US-Emirates Nuclear Deal? I Don't Think So

by Eyck Freymann

United Arab Emirates has spent the money earned in the oil boom to invest in infrastructure. Whether it's paying for a "NYU Dubai" or a second branch of the Louvre, the Emirates have clearly been aiming to convert their natural resource wealth into a solid infrastructure. This, the ruling family hopes, will allow the Persian Gulf nation to hold regional clout after demand for its oil falls.

The US is currently in the middle of a deal to give the UAE (which include seven emirates, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai), civilian nuclear technology.

But there have been problems - namely with the autocratic rule of the Emirati royal family. As The New York Times reported last Friday:

The 45-minute [recently leaked] videotape shows Sheik Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, assisted by uniformed police officers, torturing the merchant with whips, cattle prods and a wooden plank with a protruding nail, and finally driving over him with an S.U.V.

Last week, Al Jazeera published a story:

The United Arab Emirates has become the world's third-largest importer of weapons after China and India, rising from 16th place in just four years, a Swedish think tank has reported.

New reports today from the BBC bring to light another unpleasant part of Emirati society: that of enslaved children used as jockeys for camel racing.

When the United States deals with Arab countries, we always have to confront cultural differences. But there are some things that are beyond the pale, no matter from which direction you look at them.

As nice as civilian nuclear technology is, something tells me that we need to think seriously before giving it to these people. This is an example of what happens when an economy is totally free, totally unregulated. Behind the veneer of the shiny skyline, a very unsavory side of the Emirates is coming into view.