Daily: Dubai, Cruel World? The dark side of the UAE

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

News, Government, Politics, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the Arab Spring rippled across the Middle East, many looked to the relative calm of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates for a roadmap to stability. But how much of a moderniser is Mohammed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE? Matthew Hedges was arrested, interrogated and sentenced to life imprisonment whilst studying for his PhD in the UAE. He tells Arthur Snell about his harrowing experience, and new book, Reinvented the Sheikhdom, on MBZ’s authoritarian regime and security strategy. “Sheikh Zayed lived in a world rife in internal conflict. He made the UAE's tribes work together, at the expense of their autonomy.” “MBZ has an illiberal, undemocratic, and socially conservative worldview that puts the state first and foremost.” “MBZ and MBS are more similar than they are dissimilar.” “Your SIM card is linked to your ID, and they have the money to watch you at all times. These are tools of social control.” “The UAE wants to be seen as forward-looking, not a Bedouin tribe stuck in the past.” https://www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Arthur Snell. Producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/reinventing-the-sheikhdom/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	My name is Stan. I'm at. Nice to meet you. So you took up photography where? I've always loved
0:05.5	photography but I turn it into earning a living at 60. I enrolled on a day course.
0:11.8	Well college. I loved going to college. It's good you can retry. I'm enrolled on the day course. But college?
0:13.0	I loved going to college.
0:14.0	It's good you can retrain and do something.
0:16.0	Yeah, yeah.
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1:16.0	Matthew Hedges is a British expert on the Middle East. In 2018, while doing research for his doctorate,
1:20.0	he was arrested in the United Arab Emirates,
1:22.0	accused of spying for the British government and given a life sentence.
1:27.0	Happily, he was pardoned later that same year on the UAE's national day and is now able to live in freedom in
1:36.7	Britain. Matthew has written a book about the UAE, about the much bigger issue of
1:41.6	how that country has reinvented itself under its crown prince Mohammed
1:46.4	bin Zaid.
1:47.4	Matthew, welcome to the bunker.
1:49.2	Hello, thank you very much Arthur for having me.
	...

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