Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Education

Mohamed attended schools in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi until the age of 18. He also spent a summer at Gordonstoun in Scotland. In his youth, his father put Izzedine Ibrahim, a respected Egyptian Islamic scholar with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, in charge of his education.

Mohammed later joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating in April 1979. While there, he completed a fundamental armor course, a fundamental flying course, a parachutist course, and training on tactical planes and helicopters, including the Gazelle squadron. During his time in Sandhurst, he also met and became good friends with fellow officer cadet Abdullah of Pahang, who would later become the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia.

In the 1980s, as a young military officer, he enjoyed vacationing in Tanzania.

He has held a number of roles in the UAE military, from that of an officer in the Amiri Guard (now called Presidential Guard) to a pilot in the UAE Air Force.

Mohamed is married to Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They married in 1980. They have nine children together, four sons and five daughters. They have 22 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren together.

Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. They have two sons.

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan (born on 8 January 1982). He is married to Sheikha Fatima bint Suroor Al Nahyan. They have four children.

Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born on 18 June 1984). She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Nahyan. They have six children and two grandchildren.

Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is married to Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They have three children.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1988. He married Sheikha Fakhra bint Khalifa Al Nahyan. They have two sons.

Sheikha Fatima bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1989. She is married to Sheikh Nahyan bin Saif Al Nahyan. They have four children.

Sheikha Shamma bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1992. She is married to Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. They have one son.

Sheikh Zayed bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1995.

Sheikha Hessa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 2001. She is married to Sheikh Khalifa bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

A life-long fan of falconry, Mohamed established the Mohamed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School, with the goal of promoting, and sustaining, the ancient tradition by teaching it to new generations of Emiratis. He himself learned the practice from his father.

United States

Mohamed regards the United States as his chief ally and has a strong relationship with United States government officials including former US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and former US national security advisor and counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke. As unpaid advisers, Mohamed consults them and follows their advice on combating terrorism and enhancing the UAE's military strength and intelligence. Mohamed had an initially good relationship with the Obama administration but the relationship deteriorated when Barack Obama did not consult with or inform the UAE about its Iran nuclear deal. A further breakdown in relations was caused over their different positions on the Syrian civil war. According to an Emirati senior adviser, "His Highness felt that the UAE had made sacrifices and then been excluded." However, Mohamed continued talking to Obama regularly and offered him advice. Mohamed warned Obama that his proposed remedy for Syria — the Free Syrian Army rebels who were allied to Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood — would be worse than the regime of Bashar al-Assad. He also urged Obama to talk to the Russians about working together on Syria, and supported the Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war. The relationship deteriorated further when Obama made dismissive comments in a 2016 interview in The Atlantic, describing the gulf's rulers as "free riders" who "do not have the ability to put out the flames on their own". After the election of Donald Trump, Mohamed flew to New York to meet the president-elect's team and canceled a parting lunch with Obama.

Mohamed shared similar ideas with President Trump regarding Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, as Trump has sought to move strongly against both. When Mohamed was a child, his father Sheikh Zayed unknowingly assigned a respected Muslim Brotherhood member, Ezzedine Ibrahim, as Mohamed's tutor. His tutor attempted an indoctrination that backfired. "I am an Arab, I am a Muslim and I pray. And in the 1970s and early 1980s I was one of them," Mohamed told visiting American diplomats in 2007 to explain his distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood, as they reported in a classified cable released by WikiLeaks. He stated, "I strongly believe these guys have an agenda." Trump also shared Mohamed's views on Qatar, Libya and Saudi Arabia, even over the advice of cabinet officials and senior national security staff. In August 2020, Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed jointly announced the establishment of formal Israeli–Emirati relations.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Al Nahyan refused to take phone calls with US President Joe Biden (at a time when Biden was asking for greater oil production from Saudi Arabia and the UAE) due to his criticism of Biden's policy in the Gulf.

In September 2024, Mohamed bin Zayed visited the United States, the first ever visit of an Emirati President to the White House. Mohamed met President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris separately, discussing future bilateral economic and technological relations. Ahead of Mohamed's visit to Washington, certain US lawmakers also sent a letter to Biden, asking him to discuss with Mohamed the ongoing crisis in Sudan, and stating that the UAE's backing of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan could hinder Biden's efforts to end the conflict.

United Kingdom

In 2024, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Sheikh Mohamed significantly deepened bilateral relations through direct meetings and high-level diplomatic engagement. In December 2024, Starmer conducted a high-profile visit to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to accelerate negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In late 2025, Starmer's government faced intensifying parliamentary and public pressure to suspend arms sales to the UAE following reports that British-made military equipment was being diverted to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.

Egypt

On 22 March 2022, Sheikh Mohamed met with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Egypt. They discussed trilateral relations, Russo-Ukrainian War and the Iran nuclear deal.

