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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Dubai

‘The shine has been taken off’: Dubai faces existential threat as foreigners flee conflict

A road with some palm trees next to an empty beach in Dubai
A public beach lies deserted in Dubai. Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP

In the playground of the rich, nobody wanted this war. For decades, Dubai built itself up as a sanctuary of unadulterated consumerism visited by tourists the world over.

But now, the city in the United Arab Emirates faces an existential threat, as the war between the US and Israel and Iran has shaken the foundations of the “Dubai dream” that so many foreigners had bought into.

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