Dubai: The security dimensions of the region's premier free port

Middle East Policy

Volumn 15, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 143-160

  Davidson, Christopher ^a,b,c  

^a DURHAM UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b Shaikh Zayed University   (United Arab Emirates)

^c NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 44649101339     PISSN: 10611924     EISSN: 14754967     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4967.2008.00354.x     Document Type: Article

References (171)

1. Frauke Heard-Bey, From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates (Longman, 1996), pp. 189-191 ;
2. Christopher M. Davidson, The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival (Lynne Rienner, 2005), pp. 157-158.
3. Ram Buxani, Taking the High Road (Dubai: Motivate, 2003), p. 101;
4. Donald Hawley, The Emirates: Witness to a Metamorphosis (Norwich: Michael Russell, 2007), p.102. In 1958, Ayub Khan seized power in Pakistan, ushering in a new dictatorship.
5. Buxani, p.101.
6. Easa Saleh Al-Gurg, The Wells of Memory (London: John Murray, 1998), p. 104.
7. Ibid., p.103.
8. Foreign Office 371/120553.
9. The Guardian, December 17, 2001.
10. Personal interviews, Abu Dhabi, March 2007.
11. Iqbal Ismail Hakim, United Arab Emirates Central Bank and 9/11 Financing (GAAP, 2005), pp. 145-146.
12. John Daly, "Viktor Bout: From International Outlaw to Valued Partner," in Terrorism Monitor, Vol.2, No.20 (2004).
13. Hakim, p. 5;
14. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
15. Hakim, p. 5.
16. Ibid, p. 88. Referring to a report issued by the Combat Films and Research Department of the Kennedy Center.
17. In particular, the British were concerned that Anotonin Goguyer was active in the arms trade in the lower Gulf. See Slot, B. J. Mubarak, Al-Sabah: Founder of Modern Kuwait, 1896-1915 (Arabian Publishing, 2005), p. 46.
18. Saleh Hamad Al-Sagri, "Britain and the Arab Emirates, 1820-1956" (PhD thesis. University of Kent at Canterbury, 1988), p. 305;
19. Wilson, p. 39.
20. Graeme Wilson, Rashid's Legacy: The Genesis of the Maktoum Family and the History of Dubai (Dubai: Media Prima, 2006), p. 39.
21. Ibid, p. 40.
22. The Times, December 30, 1910.
23. Wilson, p. 78.
24. Foreign Office 371/120553.
25. Hawley 2007, p. 202.
26. The movie Lord of War, starring Nicholas Cage, was loosely based on the "Merchant of Death."
27. Taras Kuzio, "Loose Nukes and Al-Qaeda," in Terrorism Monitor, Vol.2, No.6 (2004).
28. Hakim, pp. 88-89, 92.
29. Ibid, p. 17.
30. Ibid, pp. 88-89, 92.
31. Ibid, p. 17.
32. Ibid, pp. 88-89, 92.
33. Victor Yassman, "The Russian Criminal World Played a Key Role in Chechnya and Continues to Do So," in Terrorism Monitor, Vol.1, No.8 (1995).
34. Hakim, pp. 92-93.
35. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
36. Lorimer, John G., Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia (Gregg International Publishers, 1970), p. 2475.
37. Hawley, Donald, The Trucial States (George Allen and Unwin, 1970), p. 200.
38. Ibid, p.200.
39. Al-Sagri, p. 41;
40. Heard-Bey. pp. 288-289.
41. Davidson 2005, pp. 29-34.
42. Heard-Bey, pp. 289-290.
43. India Office SB/159; Lorimer. p. 725.
44. Lorimer, p. 725;
45. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006.
46. India Office SB/159.
47. Davidson 2005, pp. 32-34.
48. Muhammad Morsy Abdullah, The United Arab Emirates: A Modern History (Croom Helm, 1978), p.25;
49. Hawley 1970, p.136.
50. Most notably in 1925, the fort of the headman of Fujairah, Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Sharqi, was shelled. Hawley 2007, p.72.
51. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006;
52. Wilson, p.78.
53. These reports are from 1954. Foreign Office 371/120553.
54. The ruler's uncle being Sheikh Majid bin Saqr Al-Qasimi. Rush, Alan (ed.), Ruling Families of Arabia; The United Arab Emirates (Slough: Archive Editions 1991), p.266.
55. Wilfred Thesiger, Arabian Sands (Penguin, 1991), pp. 272, 284;
56. Hawley 1970, p. 173.
57. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006.
58. Davidson 2005, p. 43.
59. Reuters, July 8, 2006;
60. Gulf News, July 15, 2006.
61. Personal interviews, Dubai, July 2007.
62. Buxani, pp. 80-81.
63. The robot jockeys were developed by a Swiss firm and cost about $5500 each.
64. See New Scientist 21 st August 2005.
65. Gulf News, July 15, 2006.
66. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
67. Camp Anaconda is considered so dangerous that its moniker amongst U.S. personnel is "Mortaritaville."
68. Hakim, p. 3.
69. Wilson, p. 111.
70. Hakim, p. 36.
71. Hawley 2007, p. 18.
72. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
73. Alexei Vassiliev, "Financing Terror: From Bogus Banks to Honey Bees," in Terrorism Monitor, Vol. 1, No.4 (2003).
74. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006.
75. Personal correspondence, March 2007.
