National Day

As Dubai's doom makes the rounds through the international news circuit, such omens seem far removed from the routines and regularity of life here. Sheikh Mohammad, the rule of Dubai, went as far as blaming the overly (overtly?) negative media coverage on "a lack of understanding about what is happening in Dubai." To a certain extent, from what I have read and heard, this doesn't seem to be completely inaccurate. In all of the news coverage I have seen, not one thing has mentioned what was actually going on in Dubai. This story broke late last Wednesday on the the final working day in the UAE before Eid al-Adha (always corresponding with the Hajj, literally "the Festival of Sacrifice" commemorates Abraham's obedience before God through his willingness to sacrifice his son). Consequently, all government ministries, banks, schools etc. were officially closed. The timing then suggests that the problems of delayed payments and restructuring of Dubai World were either accidental (i.e. someone prematurely leaked the extent of their debt problems) or they were trying to burry their problems over the long weekend. Whatever the case, from what has happened, this uncertainty seemed to challenge international markets until the beginning of this current week. Since then, the situation has only gone deeper into the country's political intrigue.

Rumors of family rivalry (Sheikh Mohammad and Sheikh Khalifa--the ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE--are cousins and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and ruler of Dubai are said to have very strained relationship), political struggle, and most dramatically, political centralization and economic control fill the background of the nation's problems. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have an uneasy relationship conflicting over everything from Dubai's spendthrift ways, their trade with Iran (an enemy of most Sunni-Muslim countries), Dubai's de facto role as the economic hub of the country to Abu Dhabi's political control over the country and the emirate's massive oil wealth. Amidst such conflicts, Dubai's debt problems were only deepened by the fact that Abu Dhabi would no longer write a blank check to bail out Dubai. For the first time, the certainty behind Dubai's investments was undermined, the balloon was popped. The five billion dollars that Abu Dhabi banks did lend Dubai earlier this year was not used to repay some loans but instead to play a game of chicken with lenders, affirming a "mutually assured destruction" with lenders if they were not to come to an agreement as to how and when Dubai would pay back its loans. Furthermore, Abu Dhabi's response that they would only offer a case-by-case "bailout" (versus the blank-check bailout that was always assumed) is seen as Abu Dhabi's attempt to take further control over Dubai and further centralize the UAE under their control.

So has any of this affected the day-to-day life in Dubai?

The easy answer is "No." The more complete answer is that amidst National Day, it is hard to tell what normalcy would be like.

After Eid over the weekend, UAE marked their National Day on the second of December. Any anxieties or concerns over the Dubai's economic woes were addressed and firmly responded to during the commemoration of the country's 38th birthday. In one of Sheikh Khalifa's addresses to the nation, he affirms, "We would like to assure everyone that our country is stronger and better off, since our economy is fine and our society enjoys welfare. The global financial crisis will not be a reason for hesitation or retreat, not a justification to lead us to despair or inaction." Such a statement sets the stage for much of the discussion that surrounds National Day. The persistence, resilience, strength, dedication (the list could go on...) of the people of the UAE bestow a firm foundation for the nation. It is from this basis of ardent patriotism that the country will thrive amidst and against any negative circumstances (that always seem to arise from outside of this country). Sheikh Mohammad proclaims that the country is on the right path because its achievements would not be possible if "God hadn't set for us a tryst with history." He continues elsewhere:

"It spite of the weight of the consequences of the global financial crisis, the wheel of progress and achievement in our country did not stop turning. It safeguarded the power of our economy, placed it on the road to recovery and boosted it by the way of the inensification of government investment in infrastructure at the national level... You, dear compatriots, are the wealth and weapons of our nation, you its pride, joy, and delight. I know that your motherland is the most expensive thing you have and the love for your country is deeply planted in your hearts... So gather your thoughts, light up your minds, roll up your sleeves, work hard and take initiatives, always look forward, and believe that God will not let good work go without reward."

In the UAE's exhaustive goal of self-promotion, such high-minded proclamations could be easily dismissed as nothing more than rhetorical or verbose quips, hollow attempts to kindle the deepest patriotism to glorify the nation and motivate its compatriots. This judgment would be all to true if these affirmations were detached from how people experience and live out their patriotic and nationalistic sentiments in this country.

Through gestures that amble between genuine pride and jingoism, patriotic fervor and xenophobia, National Day is the biggest celebration of the year. At the center of the celebrations is the UAE Flag.

The colors appear EVERYWHERE on stickers, shirts, hats, buttons, headbands, balloons, streamers, horse saddles, and, of course, flags themselves. It genuinely feels as if there are as many flags in a country of less than 5 million people as there is in all of the United States. But these aren't your ordinary flags. They range from the highest flagpole in the world in Abu Dhabi, a 300-meter flag along the highway outside of Ras al Khaimah, a 50 by 25 meter water-proof flag that was hauled from the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, to Sharjah's unfurling of the world's largest flag (covering the absurd area of 22,813 square meters, about four football pitches). Flags, stickers, streamers, balloons and decals of the sheikhs also adorn cars in about every imaginable fashion. Driving around and showing off one's car serves as one of the main celebrations during the evening. While these over-the-top displays stand out from National Day, at a less strident level, National Day more closely resembles a Fourth of July celebration from anytown USA. Sharjah Old Car Museum hosted a car show (with cars that were decades older than the country itself), a parade ran through the streets around the Burj Dubai, and Abu Dhabi launched a mega-fireworks show.

While these displays of patriotism are not negative in and of themselves, the hype that surrounds them lends itself to an indeterminable arrogance, especially set to the background of the larger political/economic situation. So the questions is if these celebrations are to hide what is happening, as a response to what is happening (i.e. to prove something), or despite of what is happening (i.e. that the UAE will always celebrate and that it cannot be brought down)? Whatever the answer(s), as the stories about Dubai World and National Day are brought together, the comparison seems strangely similar. In the case of Dubai World, something that will potentially not be as bad as it initially made to seem was made to seem much worse in the mainstream media. As for National Day, a celebration of pride in the nation's history is taken to obscene levels, something good is blown out of proportion to seem much more important than it actually is. So, it seems that if any moral can be drawn it is that as long as Dubai does not relinquish its grandiloquence, the media coverage will follow suite, giving it the grand coverage that its overblown ways seem to all too easily lend themselves.

The Ascent, and Fall, of Dubai and Speculation Grows Over a Tense Rift, With Billions at Stake both from the New York Times and What Price for Dubai's Bailout? from Al Jazeera are the best articles that I have read to this point. If you are interested, Gulf News has the best information about the crisis from Dubai's perspective.

I highly suggest following the links from above the visual sense of what is going on here. Words can only go so far in understanding what a spectacle National Day is here.