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Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success
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.
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.
390 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2008
8 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Davidson
20 books49 followersDr Christopher Davidson, BA & MA (Cambridge); M.Litt & Ph.D (St. Andrews); FHEA
Dr Christopher Davidson read Modern History at King's College, University of Cambridge, before taking his M.Litt and Ph.D in Political Science at the University of St. Andrews. He has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Beirut. Before joining Durham he was an assistant professor at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, first on the Abu Dhabi campus, then in Dubai. He is also a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and in 2009 was a visiting associate professor at Kyoto University, Japan.
He is the author of five single-authored books. The latest, After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies was published in summer 2013 by Oxford University Press in the US. A UK/Europe edition was published earlier in the year by Hurst & Co and Arabic and Farsi translations were published in 2014. Book launch lectures have been held at George Washington University , the London School of Economics , and other, shorter presentations on the book have been given at the Oxford Union and with the Project on Middle East Political Science . It has already been reviewed by The Independent, The Guardian, The Economist, Tribune Magazine, and The Huffington Post. It was listed by the Foreign Policy Association as one of the 'Most Significant Books of 2013'; listed as one of Foreign Policy's 'Top Ten Books on the Middle East from 2012'; and also as one of Al-Monitor's 'Top 15 Essential Mideast Books.' In May 2013 Foreign Policy published an excerpt from the US edition.
His 2008 book Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success was named a book of the year by both the New Statesman and the London Evening Standard, and has been reviewed, inter alia, by the Financial Times, the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the free Arabic press, and dozens of scholarly journals. It has been the subject of multiple television and radio documentaries and was cited by the New York Times, the Daily Telegraph, and the Independent as having predicted the 2009 Dubai crash.
He is co-editor of the book series Power and Politics in the Gulf. This was previously published simultaneously by Columbia University Press (in the US) and C. Hurst & Co (in the UK), and is now published by Oxford University Press. His edited book, published in December 2011, serves as the cornerstone for the series.
He is the author of more than a dozen scholarly articles, many of which have appeared in leading journals such as Foreign Affairs, Asian Affairs, Middle East Policy (1, 2, 3), and the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.
He is a United Nations (Alliance of Civilizations) expert on the politics and development of the Gulf monarchies. His work has also been referred to by the UN's High Commissioner on Refugees. He is also an associate fellow of the Royal United Services Instutitute (RUSI).
He has appeared on most major television and radio news bulletins, including the BBC, CNN, Sky, ABC, Al-Jazeera, Japan's NHK, Bloomberg, ITV, and NPR. He has also been a guest on a number of prime time current affairs shows including the BBC's Newsnight, Sky's Jeff Randall Show, CNN's Connect the World, Bloomberg's Last Word, Radio 4's Today and PM shows, NPR's All Things Considered, NHK's Asian Voices, and Al-Jazeera's Inside Story, Riz Khan, Counting the Cost, and Empire shows. In December 2011 he appeared on BBC World's Doha Debates, speaking for the motion 'This House has no Confidence in Bahrain's Promise to Reform'.
He has been interviewed and his work cited by the leading international newspapers and the Arabic press. His opinion editorials have appeared in the New York Times (1, 2), the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, Foreign Policy, the New Statesman, and OpenDemocracy. He has also written for Al-Akhbar newspaper, with his article 'انهيار دبي الكبي ' / 'The Great Dubai Crash' being published in Sept
Dr Christopher Davidson read Modern History at King's College, University of Cambridge, before taking his M.Litt and Ph.D in Political Science at the University of St. Andrews. He has lived and worked in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Beirut. Before joining Durham he was an assistant professor at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, first on the Abu Dhabi campus, then in Dubai. He is also a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and in 2009 was a visiting associate professor at Kyoto University, Japan.
He is the author of five single-authored books. The latest, After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies was published in summer 2013 by Oxford University Press in the US. A UK/Europe edition was published earlier in the year by Hurst & Co and Arabic and Farsi translations were published in 2014. Book launch lectures have been held at George Washington University , the London School of Economics , and other, shorter presentations on the book have been given at the Oxford Union and with the Project on Middle East Political Science . It has already been reviewed by The Independent, The Guardian, The Economist, Tribune Magazine, and The Huffington Post. It was listed by the Foreign Policy Association as one of the 'Most Significant Books of 2013'; listed as one of Foreign Policy's 'Top Ten Books on the Middle East from 2012'; and also as one of Al-Monitor's 'Top 15 Essential Mideast Books.' In May 2013 Foreign Policy published an excerpt from the US edition.
