It's strong economy is based on a limited resource that much of the world is shifting away from. And its social policies remain incompatible with many of the major countries of today.
Also, the surrounding area is torn apart by a never-ending war.
It's strong economy is based on a limited resource that much of the world is shifting away from.
Unlike most other gulf states, Abu Dhabi has actually been diversifying it's economy for years. According to Wikipeda, _non oil and gas GDP now constitutes 64% of the UAE’s total GDP_
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Dhabi#Economy
its social policies remain incompatible with many of the major countries of today
Perhaps, but it's certainly more liberal than most of it's neighbors. I would have thought an international university could act as a factor to improve that as well.
the surrounding area is torn apart by a never-ending war
It's about 600km from Iraq. That's very roughly the same distance Los Angles is from the Mexican drug wars - where more people are being killed than Iraq at the moment.
