Resumen
The objective of this paper is to analyze and critically assess the evolution of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) federal administrative system from a traditional public administration system to a new public management one (or Reinventing Government). Therefore, the paper discusses the arrival of bureaucracy to the area and its coexistence with the historical tribal legacy. The UAE move to new public management (NPM) is made imperative by economic factors and international developments. The NPM is defined in this paper to consist of two levels: the macro and micro levels. The macro level consists of policies of privatization, the private-public partnership, and outsourcing. The macro level is composed of the use of business management tools in the public sector. The paper discusses the efforts of the UAE to utilize both levels in its attempts to reform its federal government administrative system.