IDEX and NAVDEX 2021

The 15th edition of the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX), and the 16th edition of the Naval Defense and Maritime Security Exhibition (NAVDEX) 2021, were organized in Abu Dhabi from February 21-25, 2021, proved to be a great success. Besides being among the most prominent regional and international exhibitions on defense, security, and technology, they established a new and different method of organizing international defense exhibitions and major events in general. Organized during the unprecedented challenge of Covid-19, they sent a positive message of recovery from the pandemic.The exceptional success of these events proved that the process of recovery from Covid-19 has begun. The organizers of the two exhibitions showed unique capability in ensuring the safety of participating delegations and all visitors through a range of preventive and precautionary measures. This success set an international example for organizing exhibitions during a global pandemic that forced countries to cancel or postpone their scheduled events.This study analyzes IDEX & NAVDEX 2021 from the perspective of the UAE's overall strength. These are major international defense exhibitions and a manifestation of the comprehensive political, economic, scientific, technological, defense, and military progress taking place in the country. Therefore, the exceptional success achieved in this session is inseparable from other qualitative achievements made by the UAE in other areas, such as space technology and peaceful nuclear energy, which reflect the UAE's overall strength.