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By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer Barbara Surk, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 1 min ago
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Dubai's ruler writes poetry, rides horses across
the desert in long-distance endurance races and hobnobs with royals like the
Queen of England. Mixing extravagance with boundless ambition, he commanded the
desert city-state's meteoric rise and helped sow the seeds, some observers
say, of its debt crisis.
Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's business-over-politics approach turned
Dubai into a city-state with the surface trappings of Western liberalism a
thin veneer over the conservatism and strict political boundaries familiar
throughout the Arab world.
Drink at the bars, wear bikinis at the beach, hit the discos and make money,
was the overt message. But there was a red line in the sand: Don't question his
grandiose plans or the foundations they were built on. Those foundations, it
turns out, were not oil, but other people's money. Lots of it.
"In the past, the ruler was trusted on finances because everyone thought they
were backed by oil," said Simon Henderson, a Gulf and energy specialist at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It will be different from now on."
Dubai is one of seven highly autonomous statelets that make up the United Arab
Emirates. Though UAE capital Abu Dhabi has huge oil riches, neighboring Dubai
has very little.
The 60-year-old Mohammed's confidence and ambition gave way to aspirations to
place Dubai in the same league as London or New York.
Forging ahead with eye-popping development, he vigorously wooed investors,
leading to excesses that created a speculative bubble. One of the biggest
borrowers was the government's own development vehicle, the conglomerate Dubai
World, which shook markets with its announcement last week that it needed to
delay payments on part of its $60 billion debt.
Mohammed and his government, however, have refused to stand by the company's
debts, and when the signs mounted that Dubai was falling victim to the world
economic turmoil, he denied it and never came up with a recovery plan.
Dubai's ruler supervised the Gulf city's stunning makeover in the past decade,
turning it into a model for development in an Arab world plagued with poverty,
corruption and nepotism.
Along with extravagant projects like artificial islands and glitzy skyscrapers,
international schools, multinational companies and luxury hotels mushroomed
around the city. They offered young Arab professionals jobs and a lifestyle
they couldn't find or afford in Cairo or Beirut.
Like his Muslim city-state with a Western outlook, Mohammed, whose net worth is
listed at $12 billion by Forbes, has held onto deeply rooted Arabian traditions
while pursuing his ambitions for modernity.
He breeds camels and is a passionate lover of horses. He rides endurance races
in the desert and drives a customized Mercedes four-wheel drive SUV along
Dubai's sprawling highways. He listens to residents' complaints the
old-fashioned way, in his diwan, or reception room, but also regularly updates
his Facebook profile and exchanges tweets with Dubai's youth.
That mix has suited his personality and ruling style in a region where
personality cults around leaders are considered part of good governance.
Taken in by Mohammed's marketing skills, deposed politicians, oil tycoons and
powerful executives willingly participated in Dubai's real estate bonanza no
questions asked as did professionals from Europe and Asia who flocked to the
emirate, paying for condos and villas before building even started.
Some multinational companies even made the emirate their regional headquarters,
and company executives rubbed shoulders with Hollywood stars like Charlize
Theron and athletes like Tiger Woods.
Charmed by Mohammed's personality and his assurances, investors poured in
billions.
Taking advantage of cheap credit, developers some run by the government and
other's closely linked to it built soaring skyscrapers and luxury residential
compounds on man-made islands at a pace that outstripped real demand. Despite
oversupply, real estate prices soared, in a mirror image of what happened in
the United States before the subprime mortgage crisis sent the world into its
worst recession in over six decades.
When the global financial crisis hit Dubai, prices collapsed by 50 percent in a
year while the cheap funding dried up, meaning other projects either sat
unfinished or were scrapped.
Now, as the emirate's largest government-owned conglomerate, Dubai World, reels
under the weight of its $60 billion in debts, Mohammed has retreated from the
limelight.
Given how intertwined Dubai is with its ruler and members of the Maktoum
dynasty, the fallout could create trouble for Mohammed, who must now either
hope that the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi will step in with some sort of
bailout or that creditors will see they have little choice but to agree to
restructuring debt.
"It will be very difficult for Sheik Mohammed to survive this one," said
Christopher Davidson, an expert in Gulf affairs at Britain's Durham University
and author of two books on the Emirates. He said Mohammed misled investors by
giving them the impression he had money to back his plans.
The Associated Press e-mailed requests for an interview with Mohammed but they
were not answered.
Dubai officials said the city's government will not be responsible for the
company's debts and Mohammed has shown little inclination over the past week to
address Dubai World's debt problems directly.
When he recently came forward, he accused the media of exaggerating the
situation and arguing that the market reaction showed a "lack of understanding
of what is going on in Dubai."
The lack of clarity from Dubai's ruling and corporate elite has been evident
over the past year, when Dubai became the Gulf region's biggest credit crunch
victim.
At a rare meeting with reporters two months ago, Mohammed's answer to a
question about Dubai's debt-load was: "I assure you we are all right. ... We
are not worried."
By November, he had grown more testy. In a meeting with international investors
in November, he switched from Arabic to English to tell naysayers in the media
to "shut up."