CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 01/2020

LE MONDE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Dubai is always worth
an adventure.
The smaller Emirates of Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al
Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah also occupy the peninsula,
whose protrusion north toward Iran forms the
famous Strait of Hormuz - a central strategic point for
world’s oil transportation, linking the Persian Gulf to
the Gulf of Oman. The seventh member, Al-Fujairah,
faces the Gulf of Oman and is the only member of the
union with no frontage along the Persian Gulf.
Historically, the domain of individual Arab clans
and families, the region now comprising the UAE
also has been influenced by Persian culture owning
to its close proximity to Iran. For centuries, its porous
maritime borders have invited migrants and
traders from elsewhere. Even today, most of the
UAE‘s population is non-Arab. The group of the so
called “daily workers“ comes from Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh and other Asian countries.
In the 18th century, Portugal and the Netherlands
extended their holdings in the Middle East but retreated
with the growth of British naval power there.
(cf. britannica.com). Following a series of truces
with Britain in the 19th century, the emirates united
to form the Trucial States. They gained autonomy
following World War II, when Qatar and Bahrain declared
independent statehood.
The UAE, as it is today, as an independent state
exists since 1971.
A unique gathering called EXPO
This year, Dubai will be in the center of attention.
From 20 October 2020 till 10 April 2021, the UAE will
host the EXPO 2020.
What It is coming in your mind when you hear
“Expo“? A big international event, multicultural presentations,
the newest achievements of technology
or simple a well shown melange of how much human
beings are able to improve?
Who believed in 1851, when the first Expo took
place in London and had 6 million visitors such as
Charles Darwin, George Eliot and Charles Dickens,
that 169 years later, this event would be still a highclass-gathering
with international impacts on mobility,
economy, technology and science?
By the way, it was at a World Expo that the one
and only Thomas Edison presented his first photograph
to the public in 1878 in Paris. Shall we say every
Expo includes some revolutionary outcomes? In
1901, in Buffalo, the first x-ray machine was introduced
as was the first television in 1939 in New York.
And an object of daily use nowadays, the mobile
phone, which is for most of us one of the most im-
PHOTOS: DUBAI TOURISM
The Burj Al Arab is a luxury
hotel located in Dubai. It is
the fourth largest hotel in the
world, after Rose Tower,
which is also in Dubai.
36 Cercle Diplomatique 1/2020