The UAE

Geopolitics, Modernity and Tradition

William Gueraiche

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781786721914
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politik & Internationale Beziehungen
• Subtopic: Nahostpolitik

The seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates were little known until the spectacular success of Dubai. The branding of the city not only raised awareness of Dubai, and brought Emiratis one of the highest standards of living in the world, it also spread positive representations of the UAE to the world at large, in striking contrast to more familiar representations of the Middle East. Advertising campaigns built a near-perfect image. The city's bold architecture, such as Burj al Arab, and futuristic projects such as the Palm Islands, helped create an image of modernity, and themes like luxury, personal safety, and excellent service were successfully used to alter western perceptions of the Arab world. Yet how does the image compare with the reality? 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. In particular the author compares the image – a country that is an icon of modernity open to globalization and dialogue with the western world – and the reality – a society that nonetheless seeks to maintain a closely guarded Islamic ethos. 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? In this engaging and deeply researched book the author also explores the environmental costs of the Dubai lifestyle – manifest in the world's highest electricity and water consumption per capita – 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. Offering a fresh perspective that goes beyond the usual polarisation of either denigrating the country or commending it unreservedly, William Gueraiche's important book will be welcomed by all those with an interest in the UAE, modernity and the wider Middle East.

PART I

A STATE LIKE NO OTHER

History, and recently geopolitics, opened the way to analysing mental perceptions or representations. In history, the dictatorship of events ceased when historians accepted their own subjectivity in the analysis of the past. Historical reality has thus been more a quest than a truth to definitely establish. This dialectic of the facts and their representations is as important in geopolitics. The actors, especially when they are in conflict, subjectively perceive the tensions that crystallise on a territory; in fact, Palestine remains the perfect case study in this regard.

The United Arab Emirates emerged on the international stage at the beginning of the twentieth century at a time when the West had no clear representations of the small state. The branding of Dubai effected a positive image of the emirate and of the Emirates, contrasting with the orientalist perceptions of the Arab world. Advertising campaigns masterfully defined and created a glossy photograph that its detractors denounced as fake when the tide turned with the onset of the financial depression of 2008. Yet this reproach does not make sense: it would be analogous to reproaching Coca Cola for emphasising taste instead of the fact that over-consumption contributes to obesity. For historians, or specialists of geopolitics, the branding of Dubai has been an outstanding phenomenon: for the first time in modern history, a state used marketing resources to hasten its transformation into a major agent of globalisation.

Behind the representations, the Emirati reality is complex. A perfect snapshot of Burj al-Arab, the iconic seven-star hotel of Dubai, only towered by an A 380 aircraft with the Emirates Airline colours, enables the spectator to believe that Dubai leans towards modernity. On the surface, no doubt, from the breathtaking Terminal 3 to the city's architectural prowess, Dubai and the Emirates reinforce the status of the UAE, the Arabian Nights country for Westerners. This first impression sometimes leads to misunderstandings because, under the veneer, the Emirates have kept alive a conservative society. In their relations to the space, the delimiting of boundaries or the political field, the Emiratis have tried to preserve their Arab identity. What, in fact, is sustained is a state of confusion and incongruity because the ruling elite sustains a culture of secrecy at odds with the transparency that democracy implies.

The Emiratis invented Arab-Muslim liberalism. Interestingly, the market economy that seems consistent with the branding of Dubai and the UAE has been brought in line with the values of the Emirati society. The exemption of taxes is the display window of the Emirati model. The authorities also show their generosity by supplying, almost for free, state-of-the-art infrastructures. However, there is a price to pay: outside the free zones, a pecuniary partnership with an Emirati citizen is imposed; and foreigners cannot buy Emirati land (only condominiums in specific areas). The subtle game of interrelations not only did not disappear, but also remains the cornerstone of business. This syncretism that exists so tenuously between tradition and modernity generates friction between the Emiratis and outsiders.

CHAPTER 1

BRANDING DUBAI: HOW DUBAI BECAME DUBAI AND THE EMIRATES … THE EMIRATES

In the late twentieth century, association of the terms ‘nation’ and ‘branding’ is an astounding phenomenon. The first term refers to studies by anthropologists and historians on the advent of the national sentiment, from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, among them ‘imagined communities’ conceptualised by Benedict Anderson.¹ The second one is a marketing term, used to single out products' names in order to facilitate their commercialisation. Therefore, how do nations interact with branding when it comes to ‘national branding’? Can marketing and other advertising experts ‘sell’ nations, be they nations of states or countries, as any other brand? At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the guru of nation branding, Simon Anholt, answered yes.² Sales techniques build and spread ‘images’ and ‘representations’ of a said country; they help the states to better control and manage their image in the world. Nation branding has even turned into a multidisciplinary field that addresses new demands by states concerned about their reputation in a globalised world. State propaganda of the previous century is dead: the advertising community has found a formidable niche alongside diplomats and other public relations officials.

