The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, was named after him: Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the second President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Emir of Abu Dhabi, died on Friday at the age of 73. Sheikh Khalifa had officially been in office since 2004, but after suffering a stroke in 2014, the father of eight rarely appeared in public. That’s why his younger brother Mohammed bin Zayed has been in charge of the wealthy Gulf state in recent years – and is now considered a potential successor.
Sheikh Khalifa’s father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was the founder and first president of the Gulf state, which only existed since 1971. The country was previously under a British protectorate. After his reform-unwilling brother Shakhbut was ousted from office, he used the wealth in oil reserves to modernize the state. As the eldest son, Khalifa bin Zayed benefited from the diplomatic successes of his father, who built up a state with modern infrastructure in just a few decades and eliminated long-standing tribal conflicts.
Sheikh Khalifa’s main goal was the continuation of his father’s legacy, which “will continue to be the beacon that will guide us into the future, a prosperous future where security and stability will reign,” as the son put it. He also liked to use the keyword “stability” to justify the autocratic structures in the desert state.
Sheikh Khalifa shaped the face of Abu Dhabi, which often stands in the shadow of the tourist and economic metropolis of Dubai and competes with it. In 2003 he founded a new airline, Etihad Airways, also to attract tourists and business people to Abu Dhabi. He used the oil wealth to settle culture and science, a branch of the Paris Louvre, for example, or offshoots of New York University and the Sorbonne. When the financial crisis hit Dubai in 2009, he pumped billions of dollars in bailout money into the emirate.
40 days of national mourning, no work for three days
Prior to his role as President, he headed the Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC), the highest governing body of the oil and gas industry in Abu Dhabi. the magazine forbes according to the late president, he was the fourth richest monarch in the world with a fortune of $15 billion. Like many of the younger generation of rulers in the Gulf, Sheikh Khalifa attended the military academy in Sandhurst, Britain. Upon his return to Abu Dhabi, he served as Prime Minister, Head of Cabinet, Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance.
He oversaw the development of the Abu Dhabi Defense Force which would become the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates. In 1976 he became deputy commander of these forces. In 2009 he was elected for a second five-year term. However, foreign policy decisions such as fighting in the Saudi-led war in Yemen in 2015 were made by his younger brother Mohammed bin Zayed. Sheikh Khalifa was also a sports enthusiast, loved horse and camel racing and was a fan of his half-brother’s Manchester City football club.
The government declared a 40-day national mourning on the death of the monarch and ordered a three-day rest period in all ministries, public institutions and the private sector.