The messier the world gets, the more the UAE seems to thrive
For a tiny country, it has outsize influence
FROM NOVEMBER 30th fully 70,000 people from around the world will descend on Dubai for the UN’s annual climate summit. The cop, as it is known, is a 12-day jamboree that draws diplomats, businessfolk and activists. Should they have time to escape the crush at Expo City and travel towards the glitzy skyscrapers dotting the coast, they will find a city, and a country, in the middle of an astonishing boom.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Port in a storm”
Briefing November 25th 2023
More from Briefing
The right in Congress and the courts will reshape Donald Trump’s agenda
As dominant as the new president is, there is still life in Washington’s institutions
How far will Donald Trump go to get rid of illegal immigrants?
It is his signature policy, but the obstacles are daunting
Young customers in developing countries propel a boom in plastic surgery
Falling costs and converging beauty standards spur new habits
The Assad regime’s fall voids many of the Middle East’s old certainties
What if Syria abandoned its hostility to the West and stopped menacing Israel?
Syria has exchanged a vile dictator for an uncertain future
It is not clear how stable or how benign the new regime will be
Gambling is growing like gangbusters in America
Technology and legal changes are spurring a betting bonanza