You don't hear calls for reform in UAE in Western capitals

"Five pro-democracy activists on trial in the United Arab Emirates returned to court Monday, two days after the oil-rich Gulf nation held elections for an advisory council that wields little real power.  While the United Arab Emirates has not seen street protests like those that have roiled other Arab nations, including nearby Bahrain, authorities have moved aggressively to silence pro-reform advocates and to keep demands for political change, inspired by Arab Spring uprisings in the rest of the Middle East, out of the Gulf federation that includes glitzy Dubai."