Viswanathan K's Thoughts

The Dubai series of blogs was based on (and written) before the Iran war. Given how small the UAE is, how it has never shown signs of religious fanatism, how cosmopolitan Dubai and Abu Dhabi are, how integrated Dubai is as an airport hub and tourist destination, I was curious why Iran targets the UAE so much more compared to the other Gulf countries during the war.   Well, there are multiple reasons. One , UAE (like so many other Gulf countries) hosts American military and air force bases. Iran attacked those to increase the cost to the US and for the PR value of destroying American bases. But that should apply for all other Gulf countries as well, so it doesn’t explain why Iran targets UAE so much more. Which brings us to Two . UAE is very close (100 km), comfortably within Iran’s short-range missiles and drones, making it a cheaper option to hit. Three , the fact that Dubai (and Abu Dhabi) are global financial hubs means the splatter is felt world over. Four , the UAE had bu...

By the turn of the century, urban development was the driving force for Dubai, writes Tomas Pueyo.. The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, is the most famous landmark. The world’s 2 nd largest mall, the Dubai Mall (with an aquarium and underwater zoo), came up. Land was reclaimed to create the famous Palm Jumeirah.   Dubai understood the synergies between different modes of transportation, so: “It didn’t only invest in its port and coast. It continued investing in its airport and airline.” Today, Dubai is the world’s 2 nd busiest international airport, and Emirates airlines is a synonym for opulence and coverage.   Those old selling points from when it became an SEZ – safety, low taxes, tolerance – continue and remain key attractions even today. Dubai is (was?) as safe as Tokyo and Singapore, and definitely a whole lot safer than any Western city.   Criticism of the rulers or religion is not allowed. Media is controlled by the state. Public protests are not a...

As it lay ignored, Dubai had one special thing – its creek , writes Tomas Pueyo. Why did the creek matter? “A creek provides protection for ships from sea storms and pirates, so Dubai could theoretically be a port.” But with so many other ports around, why would anybody care for Dubai, which (remember) had nothing to trade or sell anyway? Well, Dubai’s rulers had progressively made sure the place was safe from pirates and robbers. The most important port under the Ottomans was Basra. But as Basra got taxed more and more, merchants and traders began to look for alternatives.   It was now (1901) that Dubai created what we would call an SEZ (Special Economic Zone) today. Easy land purchasing, no taxes, a safe haven, tolerance to all beliefs. Of course, this playbook could have been tried by other creeks in the region. Why then did Dubai capitalize the most? “A big reason was that it was weak. That weakness was an asset, not a liability: The port was not huge, the Sheikh was not power...

Dubai. The UAE. The posterchild of how a country can continue to be rich, even when the oil runs out. The story behind that is interesting, as I learnt as I read this (brief) history of Dubai by Tomas Pueyo. ( Note : Through this blog, Dubai means the entire emirate by the same name, not just the one city named Dubai).   The founder of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, feared this: “ My grandfather rode a camel; my father rode a camel. I ride a Mercedes. My son rides a Land Rover, and my grandson will ride a Land Rover. But his son will ride a camel.” Al Maktoum wanted to avoid that last line. And boy, has he succeeded: “Today, Dubai is not only a bustling city. It’s one of the most dynamic city-states on Earth.”   From ancient times, Dubai lay on/close to the trade routes (Mesopotamia to Persia and China; Mesopotamia to India and South East Asia). But that never helped! Dubai, after all, was just a desert, so nobody stopped there, nothing got traded...