UAE

William Gueraiche is Associate Professor, American University in the Emirates (Dubai). He has been Associate Professor of Social Sciences, American University in Dubai (UAE), Lecturer in Geopolitics, University Marne La Vallee (Paris), and Lecturer in History at the University of the Sorbonne. His research focuses upon the UAE and Gulf societies, Middle Eastern security, and diplomacy in the Gulf.

• Introduction: Invited at the Sultan’s courtPart I: A state like no otherChapter 1: Branding Dubai. How Dubai became Dubai and the emirates… the EmiratesAudacity and voluntarismSuccess is not enoughBranding Abu DhabiChapter 2: The metamorphosis of a traditional societyLegitimisation by the stateThe constitution put to the testReformsChapter 3: The invention of Arab Muslim liberalismTribal capitalismLiberalism and interventionismA successful model?Part II: What place on the world map?Chapter 4: Agent of globalisationSpace(s) of globalisationWhich relations with the West?SecurityChapter 5: Persian JanusThe Tunbs and Abu MusaEconomic rapprochement or the iron law of the marketThe unexpected effects of the economic depressionChapter 6: Arab fraternitiesThe UAE, within the GCCFrom multilateralism to bilateralism?No Arab Spring in hot desertsChapter 7: Asian tropismThe ‘Asianisation’ of the Emirates?A new Silk Road?Capital flowsPart III: The sky is the limitChapter 8: DependenciesFrom food security policy to outsourcingWater and electricity consumption, overconsumptionEnvironmental assessments and political prospectsChapter 9: What does identity mean?The uncertain future of the Emirati populationWhat identity for which nation?EmiratisationChapter 10: After the depressionThe 2008-9 crisis, facts and representationsThe debt of DubaiBack in businessConclusion: The UAE: A pole of stability Index

`This book is a precious attempt to reveal the personality of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. The author's personal experience, as well as his intimacy with local culture, allows him to explain the situation of foreigners in the eyes of the local population: temporary guests, with duties and constraints, within a definite status, linked to that position. But the core of his purpose is to uncover the strategy of the rulers to carve the image of their young and affluent country on the global map. Here the author offers the reader a study based on more than a decade-long presence in the Emirates, providing insights far removed from the usual infatuation or criticism displayed by too many hurried observers in the face of the breathtaking pace of building a post-modern economy and sprawling cities in the desert.’ - Marc Lavergne, Head Researcher, CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), Middle East Studies Department, University of Tours, `The UAE: Geopolitics, Modernity and Tradition is a welcome addition to the scarce, serious academic literature on the study of the Emirate. Insightful, analytical and revealing, it offers a thought-provoking read that will surely add to the lively discussion of GCC politics.’ - Kristian Alexander, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi