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Abuse masked by words of economic opportunity results in a situation where the abuser convinces the abused a third party is solely to blame, and so tens, if not hundreds, of thousands each year have a view of the world constructed for them based on pure fantasy. These workers send money home and support a rising middle class back in their own country; a segment of the population who are viewed as having ‘made it’ or seen as having an increasingly bright future by their less privileged neighbours. Exported with this wealth are anti-Western and anti-Semitic ideas; political and racist views which must be right if the people expressing them are models of success. Abuser and abused become united against a common enemy, conspicuous by its absence.

by Nikos Akritas

Contrary to popular opinion, Dubai is not the richest emirate of the United Arab Emirates. That stroke of luck goes to Abu Dhabi. The rulers of Dubai, recognizing its oil wealth would not last forever, decided much earlier than their plutonic neighbours to use their abundance in this natural resource to invest heavily in infrastructure, banks and foreign companies.

Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE but much sleepier than its more well-known fellow emirate, owns 74% of the country’s known oil reserves and has, until recently, taken comfort in this fact to leave things as they are. This is no longer the case and within a decade or so looks set to overtake its more popular neighbour as a nexus for business, travel and leisure.

From the lure of artificial islands with golden beaches to the opening of reputable scholarly institutions [1] and cultural establishments,[2] Abu Dhabi is gradually buying its way into Western culture as well as business. The next step, taking its cue from Dubai (whose buying into The Times tainted that paper with the rife antisemitism that is the norm in Muslim countries), was to buy into Western media outlets. Hence, its failed bid for The Telegraph. Arab ownership of well-known Western newspapers will only exacerbate anti-liberal, anti-Semitic news-reporting through such brands, giving the content an air of legitimacy.

Anti-liberal regimes, like those of the Gulf states, which understand the West’s weaknesses are using these to gain a questionable influence in Western countries—through capitalism and liberalism. The former via trade and capital flows, allowing illiberal regimes to gain influence over Western economies and politics, and the latter by claiming the right to maintain and promote intolerance, in the guise of tolerance.

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