UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
On the other hand, 36-year-old Qatari
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid Al Thani,
the GCC’s youngest reigning monarch, is
making bold and long-lasting changes.
After making it plain to Qataris that the
government can no longer “provide for
everything”, he is changing the citizens’
mindsets by urging an end to wasteful
government spending, corruption and
bureaucracy that inhibits entrepreneurship.
The youth in particular are looking
up to these millennial leaders to bring
about long-lasting economic reforms to
help sustain the region, given the low oil
prices. Justin Whitehouse, global public
sector tax leader, Deloitte, opines that the
millennial leaders are moving in the right
direction. “The recent overall reforms are
accompanied by complementary fiscal
reforms, signaling that GCC countries are
seeking to normalize their fiscal systems,
bringing them in line with the larger
economies of the world,” he told TRENDS.
“An interesting point about this
leadership group is that, even if they are
young in age, they are demonstrating
personal agility and traits of engaging
leadership,” Mina Morris, associate partner
at Aon Hewitt Middle East, told TRENDS.
“These leaders are constantly aligning and
re-prioritizing in response to the changing
economic environment and have the ability
to get the best out of their people.”
He added: “As engaging leaders, they
are adept at balancing three competing
attributes. First, they are ‘mobilizers’,
able to embrace change and look for ways
to transform people and set practices.
Second, they are ‘stabilizers’, able to as-
sert a positive influence and maintain
optimism during difficult times. And, fi-
nally, they are ‘ambidextrous’ – able to find
win-win solutions for all stakeholders.”
By all accounts, this is the stuff
that millennial leaders like Prince
Mohammed, Sheikh Hamdan and
Sheikh Tamim are made of.
Man on a mission
When Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin
Abdulaziz named him as the Deputy
Crown Prince a year ago, few outside the
royal circle knew who Prince Mohammed
bin Salman was. The Western media
in particular scrambled to find more
information as it became clear that a
new, younger leadership was emerging in
Saudi Arabia.
One important reason for this lack of
information was that he did not go abroad
for higher education, like most other
V

members of the royal family. He is a
product of King Saud University and had
remained inside the Kingdom through-
out his young life. He was, therefore, an
unknown quantity.
Complicating matters for the foreign
media was that there was very little on
the Internet about him except for sparse
details about the Prince Mohammed bin
Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Founda-
tion (MISK), which he still leads.
The first hint of what was in Prince
Mohammed’s mind was revealed in a
column written by Thomas L Friedman
in The New York Times. Entitled, “Letter
From Saudi Arabia,” the November 2015
column was based on Friedman’s interview
with Prince Mohammed, the young Saudi
leader’s first interview with a major foreign
media outlet.
Friedman began his column thus: “I
spent an evening with Mohammed bin
Salman at his office (in Riyadh) and he
wore me out. With staccato energy bursts,
he laid out in detail his plans. His main
projects are an online government dash-
board that will transparently display the
goals of each ministry, with monthly KPIs
(Key Performance Indicators) for which
each minister will be held accountable. His
idea is to get the whole country engaged
in government performance. Ministers tell
you: ‘Since Prince Mohammed arrived, big
decisions that took two years to make now
happen in two weeks.’”
As he explained it to Friedman, Prince
Mohammed’s plan from the beginning
was “to reduce subsidies to wealthy
Saudis, who won’t get cheap gas, water or
electricity anymore; possibly establish a
value-added tax and sin taxes on cigarettes
and sugary drinks; and both privatize and
tax mines and undeveloped lands in ways
that can unlock billions. So, even if oil falls
to $30 a barrel, Riyadh will have enough
revenues to keep building the country
without exhausting its savings. He is also
creating incentives for Saudis to leave gov-
ernment and join the private sector.”
Prince Mohammed further told Fried-
man that “70 percent of Saudis are under
age 30 and their perspective is different
from the other 30 percent. I am working to
create for them the country they want to be
living in in the future.”
Within a few months of his appoint-
ment as Deputy Crown Prince, he made
high-profile visits to Russia, France and
the United States, winning the crucial
battle of perception and, apparently,
impressed world leaders with his vision
for the Kingdom. After one meeting, US
President Barack Obama said Prince
Mohammed surprised him with his
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is promising to usher in a new
era by overhauling the Saudi economy with a series of path-breaking reforms.
©GettyImages
Cover Story

