Tuesday, November 05, 2019

Thoughts On The Middle East

I have had a chance to think a lot about the Middle East in recent weeks.

The first thing I see is, the region has a 10-year window in which to diversify their economies or face decline. The city of Dubai has already done what the region at large needs to do. I believe that realization is there. And countries across the region are scrambling to move. Major moves are being plotted and made.

Two, where does Dubai go from here? Dubai has to move up the economic food chain. And that is mostly to do with technology. If diversification is achieved, money becomes the new oil, the gift that keeps giving.

Three, politics. First of all, I have to admit I don't know much. I have not had the chance to study in-depth. At some point, I'd like to. A few weeks ago I came across this nugget of information, that the United Arab Emirates has a federal parliament that has a roadmap to universal franchise. Not knowing that was not stupid. It was not even ignorant. Hey, you don't know what you don't know. But it sure was uninformed. Second, I have to be open-minded about possibilities. Let's just take that UAE example. Finally, when there is a universal franchise, that still would not make the monarch of the UAE someone like Queen Elizabeth. Let's face it, Queen Elizabeth rubber stamps whatever the British parliament comes up with. And recently it has come up with much nonsense. The monarch of the UAE does not even hold that title. He calls himself president. I see that as an evolving situation. Three, Iran. I think we from afar underestimate how much distrust Iran arouses among the Gulf countries. Whereas Iran thinks of itself as a country on a mission.

I would like to read up and learn and become rehearsed on the nuances of the domestic politics of many of these countries in the Gulf. For one, it is of interest to me.

Four, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. I see Africa and South Asia as the next two Chinas. When the politics part is tidied up a little, Africa and South Asia could grow faster than China did. And I see the possibility of Dubai playing the role Hong Kong played in the economic rise of China. China needed FDI. And the world only trusted Hong Kong with it. 

Five, culture and religion. I find the music and the language fascinating. I was looking at some rudimentary videos on YouTube with thoughts of teaching myself some Arabic recently. When I visit Dubai, there is a list of mosques I'd like to visit. I definitely would want to visit that mosque in Abu Dhabi. And I read about a mosque in Dubai where the sermon on Friday is delivered in English. I would like to attend that service. And yes, you can't visit Dubai and not watch a Bollywood movie.

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