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The seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates were little known until the spectacular success of Dubai.

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William Gueraiche´s work is the first scholarly study of the UAE´s campaign to establish itself on the international stage and to explore the impact that its economic transformation has had on the country. Emirati society remains at core conservative and the preservation of Arab-Islamic identity remains important, yet the UAE has the highest proportion of foreigners of any country in the world. What does this mean for the identity of Emiratis living there and what are the implications for foreigners working there? The author also explores the environmental costs of the Dubai lifestyle, its ´Look East´ policy and increasing volume of trade with eastern Asia, and the ways in which the UAE has sought to challenge the traditional hegemony of Saudi Arabia in the region. In a final chapter the author examines the impact of the economic depression that called the whole representation of Dubai into question.

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Introduction: Invited at the Sultan´s court

Part I: A state like no other

Chapter 1: Branding Dubai. How Dubai became Dubai and the emirates. the Emirates
Audacity and voluntarism
Success is not enough
Branding Abu Dhabi

Chapter 2: The metamorphosis of a traditional society
Legitimisation by the state
The constitution put to the test
Reforms

Chapter 3: The invention of Arab Muslim liberalism
Tribal capitalism
Liberalism and interventionism
A successful model?

Part II: What place on the world map?

Chapter 4: Agent of globalisation
Space(s) of globalisation
Which relations with the West?
Security

Chapter 5: Persian Janus
The Tunbs and Abu Musa
Economic rapprochement or the iron law of the market
The unexpected effects of the economic depression

Chapter 6: Arab fraternities
The UAE, within the GCC
From multilateralism to bilateralism?
No Arab Spring in hot deserts

Chapter 7: Asian tropism
The ´Asianisation´ of the Emirates?
A new Silk Road?
Capital flows

Part III: The sky is the limit

Chapter 8: Dependencies
From food security policy to outsourcing
Water and electricity consumption, overconsumption
Environmental assessments and political prospects

Chapter 9: What does identity mean?
The uncertain future of the Emirati population
What identity for which nation?
Emiratisation

Chapter 10: After the depression
The 2008-9 crisis, facts and representations
The debt of Dubai
Back in business

Conclusion: The UAE: A pole of stability

Index

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William Gueraiche is Associate Professor, American University in the Emirates (Dubai). He has been Associate Professor of Social Sciences, American University in Dubai (UAE), Lecturer in Geopolitics, University Marne La Vallee (Paris), and Lecturer in History at the University of the Sorbonne. His research focuses upon the UAE and Gulf societies, Middle Eastern security, and diplomacy in the Gulf.

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