In recent years, the UAE’s leaders have charted a course for a post-oil world with a knowledge-based economy that emphasizes innovation and global leadership in sustainable energy. (Those efforts also reflect the vision of the UAE’s founding leader, the late H.E. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who, during his 33-year tenure as UAE president, often cited education, economic diversification, and environmental protection as priorities for the nation’s future.) Last year, the UAE declared 2015 “the Year of Innovation” and launched a strategic initiative to make the small country one of the world’s most innovative nations by 2021 — an ambitious goal for a 43-year-old nation with a population of less than 10 million.