Malbec and missiles in Marinagrad: A week of war in Dubai

After the most tumultuous week of my two decades in the UAE, I was preparing to fire off an angry diary rant about the way sections of the Western media – especially the British – had trivialised, sensationalised and misrepresented events here in Dubai.

But my UAE-based colleagues have already done that job very well indeed. So instead here are some of the more curious, ephemeral and occasionally surreal aspects of living through a week when ballistic missiles and drones suddenly became part of the local news cycle.

History, after all, is made up of small moments as well as big events.

The Malbec days return

The first thing to note is that the Malbec days are back. Veterans of the Covid era will remember how that wonderful Argentinian red became the ideal accompaniment to the daily ritual of studying infection graphs and government bulletins. A glass or two helped soften the edges of those grim daily briefings. 

Now the ritual has returned in a slightly different form. Instead of infection figures, the evening conversation turns to intercepted missiles, drone trajectories and which air-defence systems appear to have had the better night. It is extraordinary how quickly a population can adapt its conversational habits. Malbec helps.

School’s out (sort of)

Like the pandemic, the current crisis has also revived another familiar routine: distance learning. Schools across the Emirates have temporarily moved online, which in theory means education continues uninterrupted. In practice – at least in my household – the system appears to work as follows: Wake up. Log on. Go back to sleep. 

My teenage daughter is also observing Ramadan fasting for the first time, which may reasonably be expected to affect levels of academic enthusiasm. Still, the system seems broadly functional. Whether much learning is actually taking place is another matter.

The balcony airshow

From my 10th-floor apartment I have a clear view across Dubai Marina – which I have long dubbed Marinagrad on account of the large number of Russian expats living here. 

Under normal circumstances this is a panorama of yachts, glass towers and tourists taking photographs of sunsets. Over the past week it has acquired an additional feature. Once the distinctive thump of an aerial intercept is heard somewhere in the distance, residents appear on their balconies to watch the sky with a mixture of curiosity and concern. Occasionally glowing fragments from the intercept fall in slow arcs towards the sea. 

I have attempted several times to capture these moments on video (for private use, of course), with mixed results. Unfortunately, I fear there may be further opportunities.

Dog alert

One unexpected discovery of the week is that my Yorkshire terrier appears to possess an early-warning capability superior to that of the official mobile alert system. Seconds before the interception booms arrive, she stiffens, lifts her head and begins a sequence of agitated barks usually reserved for the sight of a passing pigeon. 

Perhaps it is her Ukrainian DNA – she arrived in Dubai from Kyiv as a tiny puppy – but her instincts appear finely tuned to the sound of incoming ballistics. I have begun paying closer attention to her warnings.

McGettigan’s summit

One evening during the week I met two friends in McGettigan’s Madinat Jumeirah – a leading British journalist (whom I exempt from my earlier complaints about media schadenfreude), and an intelligence specialist with deep knowledge of the region. What followed was an impromptu seminar on military strategy in the Gulf. 

It was not always comforting listening. The conversation ranged from drone swarming and naval deployments to the uncomfortable arithmetic of regional resupply – beneath the shadow of the Burj Al Arab that had been under fire a few days before. Sober analysis is not always the most productive.

The rent reckoning

And finally there is the question of rent. Like most Dubai residents, I pay my lease annually. The contract on my apartment was agreed at what can only be described as an eye-watering figure before the missiles began falling. I have not yet signed the final paperwork. 

This raises a delicate ethical question. Am I morally justified in asking for a reduction, given that the week’s events have introduced a significant new risk factor into the Dubai property market? Or am I honour-bound to proceed at the previously agreed price – even if that price may look stratospheric in a few weeks’ time. These are the smaller moral dilemmas of war. 

Perspective

None of this, of course, should obscure the bigger reality. For the people living under direct bombardment in the region, there is nothing remotely ephemeral about the events of the past week. 

But Dubai is now a proven safe haven, and has protected my family, friends and itself with courage and determination. Long may it continue. 

Frank Kane is Editor-at-Large of AGBI and an award-winning business journalist. He acts as a consultant to the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia