The tourism and finance-focused jewel of a key US ally has seen its dearly-bought reputation go up in smoke<\/p>\n
Dubai, the city of clean, safe streets, discreet banks, abundant air travel options and red carpets rolled out for the rich, is watching its reputation unravel under the weight of foreign military ambitions.
\nThe most populous city of the United Arab Emirates is paying the price of the US-Israeli war on Iran, along with the rest of the Middle East. The attackers want Tehran\u2019s government toppled. The defenders hope to make that goal so costly even the Americans can\u2019t afford it.
\nMeanwhile, Arab nations that welcomed US military bases for their own security are seeing the limits of that protection \u2013 and expats living in Dubai have been among the hardest hit, at least emotionally.<\/p>\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Attack on Dubai: Explosions near Burj KhalifaAn Iranian missile landed in a prestigious area on the artificial Palm Jumeirah island.The area is home to luxurious hotels popular with Russian tourists. One of them caught fire. pic.twitter.com\/GPEGtiUE2O\u2014 NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 28, 2026 <\/p>\n
A millionaire\u2019s refuge in the Middle East
\nDubai has cultivated a reputation as the Arab world\u2019s most cosmopolitan city \u2013 a direct result of decades of strategic effort by UAE leadership. Have money to spend? Come as a tourist, and the world is your oyster. Have money to invest? Even better \u2013 just remember local partnerships are mandatory outside certain zones. Either way, enjoy safety and hospitality, leave your culture-war baggage at the door.
\nThat appeal helped Dubai\u2019s population double from two million in 2011 to four million last August. Among its 90% foreign-born residents were an estimated 81,200 millionaires and 20 billionaires.<\/p>\n
Dubai International Financial Centre has been hit by drone attack pic.twitter.com\/81ydE5RkrS\u2014 Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) March 13, 2026 <\/p>\n
Exodus of expats
\nThe regional war triggered an exodus of those who could afford it. Tens of thousands reportedly fled Dubai in the first week of hostilities, even as the cost of evacuating a family of four by private jet reached $250,000, according to The Financial Times.
\nThe flights included both stranded tourists and members of Dubai\u2019s extensive expat community. International corporations told Gulf-based employees to work remotely. Bloomberg, which has regional headquarters in Dubai, allowed staff to temporarily relocate and work from outside the Middle East.
\nWhether this outflow is temporary or something more lasting remains to be seen. But stock traders appear pessimistic: Dubai\u2019s Real Estate and Construction Index (DFMRE) has plunged 30% in the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
Dubai International Financial Centre has been hit by a drone attack this morning. Apologies are in order. Iran promised and delivered. If you still have money in the UAE, you are going to lose a lot of it. Now your bank will restrict withdrawals and that’s just a start. Get out\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/eEhw3zVo9f\u2014 MENA Unleashed (@MENAUnleashed) March 13, 2026 <\/p>\n
End of the Dubai dream?
\nFor many, the future looks bleak. \u201cWe are thinking to go to a different country now. Everybody knows that Dubai is finished,\u201d a Pakistan-born taxi driver told The Guardian after his car was destroyed in a missile attack. \u201cThere is no business, we are earning nothing since this war, and I don\u2019t see the tourism coming back.\u201d
\nWesterners chasing the \u201cDubai dream\u201d found their usual liberties curtailed. Influencers who helped craft the city\u2019s glamorous image were told to keep cameras off and mouths shut when witnessing buzzing drones or streaking interceptors. Harming \u201cpublic order\u201d or \u201cnational unity\u201d with unwanted content can bring fines and jail time, the authorities warned.
\nThe most prized demographic \u2013 millionaires \u2013 had their own reasons for concern. Some were prevented from moving money to Singapore in the early days of the escalation due to \u201ctechnological glitches,\u201d Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Getty Images \/ Arkadiusz Wargu\u0142a <\/p>\n
Things can get worse
\nAfter two weeks, Dubai may be bruised but hardly \u201cfinished.\u201d Yet the risk of long-term damage is compounding. Strikes on data centers operated by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the UAE and Bahrain \u2013 framed by Tehran as aimed at harming US AI-enhanced intelligence activities \u2013 also threatened the backbone of the region\u2019s digital economy.
\nAnd there is the shadow of a genuine humanitarian disaster: disruption of food imports due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz or damage to desalination plants could make physical survival uncertain. However unlikely, such uncertainties leave real reputational scars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The tourism and finance-focused jewel of a key US ally has seen its dearly-bought reputation go up in smoke Dubai, the city of clean, safe streets, discreet banks, abundant air…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t