Attitudes and Beliefs toward UAE’ multicultural society: How Emiratis’ Interaction with foreigners in the UAE is stimulating their perception of cultural identity

In a highly hybrid and demographically imbalanced society like the United Arab Emirates,
a question of social cohesion and cultural preservation come to the mind. The UAE is home for
more than 200 nationalities and the majority of its population are foreigners. While there are
various initiatives to encourage tolerance, open dialogue and coexistence, there is a huge gap
between the national population and the foreign population that requires further study. Most of the
foreign population are coming to the UAE in temporary basis for economic reasons mainly for
working and find interaction with the local community is unnecessary. On the other hand, the local
community view the huge influx of forging workers as threat to their identity and national
economic, political and social stability. This paper examines the impact of Emiratis’ social
interaction with their multicultural peers in different social settings like; personal life, education,
workplace and neighborhood on their cultural identity.