The Political Economy of Dubai Essay

“There is, then, an economic basis for the absence of democracy in the Arab world. But it is structural. It has to do with the ways in which oil distorts the state, the market, the class structure, and the entire incentive structure. Particularly in an era of high global oil prices, the effects of the oil curse are relentless: Not a single one of the 23 countries that derive most of their export earnings from oil and gas is a democracy today.”

The two most important resources in this region are oil and water. The huge oil “deposits there and in the neighboring countries around the Persian Gulf (the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain) established these countries as some of the richest in the world” (Document F). Nevertheless, the countries who do not have as much access to oil are weak economically. Oil is the biggest export in the Middle East, and in a way, the amount of oil a country has determines how wealthy that country will be. Another component of oil is that countries and ethnic groups are disputing for the control of prices of this economic resource. It has gone to the far extent of foreign countries attempting to control the oil price and also the use of weapons for this (Document E). In addition, it is impossible for each country to have equal access to water due to the unbalanced distribution of these essential resources. As a result of this, these countries are fighting for as much control of water sources they can get. Radically, there are many countries in the Middle East that are striving to obtain as many natural resources to strengthen their economy and lifestyle, and it seems most obvious that the scarcity of these resources is a significant problem in the region

Document 4 explains nationalization of of African territories. Following the conclusion of the Second World War, the Egyptians decided to pass laws in order to evacuate the British military from the Suez Canal area. As implied in Document 4, during the month of July 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser exemplified the nationalization of the area. Nasser perceived that if here were to bring nationalism to the Suez Canal, then he could assign a fee to the citizens that were not welcome. With this fee, he would influence the construction of a newly structured dam, hovering the Nile River of Egypt. Nasser understood that by nationalizing this canal, the world, and especially the British and French stockholders that were in ownership of the Canal Company would be taken aback. Even though President Nasser pledged that Canal Company would receive a significant amount of affluence for the loss of their property, the British, French, and Israeli societies decided that they would initiate a procedure to re-obtain their company, and overthrow Nasser. These countries formed a secret alliance, historically known as the tripartite collusion. The Israel society decided that they would engage in procedures opposing the Egyptian society in hopes of obtaining approval from many of the western nations. This was because they were limited on resources, not very well developed, and were very fearful of being authorized by an Arabian

According to Diamond, oil-states can be generally defined as countries whose economies are dominated by oil. Among “the twenty-three countries whose economies are most dominated by oil today, not a single one of them is a democracy. (Diamond 74)” When oil initially becomes a large source of revenue for countries, negative effects immediately occur. One major reason for this is that when an economy is dominated by

Persian Gulf Development Literature Oil Curse Literature Arab and Islamic Factors Regional Ovemiew and Historical Background Dubai's Development History

In July 1956, international tensions expanded control of the Suez canal, a 193 km-long man-made waterway in Egypt, where is the strategic importance of tense world politics, connecting the Middle East to Europe and having a significant effect for the trade between Europe and Eastern countries.By 1956, Pearson became a federal cabinet minister to solve many international affairs. Everything was smoothly running until Egypt nationalized Suez Canal and the crisis reached boiling point. Britain and

The discovery of oil reserves in the Persian Gulf marked the beginning of the evolution of Iran to a modern industrial nation. (Document A) As the demand for crude oil skyrocketed, the wealth generated by Iran soared. The distribution of this wealth became a matter of contention. Additionally, with the transformation of Iran to an industrial nation, the introduction of western culture posed a problem for the strict Islamic community. The Iranian Revolution was a result of the economic, political, cultural and religious conflict that occurred within its borders.

Oil and other natural resources are an important source of wealth. States and their leaders are eager to get access to the highly-valued resources, perhaps gain control over them. However, lack of democracy in the oil-rich countries could be explained by the European colonization in the region,

I have to admit that we are very blessed with so many beautiful and breathe taking cities in the world. Dubai is just one of the many countries which has advanced from their humble beginnings and today are multi million tourist. Dubai is another city which has moved from having not as much as other countries once did such as money and a stable economy, to one of the richest cities in the world. In 1966 oil was discovered in Dubai and was a catalyst for Dubai’s economic growth. From a country that had come from not having a stable economy and not a lot of money, it has become like I said earlier, one of the richest cities in the

This economic modernization in the Middle East, could only be a short term success which does not guarantee the successful and stable economic development of oil rich states and the region as a whole in the long term. The Middle East, despite its vast reserves of oil, is still considered a developing region due to the high reliance on oil revenues and rather weak production sector of the economy as well as due to some political factors such as lack of democracy, corruption, reluctance to the reforms and other issues. There are various reasons as to why the Middle East is still considered a developing region despite its oil wealth. Natural resource revenues have also been linked to slow economic growth rates, inequality, and poverty. One culprit may be "Dutch disease," which was discussed earlier. Other factors may include the volatility associated with commodity prices, which can have especially negative impacts on weak-state economies; and the underdevelopment of agricultural and manufacturing sectors during boom periods in resource-based economies. And even when oil abundance produces high growth, it often benefits only a few corrupt elites rather than translating into higher living standards for most of the population. Corruption is one of the economic deficiencies which can weaken economic growth and development; thus it is considered as an important impediment to economic growth and political stability, particularly in developing countries. The dependence on a

In 1956, Gemal Abdul Nassir announced that he wanted the nationalization of the Suez Canal. This canal has been operated by Britain and France since the 18th century and due to this, tensions rose between Egypt, Britain and France. Israel regarded Gemal Abdul Nassir as a threat to its national security and due to this it was easy for Britain and France to convince Israel in the invasion of Egypt and the overthrowing of its president. Israel invaded Sinai Peninsula, Britain and France landed their troops later on the pretence of separating the fighting parties. This was the start of the Suez crisis. The USA condemned their actions and forced the three parties to withdraw and this made it possible

The Suez war began in 1956 when the President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Due to the canal’s great importance to the British and they colluded with Israel and France to regain control of the canal. The Suez Canal was especially important to the British because it connected the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea. (Milner) This strategic location allowed them to trade and move across the world giving them control of their colonies. However, on July 26, 1956 President Nasser decided to nationalize the Suez Canal due to his anger at the British for withdrawing their loan offer to Egypt. (Milner) Consequently, the nationalization of the canal was a strategic move to lessen the British’s economic and political control of Egypt, which had lasted since 1882. Many Egyptians were unhappy with British’s occupation of their country so Nasser’s policies were popular in the Middle East. This was because the “expression of national

The economy in the United Arab Emirates has experienced substantial increases in the last 40 years. The UAE’s capabilities with the pearling and oil industries have given the region its necessary budgets to expand so rapidly. The economic policies in the UAE have gone through stages, since the birth of the region in 1971. Changes in economic welfare of the markets, and privatization policies are also key aspects in understanding the UAE’s economic liberalization and growth. In order to understand the UAE’s economic standard, economic liberalization must be analyzed. The argument of this paper will discuss how economic liberalization has occurred in the United Arab Emirates and is continuing to grow.

The UAE is one of the riches nations in the world as measure by per capita GNP. The economy is primarily based on the oil

UAE is located at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Arabian Gulf sometimes referred to as Persian Gulf, bordering Oman , and Saudi Arabia to the south, sharing sea borders with Qatar and Iran (CIA World Factbook). The population is estimated to be 9.446 million and consists of 1.4 million Emirati citizens and 7.8 million expatriates, majority of whom came from India, Pakistan, Philippines and other Arab countries. It was established in 1971 as a federation of seven emirates (states). Each emirate is governed by a monarch; together, along with some elected representatives, they form the Federal Supreme Council – legislative organ. One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates.