TRENDS participates in ‘Knights of the Message’ conference in Jordan

TRENDS Global, part of TRENDS Group, participated through its office in Jordan in the international conference Knights of the Message – Leaders of the Moral Journey, held in Amman and organised by the Knights of Peace organisation.

The conference brought together a group of researchers, academics and officials from several Arab and regional countries.

Alia Darwish Al Nuaimi, Senior Researcher at TRENDS, presented a paper titled "The Diplomacy of Tolerance and Peace: The UAE Model of Coexistence and International Presence", examining the UAE's experience in transforming tolerance and coexistence from national values into tools of international diplomatic engagement.

Al Nuaimi reviewed the historical roots of tolerance in the UAE, tracing them to the vision of the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and its role in building society, consolidating the values of coexistence, and bringing viewpoints closer together. She explained that this approach later evolved through institutional and legislative frameworks, as well as national and international initiatives.

She explained that the UAE experience gradually progressed from institutionalising tolerance and coexistence domestically to employing them as instruments of foreign diplomacy through interfaith dialogue, mediation, humanitarian action, and multilateral cooperation, strengthening the country's soft power and international presence.

The TRENDS paper addressed the constitutional, institutional, and legislative foundations supporting this approach, including the establishment of the Ministry of Tolerance & Coexistence and the launch of the National Tolerance Programme, alongside legislation to combat discrimination, hatred, and extremism. It also examined initiatives to promote interfaith dialogue, including the Abrahamic Family House and the Document on Human Fraternity, signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

Al Nuaimi highlighted the UAE's role in supporting peace and mediation efforts through diplomacy, de-escalation and bridge-building. She said tolerance was linked to soft power, enabling states to strengthen their influence through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion.

She concluded that tolerance in the UAE had evolved from a core national value into a component of the country's soft power through institutional and legislative frameworks, cultural and religious partnerships, and mediation and peacebuilding efforts, strengthening its regional and international presence.

WAM