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Abu Dhabi is a new economic superpower that will soon wield enormous influence across both developing and developed worlds. The principal emirate of the United Arab Emirates federation commands over 8 percent of global oil reserves, has nearly $1 trillion in sovereign wealth funds to invest and is busily implementing a thoughtful economic master plan. It has also pumped huge amounts of money into culture, sport and infrastructural development in an attempt to eclipse even its ubiquitous UAE partner\u2013Dubai\u2013as an international household name. Abu Dhabi will host the Formula One Championship decider in 2009, is opening the world\u2019s first Ferrari theme park, has a rapidly expanding airline and is setting up satellite branches of the Guggenheim and Louvre museums. Gulf expert Christopher Davidson\u2019s book charts the emirate\u2019s remarkable trajectory from its origins as an eighteenth-century sheikhdom to its present position on the cusp of pre-eminence. Abu Dhabi\u2019s impressive socio-economic development, he offers a frank portrayal of a dynasty\u2019s dramatic survival, demonstrating the newfound resilience of a traditional monarchy in the twenty-first century and its efforts to create a system of \u201ctribal capitalism\u201d that incorporates old political allegiances into modern engines of growth. Finally, he turns his attention to a number of problems that may surface to impede economic development and undermine political stability. These include an enfeebled civil society and invasive media censorship, a seemingly unsolvable labour nationalisation paradox, an underperforming education sector, and increasing federal unrest.<\/p>\n
Publishers\u2019 websites:\u00a0Hurst & Co.<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Oxford University Press<\/a>\u00a0(previously Columbia University Press)<\/p>\n Table of contents: available\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\n Excerpt (chapter 2 \u2013 \u2018Sheikh Shakhbut and the Great Decline\u2019):\u00a0 available\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\n Reviews \/ features:<\/strong><\/p>\n Times Higher Education \u2013\u00a0review<\/a><\/p>\n International Affairs \u2013\u00a0review<\/a><\/p>\n Middle East Journal \u2013\u00a0review<\/a><\/p>\n Middle East Policy \u2013\u00a0review<\/a><\/p>\n Arab Studies Quarterly \u2013\u00a0review<\/a><\/p>\n Middle Eastern Studies \u2013\u00a0review<\/a><\/p>\n Middle East International \u2013\u00a0review<\/a><\/p>\n H-Net \u2013\u00a0review<\/a>\u00a0(German)<\/p>\n