If nation branding is an offshoot of globalisation, it is also the offspring of professionals in tourism who promote ‘destinations’ and in the financial community who attract foreign direct investments. In this regard, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew in the 1970s and 1980s was a pioneer city that had the intuition of nation branding even before the term was coined. Dubai, often compared with Singapore, is the perfect example of nation branding, the cornerstone of its success. The genesis of its success can be traced back to the 1980s, escalating towards the beginning of the new millennium. Nation branding strategies have worked to define icons, spaces or events as immediately recognisable. Such strategies have also been employed by the Maktoum family, the ruling family of Dubai, and have proven so efficient that Abu Dhabi has adopted them under Sheikh Khalifa Al Nayan, the current president.

Audacity and voluntarism

During the decade following independence (1971), foreigners had little reason for landing in the Emirates. Tourism was restricted to a handful of high-class hotels. Patrimonial resources were limited compared with other Arab countries, like Egypt or Syria, because of the dominant Bedouin culture; and the waterfront, a potential tourist attraction, required reinvention. The capital, Abu Dhabi, because of its immense oil resources, had a small advantage over the other emirates: a flexible organisation, the Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company (ADNHC) promoted its network of five-star hotels. In response, professionals in the sector acknowledged the promising potential of the UAE, such as Tunay Akoglu, responsible for tourism development at the Economic Commission for Western Asia (ECWA) in the United Nations' network.³ The Emiratis themselves raised doubts about the UAE as a major tourism destination.⁴ The regional backdrop hampered the exponential growth of international tourism in the 1980s. For Western tourists, the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula was indistinguishable from Lebanon, which had been in the midst of a well-broadcasted civil war since 1975; what is more, the geographical proximity to the Iran–Iraq War cast a shadow on the neighbouring countries. The creation of an airline company and the establishment of a promotion board eased the challenges facing the fledgling tourist market in Dubai.

Emirates Airline, gateway of Dubai

The success of Dubai in the various economic sectors, with tourism at the forefront, is intrinsically linked to the ruling Maktoum family, whose leaders have not hesitated to take risks to develop the emirate. After Sheikh Rashid succeeded his father on 10 September 1958, he ruled his emirate as a company.⁵ To allow easy access to Dubai, an international airport was inaugurated on 30 September 1960. Because of its open skies policy (notably freedom licensing companies) and continuously updated infrastructures easily accessible at a low cost, Dubai became a hub for 42 airline companies by 1984. Due to the rising demand from the business community, Gulf Air strove to keep pace with this influx, but Maktoum was not pleased with the airline's progress.⁶ In late 1984, Gulf Air issued its schedule for the following six months showing that Dubai was neither benefiting from new flights nor maintaining or expanding existing ones. Maurice Flanagan, the director of the Dubai National Air Travel Agency, better known today by the acronym Dnata, recommended in a report the creation of a new airline company, a solution implemented with the creation of Emirates Airline on 25 May 1985.⁷ Sheikh Mohammed granted a limited budget of $10 million and five months to make it operational. This venture was a risky one because Maktoum had high expectations in terms of quality of service but provided limited means and time for enactment and results. From the very start, Emirates was conceived as one of the elite airline companies in the world and Maktoum aimed at integrating the airline into a comprehensive policy for the promotion of Dubai. In partnership with Pakistan International Airline (PIA) and two aircrafts (one Boeing 737 and an Airbus 300), the venture started on 25 October 1985. Since then, Emirates Airline has won more than 320 awards.

The results are impressive. In early 1990, Emirates positioned itself as a major competitor in the Asian market. The biggest advertising board ever made, set on the Vantage West Building in London, pointed out that the company connected London to Dubai 17 times a week and was a stopover for Asian destinations (Malé, Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong or Manila). By 1994, Dubai was a hub for 33 destinations with an annual turnover of $600 million. In June 2016, its fleet of 244 aircrafts connected 151 cities. By 2020, the year of the World Expo in Dubai, Emirates is expected to carry 70 million passengers in more than 300 aircrafts.⁸

Born in the context of air traffic deregulation in the 1980s, Emirates Airline's success has relied on liberal formulae: Dubai airport is open night and day, an impossible policy for the busiest airports in Europe, such as Paris or London, because of noise-related costs; Emirates can maintain its aircrafts in flight 14 hours a day instead of 11 for its main competitors. Tax relief (there are no taxes in the UAE) and the cheap Asian labour force substantially reduce fixed costs, making them the lowest of all big airline companies.⁹ In addition, its competitors have claimed that the government of Dubai has financially supported Emirates.¹⁰ The appointment of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, a member of the Maktoum family, as president of the group since 1985 has facilitated the spread of such rumours.

The calculated positioning of Emirates in the market also explains the overnight success of the airline: nothing is left to chance. Mike Simon led a transnational advertising network under the umbrella of EmPower. At the beginning of the 2010s, this virtual structure connected 120 agencies in the world to promote one objective: publicise and advance Emirates as a global brand.¹¹ Maurice Flanagan, from the very start, cognisant of the necessity of brand awareness, wanted Emirates to join the ranks of international brands like Coca Cola and Ford.¹² Its core values have not changed: Emirates must innovate. Therefore, many advertising campaigns have pitched the ‘airline of the future’: modern, consumer oriented, and home to the highest standard of service for an affordable cost. The brand sensibility, explained Mike Simon, is that Emirates is an international airline of quality, moving forward and serving a globalised community.¹³ The advertising teams targeted two demographics: busy business people looking for quality services, and demanding tourists who land in Dubai for a stopover or for their final destination.