crystal-clear ideas about the Saudi and
global economy, and the Kingdom’s
relationship with the outside world.
Obama said Prince Mohammed had am-
bition, energy and knowledge of a wide
array of complex public policy issues. “He
is wise beyond his years,” the US Presi-
dent said of him after his meeting at the
United States-Gulf Cooperation Council
Summit at Camp David last year.
The path-breaking, fully on-record
interview he gave to Bloomberg Business-
week in April was the clearest indication
of his coming of age. That interview and
the one he gave to Al-Arabiya TV on the
day his pet project Saudi Vision 2030 was
announced indicated the arrival of a young
and decisive leader in Saudi Arabia. It was
full of candor and the prince did not con-
sult notes while fielding questions from
Turki Al-Dakhil.
Saudi columnist Abdulateef Al-Mulhim,
who writes for Arab News and Alyaum
newspapers, was very impressed. “My
impression is that he is very confident and
aware of the many needs of the Kingdom
and its citizens. During the Al-Arabiya
interview, he seemed very well-informed
about the future path needed to upgrade
the standard of life for Saudis. He seemed
very transparent in his discussion about
the internal issues in Saudi Arabia,” he
told TRENDS, adding that young Saudis
look up to Prince Mohammed.
Fahad Nazer, a senior Saudi politi-
cal analyst with the US-based JTG Inc.,
said Prince Mohammed has come to
symbolizethe“new”SaudiArabia–“more
open, more decisive, less risk-averse and
operating on a much shorter time frame.”
“Many Saudis – myself included – have
found the frank tone he has been using
in his media interviews to be refreshing.
Prince Mohammed has been very forth-
coming in acknowledging the econom-
ic challenges Saudi Arabia is facing. He
has also been open about the need to re-
evaluate previous policies that have led
to an over-reliance on oil and the under-
development of the other sectors of the
economy,” Nazer told TRENDS.
Echoing the view of the Western me-
dia, American author Christopher Wil-
liams, who has lived for many years in the
kingdom, was impressed with the young
prince’s frank talk and ambitious vision.
“Prince Mohammed was very poised and
gave a very positive impression. He was
obviously on top of the situation. He had
done his homework very thoroughly and
was sure of what he wants for Saudi Arabia
and how he believes his goals can become
reality,” he told TRENDS.
Prince Mohammed is seen as a new
Arab hero and Arab News editor-in-chief
Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi described
him thus in his recent column: “Prince
Mohammed is a young enlightened man
who is behind a project that will serve
the country. I once heard him say he had
the choice of living the kind of life his
circumstances allowed or [of] serving his
society no matter the cost. It is clear he
made the latter and more difficult choice.
As the saying goes, a vision without action
is a dream, an action without a vision is a
waste of time, but a vision with action can
change the world. Saudi Arabia has made
an appointment with its future.”
By all accounts, the young prince has
struckachordwithSaudiyouthandbecome
a hero of sorts thanks to what he has said
and planned to do. The young generation is
increasingly seeing him as a leader, who is
ready to take action that would insulate the
economy from global risks – and pave the
way for a new Saudi Arabia.
Youth icon
“My father, His Highness Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has struck a chord with Saudi youth
and become a hero of sorts for what he has said and planned to do.
©GettyImages
©AFPPhoto/MediaofficeofMohammedbinSalman/BandarAlGaloud

is my tutor in life. I continue to learn from
him. I take on his views as guiding stars
regarding many strategic issues,” Sheikh
Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, writes
on his website. “Being a son of HH Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid does not give me
unconditional authority to relinquish my
responsibilities. On the contrary, I feel that
my siblings and I are required to be more
amenable than others, in line with this
commitment to the necessity of performing
any work perfectly.”
Inspired by his father, Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
the young prince is inching closer to
taking on the mantle and continuing the
work begun by the Dubai ruler.
By all accounts, Sheikh Mohammed is
also a proud father who is confident of his
son’s ability to take over the reins and lead
Dubai to the next level of growth. Even
though it is anything but an easy job for
Sheikh Hamdan to step into father’s shoes,
the internationally educated prince – he
studied at the Royal Military Academy in
Sandhurst, the UK, and then went on to the
London School of Economics – is doing
his best to follow in Sheikh Mohammed’s
footsteps. And, given that he is being
‘tutored’ and groomed by his visionary
father, the very modern ruler-in-waiting
has everything going for him.
“Thanks to His Highness, I have come
to understand leadership and why it is
important that we continue to strive to
achieve his vision,” Sheikh Hamdan had
said in an interview to Vision magazine.
“I believe I have inherited his determina-
tion to achieve these goals. While there
will surely be new challenges ahead, I
will draw on the strength of character he
has given me to overcome them. Today,
working alongside my father, my overrid-
ing priority is to support Dubai’s ongoing
transition to the next stage in its growth.”
In his capacity as the chairman of
the Dubai Executive Council, which is
entrusted with the task of overseeing
Dubai Government entities, Sheikh
Hamdan has been instrumental in the
development and the establishment of
various sustainable development plans
in Dubai, including Dubai Plan 2021, the
Dubai Innovation Strategy and “Dubai –
the Smartest City” initiative to transform
Dubai into the smartest city in the world
and make it the new global economy hub.
Thanks to his endearing ways and up-
close-and-personal style of functioning,
Sheikh Hamdan has not just impressed
the youth in Dubai or Emiratis in general,
but has, in fact, become a youth icon of
sorts for the young generation of Arabs
around the region.
His Hamdani-style turban, for one,
has become the rage, with young Arabs
adopting this as a fashion statement of
sorts. Also popularly known as Fazza, the
name under which he publishes his poet-
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai,
has everything going for him as he is being ‘tutored’ by his visionary father.
Cover Story
©Alamy
Cover Story
©Reuters

