Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success [Paperback]

Christopher M. Davidson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231700350 | ISBN-13: 978-0231700351 | Publication Date: April 15, 2009

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.

(7/13/08)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is the best study of Dubai that I have read and an important contribution to the still meager literature on the extraordinary formation that is the United Arab Emirates. Especially interesting is the book's discussion of the emirates' founding under British rule and the continuing influence of this imperial history on its politics and society; the imported character of its 'Arab' identity; and the regional context that informs everything from security concerns to demography.

(Faisal Devji, St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, and author of Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity 12/6/08)

Davidson traces Dubai's rise from sleepy Gulf port to player on the world scene.

(Christopher Hawthorne Los Angeles Times 8/1/09)

Mr. Davidson nicely lays out this flashy emirate's astonishing ascent from tiny fishing and pearling village to global hub.

(Stephen Kotkin New York Times Vol 50 No 2)

Davidson offers a detailed historical and topical study of the Dubai phenomenon.

(Foreign Affairs Vol XVIII)

Davidson gives an excellent overview of Dubai, the UAE in general, and its path to economic development... Recommended.

(Choice 10/1/10)

Perhaps the best look at this desert mirage is this prescient book published in 2008. Well before the real estate debacle, Davidson raised questions about how long Dubai could remain immune from regional conflict, organized crime, and terrorism, all of which would swiftly affect its allure as a haven for investment and luxury travel.

(Foreign Policy )

It is no surprise a book that analyses Dubai's weaknesses, as well as its virtues, provoked nervousness in the emirate and was under threat of being banned.... Davidson's book should be seen in Dubai as an important contribution. The city-state has been running fast and wild for years. Taking a pause to consider the impact of its rapid growth is a healthy exercise.

(Financial Times )

A noteworthy reference for future studies on the country and related topics.

(Mei Zhang Journal of Regional Science )

Comprehensive and detailed.

(Arang Keshavarzian Arab Studies Journal )

This monograph is a first-rate piece of scholarship, and provides a wealth of information and analysis about Dubai.

(Erik Eliav Freas Historian )

About the Author

Christopher Davidson is a fellow of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Durham University. He is a former assistant professor of political science at Sheikh Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the author of Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond and The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival.

(4/1/09)

Product Details

• Paperback: 390 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231700350
• ISBN-13: 978-0231700351
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > History > Middle East > United Arab Emirates

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impeccable academic treatise on Dubai, November 9, 2008

By 

Fritz Gheen (Dubai UAE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success (Hardcover)

This book is for the serious reader; it reads like an academic treatise--dense, magnificently researched with fascinating subject matter.

The first couple chapters succinctly cover the emirate's history. The following chapters detail the first free zone--Jebel Ali port--and the recent emergence of Dubai's diversified economy.

Chapter five concentrates of the distributed-wealth principle and Dubai's reliance on its rentier nature. The next chapter speaks of the paradoxes embedded in present day Dubai(the mix of East-West).

Dubai's relationships with the other emirates are explored in chapter seven, providing some really fascinating insights (who know alcohol was legal in Sharjah until Suadi helped bail the emirate out of its banking crisis in 1989?).

And the book concludes with a chapter on Dubai's naughty underbelly--gun running, terrorism, etc. Personally, I found it the least interesting chapter of the book.

One warning: if I hadn't lived in Dubai for a year before reading this book, it would not have resonated as strongly. Frankly, if you don't have a baseline understanding of Dubai, you may not get much out of it; the book is too dense and specific for a cursory understanding.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fact packed, neutral, and colorful, July 9, 2008

By 

dreamweaver (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success (Hardcover)

Although written by an academic authority on the subject this book was very readable, and in places I had to remind myself this was non-fiction, such is the scale and pace of Dubai's development. I ordered this quite some time ago, as a pre-release, and only received it this month, so there must have been some delays, but it was worth it. The history is fascinating and it is clear that the origins of the city still have a major influence on its current activities. I never understood before how the UAE and Dubai fitted together, along with many other questions I used to have in mind, but I now found explanations to this normally hidden and secretive part of the world. The information on the ruling families is incredible. Although it would have been good to have some color to the maps included, this book is absolutely invaluable and seems to be written by a genuinely neutral and construcitvely critical author, unlike most other books on the Persian Gulf.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally... a book on Dubai for the inquisitive, June 25, 2008

By 

Dubai-watcher (Dubai, UAE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success (Hardcover)

This highly polished and painstakingly researched book is the first serious study of Dubai - one of the world's fastest growing and most headline-grabbing cities. There are eight chapters, beginning with a substantial historical background before turning to the present day development of the economy and the survival of the ruling family. Although respectful and dispassionate throughout, no punches are pulled and the book builds up to a strong climax with a discussion of security and terror threats. In some ways, the author himself is of equal interest as the book, with englishman Dr.Davidson considered to be as influential as a sheikh in some parts of this oil rich region.