How Abu Dhabi's Rise is Good for Dubai

Following the footsteps of neighboring Dubai and Qatar, Abu Dhabi has set a vision for itself. The latter aims at building a developed society in the city-state by 2030. After Dubai's real estate bubble's explosion by the fall of 2008, Abu Dhabi has witnessed a magnifcient rise. Many analysts see that Dubai has callapsed as Fast Company magazine wrote "Bye-Bye, Dubai" on the cover of September 2009 issue while others believe that the society and the system that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has built is strong enough to fall in few months. The proponents of the second viewpoint say that Dubai can benefit from Abu Dhabi's rise.

During the Arab Strategy Forum held in Dubai in 2004, Fareed Zakaria said that Dubai shouldn't fear from Qatar's progress. He added that it is in Dubai's interest that Qatar accumulates more power. Following the same logic, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are not determined to fight each other. They may compete and more importantly they have to compliment each other. Dividing the roles gives an opportunity of specialization and focus. Dubai will be visited by thousands of Abu Dhabi's tourists. When asked by journalists whether Abu Dhabi is competing with Dubai, Dubai's ruler said that the cities belong to one unifying state and there is no competition between the two emirates. Abu Dhabi's eminence will exert more pressure on Dubai to excel. If left without any serious competitor, Dubai might stay in the comfort zone. This race is healthy for the UAE and for the GCC as a whole. Time has come to talk about the Gulf Triad: Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi or the Gulf Quartet when Saudi Arabia is added to the triad. In the United States, for example, Los Angeles and San Francisco are two neighboring and "rival" cities but they didn't eclipse each other. This is a healthy example that Arabians can contemplate.

Dubai will become a more competitive city due to the rise of Abu Dhabi. In the Middle East, several finanacial and cultural centers are emerging. The world has statrted talking about Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Riadh, Ras Al Khaimah and Beirut-the always vibrant city and the regional hub of the past and of the present. These centers may be regional ones but they meet and sometimes beat the international standards in many fields: finance, commerce, tourism, transport, real estate, architecture, media, fairs and education.

The Muslims Are the Jews of the 21st Century

After the 9/11 Attacks, Muslims are facing a serious crisis in the West and in Europe in particular. Switzerland's ban on new minarets is an example of many decisions that are not in favor of Islam. France has prevented Muslim women from wearing the hijab in public institutions and the Prophet was ridiculized in a Danish cartoon. Why all these attacks on Islam and why now?

The Europeans -of course not all of them- are fearing from Eurabia: the state in which Europe becomes Arabized and Islamized. Bernard Lewis said that in 25 years Europe will be predominantly inhabited by Muslims. The whole world has adopted the Western style of life so why this scare? The immigrants from Muslim countries and their descendents can change the European identity and universalize it but they represent an important brainpower in the age of fierce economic and scientific competition. Also, according to the Arab Labor Organization, 450 thousand Arabic engineers, physicians and researchers had immigrated to the developed world in the last decade. It's a scientific exodus. The state in Europe is not that bleak as they are "exploiting" an army of experts, a brain trust of hundreds of thousands of people. As Europeans are fearing from the Islamization of Europe, they are trying to devoice the Muslims, their citizens! The minaret represents the voice of the muezzin, they are silencing that voice not for religious reasons but for political and cultural ones. If Europe follows this intolerant course, Arabian Gulf countries will be more liberal than the European ones. If you walk in Dubai, you will see women wearing the burqa and others wearing the miniskirt.

We can understand the fears from the Muslim immigrants but those citizens have contributed a lot to the European progress. Europe is betraying its ideals; tolerance and human rights are pillars of its societies.