76. The Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2003.
77. Khaleej Times, February 6, 2002.
78. Gulf News, February 18, 2004.
79. Khaleej Times, February 6, 2002.
80. Hakim, p. 1.
81. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
82. Hakim, pp. 3-4.
83. Ibid, pp. 42-47 for examples.
84. Ibid, pp. 57-59.
85. Ibid, pp. 123-124.
86. Ibid, p. 34.
87. Ibid, p. 34.
88. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007;
89. Hakim, pp. 14, 22, 24.
90. Hakim, pp. 164-167.
91. Ibid, p. 6.
92. Ibid, pp. 15, 22, 24.
93. Ibid, p. 143.
94. Ibid, pp. 61-62.
95. Ibid, p. 97.
96. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007; Hakim, pp. 36, 51.
97. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
98. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007;
99. Hakim, pp. 104-107.
100. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007;
101. Hakim, pp. 119-121.
102. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007;
103. Hakim, pp. 101-102.
104. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
105. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007;
106. Hakim, pp. 101-102.
107. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
108. Hakim, pp. 199-200.
109. Davidson 2005, pp. 79-80.
110. The Daily Telegraph, December 1, 2001;
111. Hakim, pp. 151-152.
112. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007;
113. Hakim, p. 1.
114. USA Today, September 2, 2004.
115. Personal interviews, Dubai, January 2007.
116. Najat Abdullah Al-Nabeh, "United Arab Emirates: Regional and Global Dimensions" (PhD thesis. Claremont Graduate School, 1984), pp. 121-123.
117. Davidson 2005, pp. 70-87.
118. Most of the terrorists were thought to be drawn from the Bani Harth and the Bani Riyam. See Luce, Margaret, From Aden to the Gulf: Personal Diaries, 1956-1966
119. (Salisbury, Michael Russell, 1987), p. 164;
120. Hawley 2007, p. 62.
121. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006;
122. Hawley 2007, p. 289.
123. Andrea B. Rugh, The Political Culture of Leadership in the United Arab Emirates (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), p. 176.
124. Hawley 2007, p. 173.
125. Ibid. p. 177.
126. Personal interviews, Durham, February 2007.
127. Hawley 2007, p. 220.
128. Buxani, pp. 11-12;
129. Wilson, pp. 191-194.
130. Hawley 2007, p. 288.
131. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006;
132. Luce, p. 165.
133. Wilson, pp. 358-360.
134. Merchant International Group Strategic Research and Corporate Intelligence August 25, 2005.
135. Ibid.
136. Wilson, p. 431.
137. Ibid, pp. 429-431.
138. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006.
139. Merchant International Group Strategic Research and Corporate Intelligence, August 25, 2005.
140. Khalifa was the father of Khaldun bin Khalifa Al-Mubarak, the current director of the Mubadala Corportation in Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan's right-hand man.
141. Davidson 2005, p. 205.
142. Fahim, p. 159;
143. Wilson, p. 355.
144. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006;
145. Merchant International Group Strategic Research and Corporate Intelligence August 25, 2005.
146. The 2003 movie Zameen starred Abhishek Bachchan.
147. USA Today, September 2, 2004. The UAE provided the second largest contingent of 9/11 hijackers after Saudi Arabia.
148. Personal correspondence, March 2007.
149. Hakim, p. 1;
150. Personal correspondence, March 2007.
151. It was widely rumored in Dubai that Bin Laden was receiving treatment for his kidney ailments in a Dubaibased hospital during the summer of 2001.
152. USA Today, September 2, 2004.
153. Personal interviews, Dubai, December 2003;
154. The Times, December 24, 2002.
155. Adam Robinson, Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of the Terrorist (Arcade, 2002), pp. 91-93.
156. John Wilston, "The Roots of Extremism in Bangladesh," in Terrorism Monitor, Vol.3, No.1 (2005).
157. Quotes from Evan F. Kohlmann, a Washington-based terrorism researcher.
158. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006;
159. Financial Times, August 10, 2004.
160. China Daily, August 9, 2004.
161. See Christopher M. Davidson, "The Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai: Contrasting Roles in the International System," in Asian Affairs (vol.38, no.1, 2007).
162. Khaleej Times, May 4, 2005.
163. Personal interviews, Dubai, June 2006;
164. Reuters, May 9, 2005.
165. Personal interviews, Beirut, November 2006.
166. Paraphrased from unclassified document AFGP/2002/603856 located at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Also see Scripps Howard News Service, February 28, 2006.
167. Personal correspondence, March 2007.
168. This statement appeared on the As-Sahwah website in 2005.
169. This statement was made in March 2005.
170. These closures took place in late March 2005.
171. Personal correspondence, March 2007.