City of Gold by Jim Krane

[Xerxes]

Perfect timing ! Ain’t it. 

 

I finished reading  this book that chronicles the rise of Dubai from the late 19th century to 2010 (when the book was written)

 

 

The aspiration for Dubai seems wasn’t really Hong Kong or Singapore. It was rather to recreate a modern day Cordoba.
 

The chapter on how it became the diamond center of trade and how it took business from Tel Aviv is interesting.
 

One common theme throughout the book is Iran. How the 1979 revolution and other events have driven the different Iranian merchant families to relocated to Dubai decades ago and how integral they are to Dubai.  
 

The discussion about Jebel Ali port is interesting. At the time, no one really cared about that capacity and mega investment, but it became high demand when the tanker war broke out between Iran and Iraq in the mid-late 1980s. 
 

Not really covered in the book would be the rise Emirates in the 2010s, and how it took business from other long haul players. 
 

The city-state seem to have taken business, and great minds from everywhere. It had one close call, and that was 2008 financial crisis that almost sank it, if it was not for Abu-Dhabi and UAE. 
 

[Xerxes]

A really interesting sidenote not covered in this book:

 

Dubai, and the rest of Gulf nations were officially subjects of the British Raj, prior to the 1947 partition. 
 

While we all know British zone of influence extended there, what is new (to me) was it was specifically the British Raj, as in Delhi. 

 

We don’t see that on any maps from that era, because the fiction of Ottoman rule and suzerainty over the Arabs had to be maintained. but when Partition was being discussed both the future India and the future Pakistan were asked if they wanted Dubai and the rest at of those fishing villages. 
 

They both said no thank you.