CIAO DATE: 02/2010
December 2009
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Late on November 25, just before the start of the Islamic Eid festival and, coincidentally, Thanksgiving in the United States, Dubai's flagship investment company Dubai World announced that it would be requesting a six-month delay on paying its debts. Within hours, Dubai's reputation was being rewritten, and its ambition to be a financial center, building on its historic reputation as a focal point for regional trade, was being recast. Uncertainty continued on November 30, when the Dubai government said that it would not guarantee Dubai World's debt.
Resource link: Icon or Omen? Dubai's Debt Problem and the Gulf [PDF] - 14K