Demographics

Among the many fascinating aspects of the UAE is the demographic situation. Already the UAE has one of the lowest percentages of citizens of any country in the world. This trend will only continue as foreign immigration persists to support the UAE's economic growth and Emirati birth rates decline.

The low number of citizens in the UAE begs the question: how does government service a primarily non-citizen population? What is the role of public and private actors in areas like education and health care? And how do leaders balance their responsibilities to their citizen and expatriate constituences?

As I am working on an article on this topic, I would love to hear input on this subject. I would appreciate articles or data, examples of other countries in simliar situations or simply personal perspectives on the topic from Emiratis or expatriates living in the UAE.

Investments

A recent article in the New York Times spotlights the business fortunes of Emirates Airline. The main thrust of the piece is a celebration of the airline's success and profitability in the generally lackluster category of aviation. In discussing how Emirates is the largest purchaser of the new Airbus 380, the author inserts a curious fact:

"Dubai’s ruling family further cemented its ties to Airbus with the announcement Thursday that it was investing $836 million to take a 3.12 percent stake in EADS, the parent of Airbus."

As the holdings of the various investment arms of Dubai government continue to flourish abroad, it will be interesting to track how Dubai government asserts influence as a shareholder, especially in cases like Airbus where another Dubai government entity (ie. Emirates) is such a large and important customer.