One aspect of the challenge of negotiating modernity with sustaining traditions in the United Arab Emirates is manifest in the goal of creating a knowledge society, a globalizing trend which entails attracting and retaining the so-called foreign talents on the one hand, and “Emiratization” or nationalization of the human capital on the other. As an aspect of diversification of economy, investments in education and development of human capital have received high priority in the national development goals. Yet, in the short term attracting foreign talents, or what Richard Florida calls, “the creative class” is an imperative in the creation of a knowledge society, which in theory, is also a meritocratic society. The paper will examine the challenges of balancing the objective of nationalization with the goal of creating a knowledge society in which the role of foreign talent will remain crucial both in the short and medium terms.