Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success (US Edition) - Hardcover

Christopher M. Davidson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231700342 ISBN 13: 9780231700344

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Dubai has a remarkable success story. Since its origins as a small fishing and pearling community, the emirate has steadily grown in strength to become the premier trading center of the Persian Gulf. It is also the locus of an exciting and innovative architectural revolution. Despite its lack of democratization and a genuine civil society, Dubai is now a booming metropolis of more than two million people, most of whom are expatriates benefiting from the city's increasingly diversified economy. Following a detailed history, Christopher M. Davidson presents an in-depth study of Dubai's post-oil development strategies and their implementation during a period of near-complete political stability. Davidson addresses the probability of future problems as the need for sustained foreign direct investment encourages far-reaching socioeconomic reforms, many of which may affect the ideological, religious, and cultural legitimacy of the traditional monarchy.He also analyzes Dubai's awkward relationship with its federal partners in the United Arab Emirates and highlights some of the pitfalls of being the region's most successful free port-its attractiveness to international criminal fraternities, the economy of the global black market, and terrorist networks.

About this title

Review:

"Davidson traces Dubai's rise from sleepy Gulf port to player on the world scene." -- Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times

About the Author:

Christopher M. Davidson is a fellow of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Durham University. He is a former assistant professor of political science at Sheikh Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the author of The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0231700342
• ISBN 13: 9780231700344
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 390