Russia

Mohamed maintains a strong relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin, and has brokered talks between Russia and the Trump administration. In 2016, Mohamed was found involved in the Russian meddling of the US presidential elections, where his adviser George Nader arranged a meeting for him and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Seychelles with US and Russian delegates, including Erik Prince and Kirill Dmitriev. Mohamed was named in the final report of special counsel Robert Mueller on the alleged collusion between Trump campaign and Russia, which the investigation later concluded that there was no collusion between the meeting that occurred with Mohamed. Mohamed's strong relationship with both Russia and the United States, as well as the influence he wields across both countries, has led The New York Times to label him as the Arab World's "most powerful ruler".

Putin calls Mohamed an "old friend" and "a big friend of our country, a big friend of Russia". The two leaders talk with each other on the phone regularly. In an official state visit to the Emirates, Putin gifted Mohamed a Russian gyrfalcon. The UAE also trained the first two Emirati astronauts Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi, and successfully launched the first Emirati and Arab astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri to the International Space Station with Russian help.

On 11 October 2022, Sheikh Mohamed met with Putin in Saint Petersburg, days after OPEC+ cut oil production.

In June 2023, Sheikh Mohamed met Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), and said the Emirates wished to strengthen ties with Russia. Mohamed became the most prominent attendee, as the UAE was a special guest country at the event. Several major US and European politicians and investors used to attend the forum before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the Western nations remained absent from the event in 2023. MbZ's diplomatic adviser, Anwar Gargash said it was a "calculated risk" that the UAE was willing to take for de-escalation in an increasingly polarized world. The UAE was, however, criticized for supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, where the Emirates also became a mediator in sending Chinese weapons to Russia.

Turkey

In August 2021, Mohamed held talks with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss reinforcing relations between their two countries. This came after years of each state supporting opposing sides in regional conflicts, such as that in Libya. Relations started to improve between the two regional rivals – the United Arab Emirates and Turkey – following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the withdrawal of the US troops.

Africa

The Emirates’ policy in Africa majorly involved three categories– Commercial, strategic and financial role. Under Mohamed's leadership, the Emirates’ total investments into Africa increased to $110bn, as China was cutting down loans to the continent. In 2022 and 2023, the Emirates also pledged investments worth $97bn across ports, renewable energy, mining, agriculture, real estate, communications and manufacturing in Africa. In a decade, the UAE maintained a position amongst the top 4 investors of Africa. The Emirati influence in Africa has also been on the rise. Even though Dubai denied to extradite Gupta brothers, who were accused of looting South Africa by the authorities, Mohamed was welcomed in the state. Mohamed also donated around $1mn to upgrade a runway of an airport in the Eastern Cape province. In April 2023, Mohamed, his family and friends, traveled to Eastern Cape to stay at his private resort to celebrate Eid. The UAE's presence was also seen in wars, including in Libya, Ethiopia and Sudan. In Ethiopia, the Emirates provided military support to the government in the war against the forces from Tigray. In 2019 and 2020, the UAE's actions in the Libya war were controversial, where it supported the Libyan warlord, Khalifa Haftar. In Sudan, the UAE was accused of fueling the war by supporting Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces, which the Emirates has repeatedly denied. African leaders increasingly welcomed investments from the UAE, which offered a financial boost to Africa's green energy sector. Between 2019 and 2023, Emirati investments in renewable energy amounted to $72 billion. However, the UAE's rising climate finance commitments in Africa were questioned by activists and analysts. They raised concerns around the UAE's rights records, treatment of migrant workers, support for hydrocarbons, and its failure to address environmental issues.

Sudan

During the Sudanese civil war that broke out in 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its former paramilitary wing, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the UAE covertly provided arms to the RSF, which has perpetrated massive crimes against humanity in Sudan, including large-scale sexual violence, indiscriminate killings, and ethnic cleansing. The UAE used the cover of humanitarian relief efforts under Red Crescent auspices to ship the weapons to RSF, including powerful drones, howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, and antiaircraft missiles, and is regarded as the most important foreign ally of RSF and its head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemeti). Although the UAE officially denies arming any of the combatants in the Sudan conflict, Emirati officials reportedly made an implicit acknowledgement of the country's support for Hemeti after being confronted by U.S. officials. Groups such as Refugees International have criticized MBZ for his support for the RSF.

Nuclear energy and international cooperation

Under Mohamed, the UAE built the Barakah nuclear power plant, which is the first nuclear power plant in the Arabian Peninsula. The UAE and US signed a bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation that enhances international standards of nuclear non-proliferation. Mohamed attended the Nuclear Security Summits of 2012 and 2014, hosted by South Korea and the Netherlands respectively.