Sheikh Ahmad and Maurice Flanagan had a motto: what is good for Dubai is good for Emirates and vice versa.¹⁴ Thus, Dubai and Emirates grew in a common cause, and their promotion blueprints worked hand in glove. The annual report, a forum to promote the emirate as a globalised hub,¹⁵ shows that aviation in general contributed $26.7 billion to Dubai's GDP in 2013 (7 per cent),¹⁶ the 2007–8 report assessed the architectural projects and the most recent urban developments.¹⁷ Emirates Holidays was established in 1992 to sell Dubai as a destination, later diversifying its activity in the whole regional market (85 per cent of its business is in the Middle East). Marketing allowed a double construction in terms of image. What advertising professionals call branding aimed to match an airline with a city.

Considering this commercial and promotional agenda, it is no wonder that Emirates has been the main sponsor of high-profile events in the city, such as the Dubai Shopping Festival, taking place from mid-January to mid-February annually since 1996. Three million shoppers, mainly coming from the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab world, take advantage of packages (airfares and hotel bookings). To boost the retail sale, affected by the hot summers, the Dubai Summer Festival turns the air-conditioned malls (built on the American model) into a big souk with a structured retail activity schedule. Both the winter and summer shopping festivals put Dubai on an equal footing with Singapore and Hong Kong, famous in Asia for their duty free offerings and sales. Within the Middle East, Dubai remains the favourite destination for Arabs who feel at home. The commercial and transportation infrastructures facilitate the development of these kinds of events. Attracting customers from outside the Arab world is a challenge.

In addition to competing as a vehicle for a luxury, Emirates Airline has focused on sports, a necessary leverage to access the status of a world brand,¹⁸ becoming ‘one of the most recognizable brands in global sports,’¹⁹ The company has moved away from its original ethics and has entered aggressive marketing strategies. During his visit to the UAE, in December 1988, Leslie John Martin, former president of the Australian sports confederation, said bluntly that sporting events increase the touristic potential of a region or a state. An appreciable parameter, these events are a vast potential for job creation²⁰ for the city and considerable exposure for the airline, and the Emiratis learned this strategy fast. This approach has certainly paid off, placing Dubai on the world map as the sporting capital of the Middle East.²¹ Sport conveys an image of youth, dynamism and competition. ‘Fly Emirates’, the slogan of the company, appears on all photos of awards ceremonies for major competitions held in Dubai.²² Even the choice of events is not left to chance. The Dubai World Cup is the brand event of the emirate, the most rewarded horse race in the world ($10 million). Emirates has been the main sponsor since 1996. On a symbolic level, this race subtly associates British and Arab culture. The hippodrome of Nad Al Sheba, home to the most sought-after thoroughbreds in the world, welcomes an international elite where men are formally dressed and women are dressed in the fashion of the Ascot derby. The Dubai World Cup also serves as an opportunity to emphasise the place of horses in Arab culture and to showcase the superlative form and ability of the Emirati horses. Nine Emirati horses won the cup between 1996 and 2016; in 2012, for instance, Monterosso, owned by Godolphin Racing, the private stable of the Maktoum family, won the race; in 2015, the horse of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Prince Bishop, made a ‘historic’ victory in front of a panel of celebrities. As Carter Carnegy, who promotes British horse racing, pointed out: the World cup shapes the image of Dubai and brings influential people to Meydan; it is a good illustration of Dubai's soft power.²³

While they are becoming more democratic, two sports have kept their aristocratic values: golf and tennis. In the Emirates, they are also the two favourite sports of upper managers, who turn into spectators during two tournaments. The world elite meets in the green of Dubai (Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Ladies Masters) or within the walls of the Irish Village (Dubai Tennis Championships in March). Emirates, the official sponsor, is also the official company for all players. Even when Dubai organises sporting events with a lower profile, such as speed racing (UIM Class 1 World Powerboat), sailing (Emirates Team New Zealand for the America's Cup), rugby sevens (annual tournament since 2009), and football, its international exposure heightens. Football, sometimes known for its aggressive fans, however, while very popular, is not necessarily a good match for the image of Dubai. Emirates, therefore, carefully chose to sponsor the best teams in the English Premier League, which proved to be an excellent compromise. The English championship is among the top world leagues (if not the best), such as the Calcio in Italy (the Spanish clubs upset the hierarchy in the 2000s). Emirates wisely chose Chelsea to wear the ‘Fly Emirates’ motto on its blue jersey from 2001 to 2005, and paid £24 million (the second highest budget in the league after Chelsea's eternal economic rival, Manchester United) to broadcast the ...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Abbreviations
• Map of the UAE
• Introduction: Invited to the Sultan’s Court
• Part I: A State Like No Other
• Part II: What Place on the World Map?
• Part III: The Sky is the Limit 161
• Conclusion The UAE: A Pole of Stability
• Notes