His 2008 book Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success was named a book of the year by both the New Statesman and the London Evening Standard, and has been reviewed, inter alia, by the Financial Times, the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the free Arabic press, and dozens of scholarly journals. It has been the subject of multiple television and radio documentaries and was cited by the New York Times, the Daily Telegraph, and the Independent as having predicted the 2009 Dubai crash.
He is co-editor of the book series Power and Politics in the Gulf. This was previously published simultaneously by Columbia University Press (in the US) and C. Hurst & Co (in the UK), and is now published by Oxford University Press. His edited book, published in December 2011, serves as the cornerstone for the series.
He is the author of more than a dozen scholarly articles, many of which have appeared in leading journals such as Foreign Affairs, Asian Affairs, Middle East Policy (1, 2, 3), and the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.
He is a United Nations (Alliance of Civilizations) expert on the politics and development of the Gulf monarchies. His work has also been referred to by the UN's High Commissioner on Refugees. He is also an associate fellow of the Royal United Services Instutitute (RUSI).
He has appeared on most major television and radio news bulletins, including the BBC, CNN, Sky, ABC, Al-Jazeera, Japan's NHK, Bloomberg, ITV, and NPR. He has also been a guest on a number of prime time current affairs shows including the BBC's Newsnight, Sky's Jeff Randall Show, CNN's Connect the World, Bloomberg's Last Word, Radio 4's Today and PM shows, NPR's All Things Considered, NHK's Asian Voices, and Al-Jazeera's Inside Story, Riz Khan, Counting the Cost, and Empire shows. In December 2011 he appeared on BBC World's Doha Debates, speaking for the motion 'This House has no Confidence in Bahrain's Promise to Reform'.
He has been interviewed and his work cited by the leading international newspapers and the Arabic press. His opinion editorials have appeared in the New York Times (1, 2), the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, Foreign Policy, the New Statesman, and OpenDemocracy. He has also written for Al-Akhbar newspaper, with his article 'انهيار دبي الكبي ' / 'The Great Dubai Crash' being published in Sept
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 24, 2010
This is the only english-language book I ever found on the topic of the emirate of Dubai's history, economy and power structure. (For a while I was writing a book about the place but it's on hold until I actually can go there.) It's got this cheeky go-team-Dubai voice to it, even as it describes the worst horrors of the Maktoum family's rule. I guess if you want access, you have to play nice -- that other book about out-of-control rich people, "Richistan," had the same problem.
But that is puffy magazine writing, whereas this is actual scholarship. And the history, I think, is fascinating. Did you know: that the UAE was more or less invented by British Petroleum? That "import/export" (i.e. smuggling) was the first cornerstone of their economy? That Dubai has had probably the most fanatically pro-business government on earth for 75 years? That once, in 1939, Sheik Rashid bin Said al Maktoum (father of the current emir) responded to the local reform movement's demands for democracy, transparency and openness by inviting the reformers to a wedding, then ambushing them with machine guns and pouring acid in the survivor's eyes?
But this is not a review of the emirate, but of the book by the same name. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants the whole story with a ton of details, footnotes, and a huge bibliography in a language you can't read.
But that is puffy magazine writing, whereas this is actual scholarship. And the history, I think, is fascinating. Did you know: that the UAE was more or less invented by British Petroleum? That "import/export" (i.e. smuggling) was the first cornerstone of their economy? That Dubai has had probably the most fanatically pro-business government on earth for 75 years? That once, in 1939, Sheik Rashid bin Said al Maktoum (father of the current emir) responded to the local reform movement's demands for democracy, transparency and openness by inviting the reformers to a wedding, then ambushing them with machine guns and pouring acid in the survivor's eyes?
But this is not a review of the emirate, but of the book by the same name. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants the whole story with a ton of details, footnotes, and a huge bibliography in a language you can't read.
September 13, 2020
Published in 2008, "Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success" is a solid overview of the modern history, politics, economy and key challenges that Dubai faces. Written by Christopher Davidson, a scholar well-steeped into the politics and history of the Gulf and the UAE in particular, the book is a great introduction to Dubai for any reader seeking to learn more about the emirate. Whereas many books on the UAE (especially those published in the 2000s) tended to be superficial, glitzy portrayals of the country and its supposedly remarkable economic development laden with orientalist cliches, Davidson's book is a serious scholarly effort that steers clear from such surface-level analysis.
