Friday, January 22, 2010

UAE miracle of repression

"The financial crisis and now two criminal cases that have generated critical headlines in other countries have demonstrated that the emirates remain an absolute monarchy, where institutions are far less important than royalty and where the law is particularly capricious — applied differently based on social standing, religion and nationality, political experts and human rights advocates said...“This reminds us we are dealing with a ruling monarchy,” said Christopher Davidson, a senior lecturer at the University of Durham in England who has written several books about the emirates. “We are dealing with the deification of this one branch of the ruling family. Any son of the family is a god.”" (thanks Christopher)