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PREFACE
I have two sons. My older son, Saif, was born in 2000 and my younger son, Abdullah, in 2004. Their
presence in my life has provided me a framework for living. If I thought I had purpose as a bachelor, I
discovered much greater purpose and meaning through my children, and with my wife. Whereas life
as a bachelor meant looking out for myself, starting a family brought a sense of balance and
responsibility that I could not have imagined. The responsibilities that come with building a family
enable you to take a step back from yourself and see that the world consists of other people with
greater claims on your energy and time than you yourself. Their existence provides the ground for my
actions in the world. I feel an infinite obligation toward my children, who are still dependent on me
and their mother for guidance and protection. I used to think that ideas and attitudes were something of
interest but of no great importance. Matters would resolve themselves, things would work out. Now
that I have children, I see the world through a broader lens. Now what happens in the world matters
very much. And whose ideas dominate matters. In coming to this realization, I also recognized that the
obligation of care and protection that I owe my children extends further. It extends more generally
toward those of us who do not have the means to control their lives or who depend on others for the
structure of our communities and societies.
I am the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Russia. The United Arab Emirates is located
on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, just south of Iran and east of Saudi Arabia. Our population was
traditionally a mix of desert dwellers and seafaring pearl divers and goods traders. Today, we have a
population approaching ten million, with over 180 nationalities represented. People live, work, and
worship in peace alongside one another. I have been ambassador from January 2009 until today. I
have had the privilege to be an observer of international relations from at least three very different
perspectives. Because I speak English, Arabic, Russian, and French, and have friends and colleagues
in the United States, Europe, Russia, and the Arab world, I have had access to the thinking that takes
place within different cultures and political systems. The longer I perform my job, the more I am
convinced of the power of ideas, and language, to move the world to a better place.
The world I grew up in was one where ideas floated around but had little connection with reality. I
would hear about dreams of a new world order based on a very straightforward type of Islam. We
were taught to pray and how to read the Quran. We were always told that certain actions were haram.