The first two chapters offer an overview of the history of the UAE and of Dubai in particular. After explaining how sheikhdoms in the southern Arabian coast came under British tutelage in the 19th century and became the Trucial States (pre-UAE), the author explains what were some of the security challenges that the Dubai ruling family faced in the pre-UAE era. Particularly interesting were the passages dealing with the challenges posed by the merchant class in the 1930s as well as those posed by the Dubai National Front in the 1950s.
The next chapters deal with Dubai's economy, politics and challenges (geopolitical, economic, internal, security). Chapters 3 and 4 explain in detail how Dubai's economy is structured, highlighting how the emirate's long history of free trade has continued to the present day, while highlighting several sectors that have been key to Dubai's economic growth and how this growth was achieved (oil, real estate, free zones to attract foreign investments and skilled immigrants, tourism etc.). The fifth chapter delves into the political system in place in Dubai, explaining in detail what the ruling bargain between the Al Maktoum ruling family and Dubai nationals is, what strategies the ruling family has adopted to preserve their power (rent distribution; affirmation of religious and cultural values; establishing strong ties with key merchant families etc.). The sixth chapter explains what are some of the internal socioeconomic challenges Dubai faces today, such as the unhealthy imbalances in the labor market (i.e. difficulties in achieving a proper "emiratization" of the labor market and encourage Dubai nationals to engage in jobs that expatriates take up), the loss of social and cultural identity due to the enormous expatriate population in the emirate that easily dwarfs the national population in terms of demographics, as well as the lack of free speech and assembly in the emirate. The seventh and eight chapters delve into the external challenges Dubai faces, such as tensions and/or disagreements with other emirates (especially when other emirates engage in activities that could badly damage tourism and foreign investments in Dubai), as well as the large illicit activities that take place in the emirate (arms smuggling; human trafficking; money laundering and terrorism financing etc.).
The book suffers from several shortcomings. There are many spelling mistakes throughout (although this is the fault of the copyeditor and proofreaders rather than the author). In several chapters, when the author talks in detail about the actions of specific individuals (namely, members of the ruling families in the UAE), even readers familiar with the UAE will find it quasi-impossible to follow exactly who is doing what! Family trees of the ruling families, alongside the titles and positions held by each member, should have been included, as these family trees would have made it far easier for readers to follow the narrative. The book as a whole is more descriptive rather than analytical - while the author does a great job at describing the context, and he does occasionally question some of the decisions made by the key actors (such as, for instance, the decision by the Abu Dhabi leadership to establish Etihad Aiways when Dubai's Emirates Airlines was already active and functioning well) one would have hoped to read a more critical take, especially on Dubai's economic development (to be fair, the author later did write a critical book worth reading, "After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies", published in 2013). Lastly, the ending is far too abrupt: ending the book with the chapter on money laundering and terrorism seems like a bizarre choice - it would have been far better if a concluding chapter recapping the whole book was included.
To sum up, "Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success" is a solid work of scholarship, despite its shortcomings. Readers seeking to have a good understanding of Dubai's history, economy and politics would definitely benefit from this book. For readers seeking a more critical take on Dubai or the UAE as a whole, this book would serve as an introduction before delving into more critical takes.
The first two chapters offer an overview of the history of the UAE and of Dubai in particular. After explaining how sheikhdoms in the southern Arabian coast came under British tutelage in the 19th century and became the Trucial States (pre-UAE), the author explains what were some of the security challenges that the Dubai ruling family faced in the pre-UAE era. Particularly interesting were the passages dealing with the challenges posed by the merchant class in the 1930s as well as those posed by the Dubai National Front in the 1950s.
