Anthony Shadid on Abu Dhabi

I am on a train to Leeds so I can't provide link. But Shadid wrote in his article on Abu Dhabi in the Times: "Taken together, they suggest that the region’s cultural axis could decisively shift from the capitals of Arab antiquity — Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus, Syria — to the improbable capitals of the arid Persian Gulf.". Are u serious? Are u not woefully overstating your case here?