Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, minister of economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2004, is one of the most prominent female politicians in the Middle East.

Unlike most of her peers of either sex both inside and outside the region, she arrived at her current post after a business career that included spells as a senior manager—in her case, in the information systems department of the Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) and at Tejari, the Middle East online business-to-business marketplace, where she served as chief executive officer.

Sheikha Lubna, a niece of the ruler of the emirate Sharjah, operates within a UAE political structure that divides power between the federal government, which is responsible (through the Federal Council of Ministers) for setting a broad policy framework and sanctioning federal legislation, and the seven independent emirates—Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm Al-Qaiwain. In her cabinet role she has steered the UAE along a course of economic modernization, diversification into new oil- and non-oil-based manufacturing and service activities, and encouragement of the private sector. In her concurrent capacity as chairman of the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA), she has been at the forefront of...