CONCLUSION: FORGING A NEW MIDDLE EAST
“A city that had no pity on itself or its citizens: a mound of debris that rose higher every day. People looked around them,
bewildered or gratified, but with a single wish: to get this all over with” (p. 222).
— Abdulrahman Munif, The Trench, Cities of Salt (my emphasis)
One could argue that through these, and other, efforts, a “New Mid-
dle East” is being forged in this region. The institutions of global
capital — multi-national companies and increasingly museums, in
addition to star architects — are being used to transform cities in
the Gulf which are offered as a model for the rest of the dysfunc-
tional Middle East. This has become part of the official rhetoric
adapted by local officials and scholars. ‘Abd al-Khaliq ‘Abdullah,
a UAE University professor of political science, talks about “the
Dubai moment” and that the significance of cities such as Cairo,
Beirut or Baghdad has effectively diminished.^7 Abu Dhabi is in-
creasingly following a similar path. History and tradition are used to create a “myth” of a glorious Islamic past, which is
revived at the hand of the city’s rulers. In some instances, when necessary, they are simply ignored. Ultimately, however,
the question becomes: Going beyond the glitter of high-tech Fosterian towers, what does Abu Dhabi offer to the world?
In the end, are these developments geared towards their inhabitants, enhancing their daily lives, or are they, like Munif ’s
fictional people in the quote above, left as bewildered as everyone else?^8
- A. Abdullah, “Dubai: An Arab City’s Journey from Localism to Globalism,” Al-Mustaqbal Al-Arabi (The Arab Future), No.
323 (January 2006), pp. 57-84. - For more details on developments taking place in Abu Dhabi see Y. Elsheshtawy, “Cities of Sand and Fog: Abu Dhabi’s
Global Ambitions,” in Y. Elsheshtawy, ed., The Evolving Arab City (London, UK: Routledge, 2008).
Elsheshtawy...
Figure 5: Abu Dhabi’s emerging skyline seen from the Emir-
ates Palace Hotel