46 Middle East & Africa The Economist May 28th 2022
hyans are seen as one of the peninsula’s
more disciplined royal families, their dis
putes settled in private—a far cry from next
door’s fractious House of Saud.
The decision will one day affect every
one in the uae. The constitution does not
require that the president hail from Abu
Dhabi: in theory the ruler of tiny Ajman
could run the country. No one expects that
to happen, but in the federation’s early
days some Emiratis thought the job might
rotate between the Nahyans and the Mak
toums of Dubai.
That notion may be dated. Flashy Dubai
is better known outside the Arab world, but
Abu Dhabi has the power. Though Dubai
has the largest chunk of the emirates’ 10m
people, Abu Dhabi has almost all its oil and
gas reserves and 87% of its land.
The other emirates worry not that Abu
Dhabi holds the power, but how it uses it.
For decades each sheikhdom had a lot of
freedom to set policy. Dubai built strong
economic ties with Iran. Saqr alQasimi, a
previous ruler of Ras alKhaimah, the
northernmost emirate, refused to ban the
local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Neither view was liked in Abu Dhabi, but
the other emirates’ rulers, particularly in
Dubai, zealously guarded their autonomy.
That was eroded in 2009, when Dubai,
battered by the financial crisis, needed a
bailout of $10bn from the capital. The
money bought a very public concession:
the world’s tallest building, meant to be
known as the Burj Dubai, was renamed the
Burj Khalifa, in honour of the president.
Much the same happened in private, as the
balance of power between the two largest
emirates tipped towards Abu Dhabi.
Muhammad has since exerted greater
control over foreign policy and security.
The Nahyans have also built up their busi
nesses, from banks to energy to entertain
ment. His views—hawkish, suspicious of
mass politics, hostile to political Islam and
Iran—set the tone. Questioning them is out
of the question. Emiratis say the space for
public discussion of government policy,
let alone dissent, has shrunk markedly ov
er the past decade.
Still, some grumble in private. The
uae’s role in the war in Yemen became a
source of discontent in the poorer emir
ates, which suffered a heavy share of the
casualties. Abu Dhabi’s enthusiasm for
President Donald Trump’s belligerent poli
cy towards Iran annoyed Dubai and other
emirates. Some Emiratis say they are diz
zied by the pace of social change, including
an abrupt decision to switch to a Monday
toFriday working week (Friday, when
Muslims gather for communal prayers,
had traditionally been a day off ). All of this
seems to flow from Abu Dhabi, with little
room for debate. It hasalways been primus
inter pares. But it iseverharder to say the
others are truly equal.nR
esearchersattheQatarGenome
Programme, a project paid for by the
former emir’s wife, say they want their
Gulf state to become, in terms of genet
ics, “the Iceland of the Middle East”. For a
thousand years, Icelanders have kept
detailed records of how everyone is
related to everyone else. These leafy
family trees and the country’s genetic
homogeneity helped Iceland become a
pioneer in genomics. Qatar, a country
with roughly the same population (ex
cluding foreign residents), hopes to
become a genetics powerhouse, too. Its
neighbours are following suit.
The Qatar Genome Programme has
already sequenced the genomes of nearly
one in ten Qataris. It aims to sequence
one in three by 2026. Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates (uae) are ex
panding their schemes as well.
The Human Genome Project first fully
mapped human dna in 2003. Since then,
scientists have sequenced around 1m
genomes, refining humans’ genetic
blueprint. But research has not been
carried out evenly across the world. Most
sequencing has been done on those of
European descent. Far less than 1% of
genomes sequenced are of Middle East
erners, though they make up around 5%
of the world’s population. A test for
cystic fibrosis based on genomes from
Europeans may miss the disease in an
Arab patient. Sequencing Arab genomes
will enrich the world’s data.
Over half of Qataris and Saudis marry
their relatives. In the uaethe share is
nearly as high. Doing so keeps kinship
webs tight and property within the fam
ily. Girls in conservative households may
not be allowed to gallivant with boys
outside of their family. Marrying a cous
in is often a woman’s only chance of
wedding someone she knows well. And
even when a Qatari or Emirati marries
outside his or her family, the pool of
potential partners is small.
Consanguinity causes a range of
inherited disorders. Relatives are more
likely to share genetic mutations, and if a
child inherits two mutated versions of a
gene (one from each parent), he or she
may suffer from a disease. Some genetic
diseases are so common in the region
that doctors associate them with a partic
ular tribe or family.
Couples who wish to wed in Qatar,
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia must first get
tested for mutations linked to a handfulofinheriteddiseasessuchas thalassae
mia, a blood disorder. Those with risky
results may choose not to marry, or have
in vitro fertilisation with unaffected
embryos (paid for by the government).
Sequencing the genomes of Gulf
Arabs should make people healthier.
Knowing patients’ genetic sequences
may one day help their doctors pick the
best drugs and doses for them. And
having a better picture of the region’s
genetic landscape may lead to fuller and
more relevant premarital genetic testing.
Today Qatar requires soontobewed
couples to test for only a few diseases.
But within the next two years, scientists
in the country hope to roll out an afford
able test that screens for hundreds. Saudi
Arabia plans to expand its testing, too.
Those outside the region will also
benefit from the research. A consanguin
eous population “is like an actual human
experiment”, says one geneticist in the
uae.Some rare diseases are found only
in places where cousin marriage is com
mon. Discovering rare diseases and
mutations does more than just help
those suffering from them. Such findings
help scientists piece together how genes
correlate with health outcomes. Cousin
marriage is common elsewhere, in places
such as Sudan. But few consanguineous
countries outside the Arab Gulf have the
spare cash to sequence genomes en
masse. Better understanding of the re
gion’s genomes may allow cousin mar
riage everywhere to become a bit safer. GenomesintheGulfMarriage markers
Better screening may make cousinly weddings saferScreening and skyscraping