United Arab Emirates – Wikipedia

The United Arab Emirates (/juːˈnaɪtɪd ˈærəb ˈɛmɪrɪts/ ( listen); UAE; Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة‎ Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah), sometimes simply called the Emirates (Arabic: الإمارات‎ al-Imārāt), is a federal absolute monarchy sovereign state in Western Asia at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing maritime borders with Qatar to the west and Iran to the north. In 2013, the UAE’s population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million are Emirati citizens and 7.8 million are expatriates.[8][9][10]

The country is a federation of seven emirates, and was established on 2 December 1971. The constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi (which serves as the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. Each emirate is governed by an absolute monarch; together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council. One of the monarchs (traditionally always the Emir of Abu Dhabi) is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates. Islam is the official religion of the UAE and Arabic is the official language (although English, Urdu and Hindi are widely spoken, with English being the language of business and education particularly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai).

The UAE’s oil reserves are the seventh-largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the world’s seventeenth-largest.[11][12] Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first President of the UAE, oversaw the development of the Emirates and steered oil revenues into healthcare, education and infrastructure.[13] The UAE’s economy is the most diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, while its most populous city of Dubai is an important global city and an international aviation hub.[14][15] Nevertheless, the country remains principally reliant on its export of petroleum and natural gas.[2][16][17]

via United Arab Emirates – Wikipedia

Tiny Wealthy Qatar Goes Its Own Way and Pays for It – The New York Times

He helped bring the 2022 World Cup to Qatar at an estimated cost of $200 billion, a major coup for a country that had never qualified for the tournament.

Now at age 37, the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has run into a problem that money alone cannot solve.

Since June, tiny Qatar has been the target of a punishing air and sea boycott led by its largest neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Overnight, airplanes and cargo ships bound for Qatar were forced to change course, diplomatic ties were severed and Qatar’s only land border, a 40-mile stretch of desert with Saudi Arabia, slammed shut.

Not even animals were spared. Around 12,000 Qatari camels, peacefully grazing on Saudi land, were expelled, causing a stampede at the border.

via Tiny, Wealthy Qatar Goes Its Own Way, and Pays for It – The New York Times

David Lindsay Jr.

Hamden, CT  Comment to the NYT.com

Amazing story, thank you DECLAN WALSH and TOMAS MUNITA. It is a complicated mess. One wonders, if the current situation might have been different with Hillary Clinton as president, instead of Twitter Drumpf. Nevertheless, as an unflappable optimist, I wonder if the US doesn’t have a greater opportunity, with this embargo, to play the ally with the largests airforce base in the area card, to encourage our ally Qatar and its neighbors towards peace, reconciliation, and sustainable economic development. Our military leadership knows that climate change is one of the greatest threats to world peace. If only they could reach the science denying clowns running the executive branch. David Lindsay Jr. is the author of “The Tay Son Rebellion, Historical Fiction of Eighteenth-century Vietnam,” and blogs at The TaySonRebellion.com and InconvenientNewsWorldwide.wordpress.com