ry, the young prince uses his mastery over
words to get his messages – both patriotic
and otherwise – across and to reach the
hearts of the people.
“Sheikh Hamdan benefits from close
proximity to one of the most visionary
and effective leaders in the world: his
father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum,” Molavi told TRENDS.
“Sheikh Hamdan is by his father’s side
everywhere and, from what I have seen,
Sheikh Hamdan has embraced the best
of his father’s leadership style: aim big,
take calculated risks, attract the best
talent, empower your deputies, ignore the
nay-sayers, double down on the projects
that are working, cut losses on those that
are not and listen with a sense of genuine
curiosity to the best ideas in the world.
Sheikh Hamdan also demonstrates a
personal charm and humility that works
well in a society that still expects to see
its leaders up close and personal.”
“He also has a keen understanding
of contemporary communication tools
from Instagram to Snapchat to Twitter,
with millions of followers, and has
emerged as something of an icon for youth
in the GCC region,” Molavi added. “Thus,
he has a powerful platform to shape the
next generation of young Arab men and
women in the GCC region. He also seems
to have chosen his portfolio well, from
promoting sports and supporting autism
concerns to Smart government initiatives
and entrepreneurship development. He
has displayed a range of interests that
are highly relevant to UAE society and
its future.
“The Smart government initiative is
particularlyimportantbecause,asCrown
Prince, he is building a 21st
-century
government infrastructure that he will
one day inherit. The interaction between
the state and society has been a weak
point across the Arab world, fueling a
dangerous gap between the ruler and
the ruled. Initiatives that can improve
the daily experience of society vis-a-
vis the government bureaucracy should
be welcomed.”
Given that Dubai has established itself
as a front-ranking city and global hub,
according to Alex Vatanka, senior fellow,
Middle East Institute, The Jamestown
Foundation, Sheikh Hamdan’s personal
and professional growth are not just a
matter of interest within Dubai and the
GCC, but are also closely followed in the
West. “In Washington, among American
analysts of the Middle East, Sheikh
Hamdan’s personal and professional
progression has been closely observed,”
Vatanka told TRENDS. “After all, his
father, Sheikh Mohammad, has set the
bar very high. But Sheikh Hamdan has
already exhibited some of his father’s
strongest traits: vision, conviction and a
knack to prepare for the future without
looking to abandon cherished pillars
of Emirati and Dubai society. In an age
of so much volatility, there is much to be
said about steady stewardship and Sheikh
Hamdan is clearly committed to build
on his father’s decades of achievements
that have turned Dubai into a key global
commercial hub.”
He added: “This conviction rests on
Sheikh Hamdan’s world-class educational
background and also on a deep sense of
economic trends looming on the horizon.
Through his areas of policy focus, he has
already illustrated a strong understanding
of what Dubai and the UAE need to do
to best maximize on opportunities, while
sidestepping pitfalls in an international
and regional landscape that is marred by
all kinds of transformations. Still, Sheikh
Hamdan’s solid foundations place him in a
strong position to meet these challenges in
the years to come.”
Leading by example
Internationally educated Qatari Emir
Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani is
By all accounts, Sheikh Mohammed is a proud father who is conﬁdent of his
son’s ability to take over the reins and lead Dubai to the next level of growth.
©Reuters
©Alamy

