Posted on 03/12/2006 2:59:23 AM PST by PrinceOfCups
DP World will not manage six ports in the US as initially agreed, but the aborted deal has achieved for Dubai an outstanding triumph by any yardstick.
First, and as Ghassan Tahboub, media manager in the executive office of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said, it is an invaluable lesson. "It was an exercise you have to live with, win and then learn from. This was America. There are lobbies, politics and interest groups, and Dubai found itself in the middle of a jungle. In the end I have to thank everybody there for this lesson," he said.
Then, Dubai has gained the greatest international publicity possible and people anywhere can now name the emirate that has laid bare an obstinate mindset of racial discrimination and ethnic prejudice that no public relations gloss will ever cover.
It has also shown beyond any doubt that its amazing success story has never been a cheat and that the geographically small emirate could now compete with the most advanced economies of the world.
Cairo in the 1950s and Beirut in the 1960s succeeded to define trends, but it was mainly on political issues. Dubai in the 2000s thanks to its pro-globalisation trends is showing values that promote success and prowesses that indicate leadership and triumph.
Dubai has demonstrated that while it is moving vibrantly ahead with globalisation, other countries that have always championed free trade are now shackled by a xenophobic tsunami and are likely to feed a global backlash against globalisation.
It has shown the world that the US economic anxieties are being senselessly fuelled by nationalist sentiments that seem to be inexorably on the rise.
The port deal debacle has also proven that Dubai possesses a broader mind than the US when it comes to welcoming and promoting investments and that its openness is genuine and not decided by race or creed.
Last week, US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez told Gulf News in Manama that the decision against DP World was not racially motivated. Either he was not aware of the strong anti-Arab powers within his own country or he did not wish to hurt our feelings.
Either way, the truth is here for everyone to see and contemplate: Dubai is an economic power that is re-writing books and all those who opposed the port deal should think in that direction and should appreciate that it too can cancel deals.
US economists were quick to bandwagon the belief that the flap over the ports acquisition is unlikely to make a consequential dent in foreign investment flows into their country. But Arab analysts predict that this unwarranted hostility will certainly affect Arab investments in the US and will make US assets less attractive to Arab buyers.
Economically, DP World's takeover was never a special case: a state-owned company from the Middle East is buying an American asset already managed by a non-American entity. Suddenly, ethnicity, tainted by hostility and envy, and not a proven success record, became the guidelines to assess the deal.
America has always been comfortable with most multinationals that invested in the United States because they came from Western countries and are unlikely to be subject to such scrutiny. However, the United States is obviously becoming a less welcoming place for investment from Arab countries.
The port deal opponents should appreciate that their public statements might secure them some political benefits, but will most certainly have grave economic consequences.
The American Revolutionary War was fought mostly because of the prevention of free trade and imposition of taxes. Now you would restrict trade that is most responsible for the wealth and well being of the US. You want a government to tell people how they survive. When will be the Monarchy or dictatorship you seek to prevent free trade for a democracy does not.
We also use it as a permanent base of operations for air, ground and sea forces, and its deep water ports are the only ones in the region that can actually service aircraft carriers ~ which they do.
This campaign against Dubai carries with it the risk of endangering our military forces in the ME.
The only people who could possibly wish for such an outcome are those who do not want us there, or who want Saddam Hussein back in office, or who work for the Iranians.
Tookie WAS executed anyway.
Those who really do want the Southern, and Northern, borders protected, thought there was more utility in keeping out the bad stuff by being able to operate abroad in the busiest ports.
I think you will be fine. I have been watching the UAE blogs and paers a good deal. The reaction has not been so much rage or anger but a sense of profound dissapointment. The places will be as friendly to westerners as ever I suspect. Unless congress does something stupid again. BTW thanks for serving
Did it ever occur to you that it might have been less tolerant interests there that brought on the outcry?
You could be a tool of the Saudi Arabian religious police~!!!
If you weren't such a droning leftist on this subject, maybe you'd understand.
I see no evidence of Islamics or Christians giving up all their money for there religion. I do see that as the thought of the masses and fanatics that have insignificant money.
You are right in your point. If we can't differeniate between the two (the political perversion of religion and the billion or so normal Muslims) all can spiral out of control - as humans often regrettably do - with hatred fueled by bigotry.
Dubai is a minor oil producer. That's why they are so heavy into commerce and shipping. They are working hard to make a living in a tough world.
Thanks.
I've read that the Pentagon is trying to smooth things over. Last year some 77,000 liberty visits to Dubai were made by US Servicemen and women. We spend a lot of money over there and it is a little slice of paradise for those of us who find ourselves stuck in the Middle East. To be restricted to the "sandbox" (a secure, fenced-in location surrounding the ship and accessible only to sailors and select vendors) would be heartbreaking.
But according to weiner(savage) and malkin it is al-queda's main headquarters.
Thank you for your service and sorry that our Congress may have made your next tour tougher with their knee jerk spasm.
Spin, spin, spin...
And if there is one thing Dubai isn't, it's prejudiced and bigoted. All varieties of Islam are welcome there.
If you stroll through the beautiful City Center Mall in Dubai you'll notice that Westerners and Asians outnumber Arabs. It is a very cosmopolitan place.
"The port deal debacle has also proven that Dubai possesses a broader mind than the US when it comes to welcoming and promoting investments and that its openness is genuine and not decided by race or creed."
To think there will be some Americans that will believe the filth that spews from this satan gives my stomach a churn.
What a lying dog turd. He believes Americans are nothing more than a gaggle of ignorant aholes. He thinks we're too ill informed to know how his nation denies and seeks the destruction of Israel...and how no one with an Israeli passport or a passport that dares to bare an Israeli stamp on it can step foot upon the shores of his terrorist haven. (not that any of right mind would want to)
For the UAE to sniff and complain about US "bigotry" and xenophobia is hypocritical and hollow. When US (or any) Christians seek emigrate to the UAE with the same desire and ease that middle eastern Muslims seek to emigrate to the US, I'll lift the label of hypocrite from the UAE. Not one day before.
Most of the people in Dubai are "foreigners".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.