The next chapters deal with Dubai's economy, politics and challenges (geopolitical, economic, internal, security). Chapters 3 and 4 explain in detail how Dubai's economy is structured, highlighting how the emirate's long history of free trade has continued to the present day, while highlighting several sectors that have been key to Dubai's economic growth and how this growth was achieved (oil, real estate, free zones to attract foreign investments and skilled immigrants, tourism etc.). The fifth chapter delves into the political system in place in Dubai, explaining in detail what the ruling bargain between the Al Maktoum ruling family and Dubai nationals is, what strategies the ruling family has adopted to preserve their power (rent distribution; affirmation of religious and cultural values; establishing strong ties with key merchant families etc.). The sixth chapter explains what are some of the internal socioeconomic challenges Dubai faces today, such as the unhealthy imbalances in the labor market (i.e. difficulties in achieving a proper "emiratization" of the labor market and encourage Dubai nationals to engage in jobs that expatriates take up), the loss of social and cultural identity due to the enormous expatriate population in the emirate that easily dwarfs the national population in terms of demographics, as well as the lack of free speech and assembly in the emirate. The seventh and eight chapters delve into the external challenges Dubai faces, such as tensions and/or disagreements with other emirates (especially when other emirates engage in activities that could badly damage tourism and foreign investments in Dubai), as well as the large illicit activities that take place in the emirate (arms smuggling; human trafficking; money laundering and terrorism financing etc.).
The book suffers from several shortcomings. There are many spelling mistakes throughout (although this is the fault of the copyeditor and proofreaders rather than the author). In several chapters, when the author talks in detail about the actions of specific individuals (namely, members of the ruling families in the UAE), even readers familiar with the UAE will find it quasi-impossible to follow exactly who is doing what! Family trees of the ruling families, alongside the titles and positions held by each member, should have been included, as these family trees would have made it far easier for readers to follow the narrative. The book as a whole is more descriptive rather than analytical - while the author does a great job at describing the context, and he does occasionally question some of the decisions made by the key actors (such as, for instance, the decision by the Abu Dhabi leadership to establish Etihad Aiways when Dubai's Emirates Airlines was already active and functioning well) one would have hoped to read a more critical take, especially on Dubai's economic development (to be fair, the author later did write a critical book worth reading, "After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies", published in 2013). Lastly, the ending is far too abrupt: ending the book with the chapter on money laundering and terrorism seems like a bizarre choice - it would have been far better if a concluding chapter recapping the whole book was included.
To sum up, "Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success" is a solid work of scholarship, despite its shortcomings. Readers seeking to have a good understanding of Dubai's history, economy and politics would definitely benefit from this book. For readers seeking a more critical take on Dubai or the UAE as a whole, this book would serve as an introduction before delving into more critical takes.
September 22, 2013
Is it possible for a small oil rich country to turn itself into a Hong Kong type financial center, with a diversified economy, using two million imported, non citizen workers?
Well, it's complicated. This is probably the only well researched book on the subject, automatically giving it those four starts. The problems are many, and they include questions like how do you even define a country when the two hundred thousands "citizens" don't even feel at home in the secular shopping paradise their country has become.
I have to admit my eyes skimmed over a long historical chapter, where the insanely long and similarly named characters became a blur to my eyes. But all in all, if you like learning about the Middle East, this has to be on your reading list.
Well, it's complicated. This is probably the only well researched book on the subject, automatically giving it those four starts. The problems are many, and they include questions like how do you even define a country when the two hundred thousands "citizens" don't even feel at home in the secular shopping paradise their country has become.
I have to admit my eyes skimmed over a long historical chapter, where the insanely long and similarly named characters became a blur to my eyes. But all in all, if you like learning about the Middle East, this has to be on your reading list.
December 13, 2020
I knew a lot of the history of Dubai and the UAE beginning in 1971, but fascinating to learn a lot of the history before that, and much more detail since the UAE formed!
August 12, 2011
Despite the myriad of articles and sound bites about the latest achievements of Dubai, works dedicated to an in depth analysis of the city state have been extremely sparse. Search Dubai in Amazon and nearly all the books published were travel guides, with the exception of the book Dubai & Co. There is a smattering of outdated literature about the UAE, but this does not little to illuminate the underlying trends and contradictions of the Emirate. Therefore Christopher M Davidson’s academic work is particularly interesting and timely. Titled the vulnerability of success, this book has become the ‘go to’ for a history of the Emirate and the ability to put the current achievements in context.
Upon starting the book, I immediately skipped from the 19th century tribal histories to the last chapter on the eponymous ‘Vulnerabilities of Success’. I was disappointed to find little that had not already been discussed in further detail elsewhere. For example, the subsection: ‘Present threat of Terror’ merited only 2 pages, and the dynamics of the economy in the last few years seems largely neglected. For those looking for an up to date picture of Dubai politics and economics, even The Report Dubai 2007 contains more depth. But lacking any other reading material on Dubai, I flipped back to 19th century tribal politics.
