More humiliation on Dubai's big day

Posted By Joshua Keating Monday, January 4, 2010 - 2:36 PM Share

With the opening of the Burj Dubai -- the world's new tallest building -- today, Dubaiers might have hoped that for one day at least, the economically beleagured emirate might get its swagger back. And indeed, 90 percent of the units in the 160 story structure have already been sold, despite the struggling real estate market.

Unfortunately, Dubai was forced to swallow its pride once again today when it was announced that the building would be renamed the Burj Khalifa, after Abu Dhabi ruler Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan. Abu Dhabi loaned Dubai about $25 billion last year to meet its mounting debts.

Right now, the Burj Khalifa might look like a 2,717 ft reminder of Dubai's lost era of excess. In that respect, it's a not unlike another world's tallest building that opened in the wake of a massive economic meltdown.

Martin Rose/Getty Images

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USAMA2

5:01 PM ET

January 6, 2010

Its not so much a humiliation

Its not so much a humiliation as it is a resignation of the superiority of Abu Dhabi over Dubai. Accepting 2nd place in the UAE is NOT a humiliaiton. Neither is it a humiliation compared to the relative impoverishment, lack fo development, and weakness of neighboring emirates and nations, such as Yemen or Oman. There are 100s of nations that would love to be in Dubai's situation today in exclusion to their own.

But perhaps this writer just wants to project his own conceit into his reporting.

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