This happens, we all get our footing wrong, even I. As such I had my ‘ideas’ about Ahmed Mawlana, nothing bad. But whilst we see ‘Has the UAE’s meteoric rise reached its limit?’ Which is given to us by the Middle East Eye (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/has-uaes-meteoric-rise-reached-its-limit), so Ahmed Mawlana is a researcher specialising in International Relations and Security Affairs. He holds an MA in international relations from Sabahattin Zaim University in Istanbul, so as I see it, he is no grocery wannabe. And I am fine with that. So as we see “In less than two decades, Abu Dhabi has transformed itself from a relatively low-profile Gulf state into one of the region’s most assertive powers. How did a country of around one million citizens acquire such an outsized regional role? The UAE’s rise is linked to its ability to capitalise on successive regional crises, beginning with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, accelerating with the Arab Spring, and gaining strength amid Washington’s declining engagement in the Middle East.” He ends the article with “Ultimately, the principal constraint on the Emirati model is structural. The UAE possesses immense financial resources and an extensive network of international partnerships, but it remains a small state with a limited citizen population and little strategic depth – making it difficult to sustain prolonged regional crises, or to confront larger powers directly.”
I get what he write and there is logic in this, but I also see what the UAE has achieved and whilst I was never there, YouTube has been very vocal (it’s YouTube creators) to show us all what the UAE has achieved. In support of my way of thinking is the Reuters article that gives us ‘UAE non-oil growth hits four-month high in July, PMI shows’ (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uae-non-oil-growth-hits-four-month-high-july-pmi-shows-2026-08-05/) where we see: “The United Arab Emirates’ non-oil private sector grew at its fastest pace in four months in July as new orders climbed to a five-month high and export business rose, a business survey showed on Wednesday.” As I see it, the non-oil part is essential here. We see the growing tourism and service settings. We see additional maritime growth and that is merely the beginning. The UAE has a lot to gain in all this, which is why I have ‘issues’ with the setting of Ahmed Mawlana. He might be correct, but the term “meteoric rise reached its limit” can be explained in a few ways. One of them is that the stellar growth might be gone. I don’t think so, especially as tourism can still grow a lot more, but that is possible. Still as we see Real Estate and tourism grow, there is still the difference between strong growth and meteoric rise, so whilst the second has reached its peak the first one is still within the grasp of the UAE. Personally I think it is becoming time to make Iran extinct. A shameful thought to have, nut they did that to themselves and I created 4-5 military IP’s to make something according to that need happen (I am more of a surgical instrument) why kill when you can destroy their abilities and commodities so they destroy themselves. I am at times that simple.
So whilst we get the setting that Reuters gives (just a few)
- Firms linked this to easing regional tensions and stronger activity across the Gulf.
- Employment returned to growth after June’s steep drop.
- Business confidence weakened for a third straight month to its lowest since March.
- Backlogs of work rose at the strongest rate in four months, reflecting firmer demand and freight congestion.
- Input cost inflation edged closer to April’s recent peak.
- Firms raised selling prices again, but only mildly.
Which is also slightly debatable. For instance we see “Business confidence weakened for a third straight month to its lowest since March”, which I accept as one of the given facts, but at this point I wonder how that confidence level is when compared to the US economy setting of the United States? This question is formed as Al Jazeera gives us ‘Why did the US economy slow down?’ (at https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/8/4/why-did-the-us-economy-slow-down) where we see “The US economy slowed more than expected, but it’s not because Americans stopped spending. So what really happened? The answer lies in how economic growth is measured, and America’s massive investment in artificial intelligence”, yet the other (not given fact) is that players like Deloitte give us “While broad corporate spending is skyrocketing, tangible financial returns often take two to four years to materialize instead of the usual 7 to 12 months for standard tech” and I have a problem with that. Some sources give us “Studies indicate that up to 95% of early generative AI pilots struggle to show a clear positive financial return because tools are deployed without changing underlying workflow” and I see the class actions forming and that is messing with the RoI (Return on Investment) as well. All this is making the US Economy not a volleyball but a paintball at best and anyone who gets hit by its paint is heading for stormy weathers (not the girl), although the effect are the same, but not as pleasurable. In all this, there is optionally a cause for not seeing meteoric rise but strong growth is still on the table, no matter how muddy the United States administration makes some ‘facts’ look. And in all this, I till see plenty of options for the UAE, I merely think that they need to go of the AI horse. The AI is lousy and all AI is Fake AI (as I personally see it), so why bury yourself in 3-8 years of turnaround (I definitely disagree with the Deloitte numbers. I reckon that the UAE has a better setting throwing themselves on actual programming and creating stuff that has the turnaround time of 7-12 months. Let bit tech break their teeth on tech that is over a decade away. They might survive, others will not and I do not trust the settings that the United States are throwing out there. Too much of it is not validated and as I perceive it not verified in any way. The UAE has actual issues to face (that terrorist state Iran) and holding their coffers in a 3 to 8 years wait state is no solution.
Perhaps I am seeing this wrong, these fake AI have real options, ML and DL are great tools (I use the term DML as they are combining the two) and I have seen great solutions, but that setting in a 3-7 years setting is not a real solution. Consider the issues that some are reconsidering idea that are out there ‘How Commonwealth Bank and Microsoft are reimagining the future of customer service’, which I see as nothing more that the setting that NICE and CX One already have. So whilst that is happening. I wrote ‘Two paths to similar stages’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/03/30/two-paths-to-similar-stages/) in March 3022, so it is not a last minute idea. There was more, and in light of the Tourism settings in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the idea started to form to have a Muslim solution (I meant Arabic) that industry is exploding to a larger degree whilst they are all pushing American solutions which are not 100% covering Islamic rules and ideas. That should stop and I saw an opening for the UAE and Saudi Arabia to get one solution in the field that would fuel both nations, optionally Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan and a few other places. So whilst Microsoft had this inflated idea with “CBA will work with Microsoft to drive greater customer benefits through wider adoption of generative AI (Gen AI) and ongoing cyber security initiatives” I saw this idea 4 years earlier whilst not using AI, because it would be decades before we are there.
Just thinking out loud. Have a great day today
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 