Despite his title, Davidson’s work on the history of Dubai is the core of this book, and where he certainly has the most to contribute. Through his narrative it becomes clear how far back the tradition of capitalism and immigration extend, exemplified in the anecdote that “Some of the earliest motorcars imported into Dubai were purchased for the expressed purpose of bringing Pakistanis across the mountains from Fujairah so they could work without the need for visas or time consuming paperwork.” (91) Davidson also gives satisfactory answers to some of the most vexing questions about demographics, such as stating authoritatively that nationals account for only 4% of the population, and that 75% of the population is male. (168, 192) Finally, he manages to provide a complete picture of Dubai’s role in the UAE and the gulf. One revelation is that the UAE actually convinced Saddam to leave power:
The UAE also tried to head off the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq by offering Saddam Hussein and his family sanctuary on the condition that he respected Bush’s ultimatum and left Iraq. Although it would appear that Saddam actually accepted this proposal, only for the Arab League to later force the UAE to withdraw it on the grounds that it represented interference in a fellow member’s internal affairs. (p. 168 from Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed in 2005)
Another is the recent integration of Dubai’s forces into the UAE network, and the Unions attempts to cozy up to numerous western powers.
In sum, this is the reference book that lays the groundwork for further research on Dubai’s history. While weak in analyzing emerging trends, Davidson’s is valuable due to a thorough and interesting investigation into the context of the phenomenon that is Dubai.
Upon starting the book, I immediately skipped from the 19th century tribal histories to the last chapter on the eponymous ‘Vulnerabilities of Success’. I was disappointed to find little that had not already been discussed in further detail elsewhere. For example, the subsection: ‘Present threat of Terror’ merited only 2 pages, and the dynamics of the economy in the last few years seems largely neglected. For those looking for an up to date picture of Dubai politics and economics, even The Report Dubai 2007 contains more depth. But lacking any other reading material on Dubai, I flipped back to 19th century tribal politics.
Despite his title, Davidson’s work on the history of Dubai is the core of this book, and where he certainly has the most to contribute. Through his narrative it becomes clear how far back the tradition of capitalism and immigration extend, exemplified in the anecdote that “Some of the earliest motorcars imported into Dubai were purchased for the expressed purpose of bringing Pakistanis across the mountains from Fujairah so they could work without the need for visas or time consuming paperwork.” (91) Davidson also gives satisfactory answers to some of the most vexing questions about demographics, such as stating authoritatively that nationals account for only 4% of the population, and that 75% of the population is male. (168, 192) Finally, he manages to provide a complete picture of Dubai’s role in the UAE and the gulf. One revelation is that the UAE actually convinced Saddam to leave power:
The UAE also tried to head off the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq by offering Saddam Hussein and his family sanctuary on the condition that he respected Bush’s ultimatum and left Iraq. Although it would appear that Saddam actually accepted this proposal, only for the Arab League to later force the UAE to withdraw it on the grounds that it represented interference in a fellow member’s internal affairs. (p. 168 from Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed in 2005)
Another is the recent integration of Dubai’s forces into the UAE network, and the Unions attempts to cozy up to numerous western powers.
In sum, this is the reference book that lays the groundwork for further research on Dubai’s history. While weak in analyzing emerging trends, Davidson’s is valuable due to a thorough and interesting investigation into the context of the phenomenon that is Dubai.
Read
August 3, 2011Fascinating story of the modern development of Dubai from the 1950s onwards. One can't help wondering how sustainable the whole edifice is despite the great diversification from the oil economy that has been achieved. I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes about development (or lack of it) in Abu Dhabi in the late 1950s period. "The Vulnerability of Success" is an apt sub title.
August 13, 2013
A history of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. A critical look at the present (as of its publication in 2008) political and social aspects of Dubai, including an overview of terrorism in the city and country. As a newly-landed resident of Dubai in 2011 I found this book to be eye-opening.
April 20, 2015
Summing up the frequently dysfunctional relationship between Dubai and Abu Dhabi entirely via references to The Godfather is a serious oversimplification, but I'm going to do it anyway: If Abu Dhabi is the Michael Corleone of the UAE, Dubai is definitely Sonny.
January 23, 2008
Written by a deeply embedded insider who isn't afraid to cut his own throat in service to the truth.
August 12, 2010
I did not know much about Dubai, but I feel I know everything now. An entertaining read on a fast moving city.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews