When you have some free time on your hands and/or have tired of watching my Ethiopia videos, this article from the New Left Review is a fantastic and extremely intelligent (though longish) analysis of the "new Mecca of conspicuous consumption and economic crime" - aka, where I live.
I think the author overstates the importance of oil as a driver in Dubai's economic growth (it's only 5% of the GDP, though you wouldn't know it from the way he talks), nor would I call Dubai "on the rim of the warzone" (being over 1,000 miles from Baghdad, Beirut, or Kabul, I'm not really sure which "warzone" he means - I guess this is a reflection of Americans thinking the Middle East fits into 10 city blocks).
Those two caveats aside, however, the rest is dead-on and makes for a great read... and way more insight into life in the Gulf than The Kingdom, which - regrettably - I just sat through. (The highlight of seeing it here was realizing that certain parts - like when the Americans talk trash about Muslims getting virgins in heaven - weren't translated into the Arabic subtitles. Nice try...)
