Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success
Dubai is a remarkable success story. From its origins as a small fishing and pearling community, the emirate has gone from strength to strength, having established itself as the premier trading entrepot of the Arabian Gulf and, in more recent years, having boomed into a massive metropolis of some two or more million people, most of whom are expatriates engaged in an increasingly diversified economy that has become synonymous with startling and innovative architecture. Following a detailed historical background, Davidson's in-depth study demonstrates how Dubai's pioneering post-oil development strategies were implemented against a carefully managed backdrop of near complete political stability, despite the lack of democratisation and genuine civil society. He then addresses the problems that may surface as the need for sustained foreign direct investment encourages far-reaching socio-economic reforms, many of which may affect the ideological, religious, and cultural legitimacy of the traditional monarchy. He also analyses Dubai's awkward relationship with its federal partners in the United Arab Emirates, before highlighting some of the hidden costs of being the region's most successful free port-namely its attractiveness to international criminal fraternities, the global black money economy and terrorist networks.
1117349710
Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success
Dubai is a remarkable success story. From its origins as a small fishing and pearling community, the emirate has gone from strength to strength, having established itself as the premier trading entrepot of the Arabian Gulf and, in more recent years, having boomed into a massive metropolis of some two or more million people, most of whom are expatriates engaged in an increasingly diversified economy that has become synonymous with startling and innovative architecture. Following a detailed historical background, Davidson's in-depth study demonstrates how Dubai's pioneering post-oil development strategies were implemented against a carefully managed backdrop of near complete political stability, despite the lack of democratisation and genuine civil society. He then addresses the problems that may surface as the need for sustained foreign direct investment encourages far-reaching socio-economic reforms, many of which may affect the ideological, religious, and cultural legitimacy of the traditional monarchy. He also analyses Dubai's awkward relationship with its federal partners in the United Arab Emirates, before highlighting some of the hidden costs of being the region's most successful free port-namely its attractiveness to international criminal fraternities, the global black money economy and terrorist networks.
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Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success

Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success

by Christopher Davidson
Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success

Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success

by Christopher Davidson

Hardcover(Reissue)

$34.95 
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Overview

Dubai is a remarkable success story. From its origins as a small fishing and pearling community, the emirate has gone from strength to strength, having established itself as the premier trading entrepot of the Arabian Gulf and, in more recent years, having boomed into a massive metropolis of some two or more million people, most of whom are expatriates engaged in an increasingly diversified economy that has become synonymous with startling and innovative architecture. Following a detailed historical background, Davidson's in-depth study demonstrates how Dubai's pioneering post-oil development strategies were implemented against a carefully managed backdrop of near complete political stability, despite the lack of democratisation and genuine civil society. He then addresses the problems that may surface as the need for sustained foreign direct investment encourages far-reaching socio-economic reforms, many of which may affect the ideological, religious, and cultural legitimacy of the traditional monarchy. He also analyses Dubai's awkward relationship with its federal partners in the United Arab Emirates, before highlighting some of the hidden costs of being the region's most successful free port-namely its attractiveness to international criminal fraternities, the global black money economy and terrorist networks.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780199326518
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 08/22/2008
Edition description: Reissue
Pages: 392
Product dimensions: 5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Christopher Davidson is reader in Middle East politics at the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University, a former visiting associate professor at Kyoto University, and a former assistant professor at Zayed University in the UAE. He is the author of several books on the politics and international affairs of the Gulf states, including Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond, Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success, and most recently he Persian Gulf and Pacific Asia: From Indifference to Interdependence.

Table of Contents

1. The Birth of a Sheikhdom
The early struggle
A breakaway state
Safeguarding neutrality
Political dependency on Britain
Economic dependency on Britain
Poverty and resistance
The Dubai reform movement
2. From Arab Nationalism to Collective Security
Evidence of imported Arab nationalism
Indigenous Arab nationalism and the Dubai National Front
Short term solutions: the Sudan connection
Long term solutions: the road to federation
The United Arab Emirates
3. The Foundations of a Free Port
Flourishing free trade
Textiles, gold, and electronics
Persian immigration
Abu Dhabi immigration
Sharjah immigration
Other Arab immigration
South Asian immigration
Gambling on infrastructure
4. The Diversification of the Economy
Oil strategies
Oil limitations and the shadow of Abu Dhabi
Diversification—more commercial infrastructure
Diversification—light manufacturing and agriculture
Diversification—free zones
Diversification—tourism and leisure
Diversification—real estate
Superficial success
5. P olitical Stability and the Ruling Bargain
Strengthening a dynasty
Sheikh Muhammad's succession
Distributed wealth
Preserving the rentier elite
The patrimonial network
A hybrid government
Controlled political reform
Ideological, cultural, and religious resources
6. The Dubai Paradox
Rentier pathologies
Diversification pathologies
The expanding expatriate population
Loss of identity and the erosion of the ruling bargain
The labour nationalisation conundrum
Civil society and the media
7. The Stability of the Federation
Preserving flexibility
Federal incoherence
Federal integration and disintegration
Problems in Abu Dhabi
Problems in Sharjah
Problems in other emirates
8. S ecurity, Crime, and Terror
Military power
The Western security umbrella
The Iranian threat
Other regional threats
Smuggling and contraband
Gunrunning and the Merchant of Death
Slavery and human trafficking
Money laundering and terror funding
A history of terror
The present threat of terror
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