Also imposed on the broader population with seemingly little consultation have been the Gulf monarchies’ efforts to deepen their security ties with the Western powers. This has led to the establishing of many Western military bases on their soil in recent years, including several discreet installations that most citizens remain unaware of. It has also led to increased spending on Western armaments, with many Gulf monarchies now assigning a huge proportion of their GDP to such expenditure in what now resembles a protection racket, rather than a legitimate attempt to build up indigenous defensive capabilities. Closely related to this expensive militarisation of the region, Gulf nationals are also becoming concerned over the now rampant hawkishness of many of their governments, especially with regards to Iran. Despite shared economic histories and the historic efforts of many ruling families to position themselves as active neutrals, it seems that a new generation of Gulf monarchs are now more willing than ever to publicly antagonise their powerful neighbour.
Notwithstanding the region’s track record of boycotting and limiting contact with Israel in support of the Palestinian question, and despite having national populations which mostly continue to oppose recognition of Israel, many Gulf rulers seem willing, indeed keen, to strengthen economic and political relations with Israel as part of a dangerous, multipronged strategy to appease Western backers and further isolate Iran. The lack of any meaningful collective security or in some cases even basic co-operation between the Gulf monarchies is also a growing concern, not least due to these new, high stakes policies on Iran and Israel. More than thirty years after the founding of the Gulf Co-operation Council the six member states remain at loggerheads over many issues, including border disputes and other long running territorial arguments. In some cases grievances are so strong that diplomatic rifts develop, violence erupts, or one monarchy interferes in the domestic politics of another, sometimes even stirring or sponsoring coups in an attempt to re-arrange power within neighbours.
Welcoming foreigners and eroding legitimacy
In some Gulf monarchies, and especially those that have made the greatest efforts to attract foreign direct investment and tourists, or present an inviting visage to expatriates, there have been several noticeable relaxations in recent years, While these measures have certainly been viewed as beneficial or necessary for economic development, it has often prompted strong criticism from more conservative elements of the national populations, many of whom have focused their anger on the apparent indifference of ruling families to their religious and cultural sensibilities. By far the strongest example is Dubai, where, as shown, a considerable attempt has been made to transform the emirate’s economic base by building up free zones, tourism, a real estate industry, and a financial sector. In addition to requiring considerable economic liberalisation such as rulings that allow foreigners to purchase freehold property, the emirate’s government has also striven to ensure that its massive expatriate population and legions of foreign investors and tourists feel as welcome and comfortable as possible. Given that many of Dubai’s newcomers are now either non-Muslim or share very few of the historical and cultural linkages with Dubai that were enjoyed by the earlier immigrants from Persia, India, or other parts of the Arab world,[658] the relaxations have usually revolved around Islamic values and traditions. In Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman the same phenomenon can also be observed, although to a lesser extent.
One of the most obvious relaxations in the region relates to alcohol consumption, as (apart from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) up until recently alcohol could only be purchased in hotel bars and restaurants or in specific and very discreet stores if a resident could prove their non-Muslim status to the police and had been provided with a ‘liquor consumption licence’. Now almost anybody can purchase alcohol, especially in Dubai and Bahrain, as licences are rarely checked and hotels are non-discriminatory. Moreover, in Dubai’s case, and in violation of the original Trucial States alcohol regulations that date back to the mid-1950s,[659] over the past decade it has become possible to consume alcohol during Ramadan and on Islamic holidays. Many of its hotels serve alcohol after 6pm during Ramadan, and bars no longer close on the eve of major holidays or during mourning periods for deceased members of the ruling family. This also now applies in Abu Dhabi and other parts of the UAE. Nor is there any real prohibition on the daytime consumption of food during Ramadan in Dubai. It is now almost acceptable to walk down a busy street eating a takeaway meal, and indeed major fast food chains remain open for this purpose — in the recent past a policeman or offended national would have remonstrated at such a sacrilegious act, but now, with all year round tourism and an increasingly culturally insensitive expatriate population, such protests have become rare.
Remarkably, in early 2011 it was reported that the Gulf monarchies had some of the highest alcohol consumption growth rates in the world. Dubai’s growth rate was believed to be between 26 and 28 per cent during the boom years of 2006–2008, while since then Abu Dhabi has taken the lead with an estimated growth rate of 28 per cent. Indeed, regional distributors point to the emirate’s rapidly expanding tourism and entertainment industry and expect the demand for alcohol to grow even faster. At present, the region’s beer industry is dominated by Dubai, with a joint venture between the state-backed Emirates airline and Heineken International enjoying a two-thirds market share in the UAE and with its products also being the market leaders in Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar.[660] Meanwhile, the spirits industry is dominated by imports, with Scotch whisky being the preferred liquor and described as the ‘mainstay choice of the region’. According to research conducted in 2010, Euromonitor International concluded that the UAE is now the world’s biggest consumer of Scotch, with its volume sales having grown by 9 per cent in 2010 to reach a total of 10.2 million litres, enough to push France into second place. One of the main distributors also claimed that the ‘increased investment from global drinks giants [in the UAE] would lead to the country retaining its importance in the future’ and ‘[with] the persistently lacklustre figures coming from developed core markets, the UAE should stop raising eyebrows and become the focal point of rising [alcohol consumption] expectations in the region’.[661] With regard to officially dry Gulf monarchies such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, alcohol consumption growth has also been very high, but has been harder to measure. Industry insiders believe that margins are getting higher, with the average black market bottle of whisky now selling for about $150. Much of the smuggled liquor is believed to originate from alcohol stores that operate in the UAE’s poorer northern emirates. These undercut the licensed outlets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and it is estimated that more than half of the alcohol sold to traders in these emirates ends up being smuggled into Saudi Arabia.[662]
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1. Davidson, Christopher M.,