DUBAI, UAE - At the core of the Kurdistan Region’s strong and growing relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stands Sandhurst Royal Military Academy graduate Areen Masrour Barzani, who leads the Region’s Gulf Cooperation Council unit while simultaneously launching philanthropic initiatives for Kurdish youth.

Son of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and grandson of President Masoud Barzani, a leader and reference to Kurds around the world, Areen Barzani graduated from the UK's premier military academy in 2024.

Speaking of his time at Sandhurst during a panel at the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Thursday, Areen Barzani described the experience as one full of lessons, with the discipline instilled in him during arduous treks across the unforgiving Welsh mountains having carryover effects in all aspects of life.

“A key point in Sandhurst is patrolling through the Brecon Beacons,” Areen Barzani said of his experience. “For those who don’t know what Brecon Beacons is, it’s a mountainous terrain in the United Kingdom where most of the British Special Forces conduct their operations and exercises in order to be prepared for the harshest conditions.”

“I remember we had a hike of 72 kilometers in only 36 hours, going through very rainy weather, blackouts, and at some point, I started hallucinating. Yet, we still managed to finish it,” he said. “This was the same discipline, Your Excellency, that Sandhurst instilled within us the very first few weeks that then later enabled us to conquer the Brecon Beacons, we say.”

“Why is this relevant? Because you don’t always need to hold a position of power to develop traits such as discipline, resilience, and judgment under pressure. You only need to have the right mindset, the right intent, and to focus on yourself, and it’s worth mentioning that as Kurds, we are by default resilient,” he added.

Recently named as the Kurdistan Region’s Gulf Cooperation Council unit chief, Areen Barzani has maintained key relations with the Gulf countries, above all with the UAE, where he is greeted alongside PM Barzani not just as a guest, but as a friend.

Areen Barzani has on several occasions met with leaders from the Gulf countries, including the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.

Relations with Abu Dhabi have expanded signifcantly in recent times, with the Emirates serving as something of of role model in development and technology for Erbil, with partnerships across multiple domains having been established.

The Emirati foreign ministry appointed Minister of State Saeed Mubarak Rashid al-Hajeri as the ministry’s Envoy for Special Affairs to the Kurdistan Region in September, who led a delegation of high-level Emirati officials, including several ministers, to Erbil.

Another delegation from the UAE visited the Region in October, consisting of several government officials and notables, including Assistant Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Experience Exchange Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Chief of Government Services Mohamed Bin Taliah, and Mohammed Saeed Sultan Alnuaimi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. 

The partnership, at Areen Barzani's initiative, involves two major projects: a centralized Performance Management System (PMS) for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Kurdistan Coders Program, with the former reimagining the government’s ability to monitor its departments, and the latter aiming to up-skill the Kurdistan Region’s youth across all provinces, helping them hone their digital and coding skills. 

“I need to shed a light on adaptability. Leaders today must be able to adapt to how quick the world is changing,” Areen Barzani said on Thursday. “For instance, during COVID-19, the schools that adapted online learning continued educating millions of students, and the schools that didn’t had to stay back.”

“Tasks we used to struggle with a few years ago can be handled with AI instantly today. And who knows, Your Excellency, this panel we’re having now won’t be outdated in the future and replaced with a newer technology,” he said. “But regardless, as leaders, what must remain constant is, as mentioned before, the strong values and judgments, and this is what will prepare us for the future, as this will not be replaced with technology.”

Areen Barzani is now not only the Kurdistan Region’s frontman in relations with Gulf countries, but domestically, he is working as a philanthropist that aids the Kurdistan Region’s future generations.

In late 2024, he launched the Kurdistan Foundation, a nonprofit non-governmental organization seeking to provide greater services and opportunities for the Region’s youth and preserving and promoting Kurdish culture.

The platform brings several entities under one umbrella and aims to contribute to the empowerment and advancement of the Kurdistan Region through equipping the youth with essential skills and capacities and facilitating job opportunities, as well as offering broader initiatives that seek to empower and advance Kurdistan.

One salient example of the Foundation's work is the Climate.KRD initiative, which their website describes as an agency that seeks to preserve Kurdistan’s natural beauty and promote sustainable environmental practices through its programmatic activities.

The Kurdistan Foundation has stated its commitment to honoring Kurdish culture, traditions, and values and to promoting collaboration and national pride among the members of the community.

The latest of the initiatives he leads is the Areen Masrour Barzani Leadership Program designed to equip emerging leaders in the Kurdistan Region with the vision, skills, and values needed to drive modernization, innovation, and institutional excellence.

“Developed in collaboration with the UAE Government Experience Exchange Office, the program combines virtual learning, in-person modules, and immersive site visits, including participation in the World Governments Summit (WGS) in Dubai and a high-level leadership module in Kurdistan,” according to the course overview.

“I want to first thank the Government Experience Exchange Office for designing and supporting the launch of the leadership program. Having my name associated with this program is something I really hold great pride in,” Areen Barzani said. “This leadership, due to my knowledge, trains 20 candidates in four months over a wide range of leadership-related courses.”

“I see leadership readiness, especially in the youth, as a national capability, as important, actually, if not more important than national infrastructure,” he said.

“Because look, crisis is not what builds roads, hospitals, and digital systems. And in the same way, we cannot wait for a challenge to arise to find leaders. We need to build them through mentorship and build them through real experience,” he added.