United Arab Emirates plan to introduce military service for young men to increase military potential.

UAE will become the second Gulf Cooperation Council nation to introduce compulsory military service over the last year. In November the Qatari government approved a bill introducing 3 or 4 months’ long military service for men between the ages of 18 and 35. Kuwait too has been mulling reinstating such a practice.

Currently, the UAE armed forces consist of 70,500 military personnel and has primary responsibility for the defense of all seven emirates.

In December, United Arab Emirates and its Gulf neighbors Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar, agreed to create a joint military command and to bring unity among the Gulf’s monarchs and display power in the region.

Saudi Minister of the National Guard Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah said that there will be “a unified command of around 100,000 members” with GCC Joint Military Command based in Riyadh. In the meantime, a Gulf Academy for Strategic and Security Studies will be created in the United Arab Emirates.

To preserve its stability and prosperity in the country and the region, the UAE needs to “be on guard all the time,” Emirati political scientist Abdulkhaleq Abdulla told Reuters.

“With this kind of decision today, I think the country is saying 'We want to continue with the stability and prosperity but we are also well-equipped for any eventuality',” Abdulla said.