not just a man with a vision, but a lead-
er who has proved his mettle, having
implemented substantial economic and
social reforms since he took office in
2013. He was educated at Great Britain’s
Sherborne School in Dorset and at Har-
row School, before attending and gradu-
ating from the Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst. For a young nation like Qatar,
where a large chunk of the local popula-
tion is of a young age, the Emir has easily
struck a chord with the masses.
In the face of a volatile economy and
turbulent market conditions, his leader-
ship has been put to the test. But the Emir
has done well, rolling out several path-
breaking reforms, with many new ones
already underway. When Sheikh Tamim
took the reins, political analysts pre-
dicted that there wouldn’t be too many
changes to the policies put in place by
his father, the then Emir Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa Al Thani. But, given the
testing times, this has certainly not been
the case.
Barely a few months into power, the
first challenge sprung up when diplomatic
tussles came into play as Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain and the UAE withdrew their
ambassadors from Qatar, protesting Do-
ha’s “interference in their internal affairs”.
In this situation, the Emir showed pru-
dence by refusing to get into a political
tit-for-tat by withdrawing Qatar’s ambas-
sadors from those countries, despite the
tough position the leadership was in.
“Sheikh Tamim is presiding over Qatar
during times of great turbulence in the
region. Oil prices might never recover,
government deficits are drying up and war
and violence are creeping ever closer to
home. In 2013, no one would have guessed
these troubles were around the corner.
And yet, the new Emir’s early actions and
words would suggest that he knew some-
thing that the rest of us did not,” Ayswarya
Murthy, a senior journalist at Qatar Today
magazine, told TRENDS.
The Emir was quick to realize that
Qatar needed to diversify its income and,
further, he urged an end to corruption and
said citizens should not “fear or panic”
about tumbling hydrocarbon prices. “As
citizens, your responsibilities are greater
due to the low oil prices; however,
citizens’ welfare and way of life should not
be affected by the situation,” said Sheikh
Tamim in a speech, as reported by QNA
(Qatar News Agency).
A major cabinet reshuffle followed,
in which several ministries were cut
down and combined, proving that he
meant business. “One of the first Emiri
Decrees that gave us an indication of
what he was thinking was the cabinet re-
shuffle that took place immediately after
he assumed office,” Murthy said. “The
old guard that had stood by his father
was asked to take a step back and the
cabinet had an infusion of fresh blood.”
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Emir Al Thani has been imploring
the country’s new generation to chart its own destiny.
©GettyImages
Cover StoryCover Story

He added: “In the current economic
climate, his voice will be necessary to
try to change the mindset of a popula-
tion that is used to a certain way of life.
In fact, the most recent cabinet reshuffle
and the consolidation of ministries could
be seen as his way of telling the public
that he means business.”
Echoing the mood of Qatari youth,
Nasser Al-Naama, an ambitious, young
Qatari entrepreneur, believed the moves
were in the best interests of the nation.
“I was quite surprised when the cabinet
was reshuffled. This was refreshing,
because one feels certain positions are
always occupied by certain people;
there was a nepotism of sorts. For us to
see these positions being replaced by
new or younger people has been very
encouraging,” Al-Naama told TRENDS.
“However, we are yet to see the full
impact of these changes.”
There have been three legislative
reforms since Sheikh Tamim’s the
accession: the widely panned Cybercrime
Law, which indicates a desire for tighter
controls on the media; the highly antici-
pated new labor laws, which are expect-
ed to be implemented by the end of this
year; and the yet-to-be-passed Commer-
cial Companies Law, which is supposed
to ease the bureaucratic struggles around
setting up SMEs.
The labor laws, in particular, have
attracted massive media attention and
the government is under a lot of pressure
to make amends. The end of this year is
expected to see the dismissal of the spon-
sorship and exit permit systems. The wage
protection system was also put in place,
requiring all wages to be electronically
transferred to workers’ bank accounts.
The Qatari economy has witnessed how
the government is striving to emerge suc-
cessfully from a volatile market and an
impending recession. As the nation gears
up to host the world’s largest sporting
event, FIFA 2022, and allocates its ex-
isting as well new resources to diversify
its current hydrocarbon-based economy
to a knowledge-based one, the country’s
young, dynamic leader is busy ensuring
that Qatar’s efforts are well on track.
Afshin Molavi, senior fellow at The
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies, The Foreign
Policy Institute, summed up the matter
to TRENDS: “Sheikh Tamim seems to
understand that Qatar’s future lies not
in grandiose projects or interventionist
foreign policy, but in the steady build-up
of human capital and talent.
“Alliances with the Muslim
Brotherhood and other groups do not
empower your people or grow your
economy or even expand your power;
they sap your energy, create diplomatic
disputes and suck you into conflicts
that you are too small to fight,” he
said. “Sheikh Tamim seems to be more
interested in domestic development than
foreign policy adventurism. This is a
positive direction for the country.”
From administrative reforms, such as
cutting down ministries to social reforms
such as gargantuan initiatives on health
problems faced by the citizens, Sheikh
Tamim has spearheaded a young and
ambitious country’s growth by leaps and
bounds. So, it’s not surprising that aspiring
youth, entrepreneurs, citizens and residents
of the country have pinned big hopes on
their young leader.
As bold reforms sweep across the GCC,
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh
Maktoum and Qatari Emir Tamim bin
Hamid Al Thani, will, in the days to come,
play a significant role in giving direction
to the winds of change that are blowing
through the sands of the Middle East.
With Siraj Wahab in Jeddah and Shereen D’Souza
in Doha.
The youngest ruling monarch in the GCC, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad
Al Thani is not just a man with a vision, but a leader who has proved his mettle.
©GettyImages
©Reuters

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