UAE

Background and Historical Context

The United Arab Emirates is a small state in the Middle East, located on the Persian Gulf, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman. It is made up of seven emirates, the most important being Abu Dhabi (the political capital) and Dubai (the economic and global city).

Before the mid-20th century, the region was largely made up of desert tribes, with an economy based on fishing, pearling and limited trade. The area was a British protectorate until 1971, when the UAE gained independence.

The discovery of oil in the 1950s and 1960s completely transformed the country’s trajectory. Oil revenues provided the capital needed to modernise infrastructure, build cities, and later diversify the economy. However, the UAE had a very small native population, meaning that large-scale development would require foreign labour from the outset.

This early dependence on migrant labour laid the foundations for the UAE becoming one of the most globally connected — and migrant-dependent — states in the world.

Economic Development and Global Integration

Oil-led growth

From the 1970s onwards, oil exports drove rapid economic growth. Abu Dhabi used oil wealth to invest in:

  • transport infrastructure

  • housing and utilities

  • education and healthcare

Oil connected the UAE directly into global energy markets, making it economically interdependent with major consumers such as Europe, the USA and East Asia.

Diversification and global hub status

From the 1990s onwards, particularly in Dubai, the UAE pursued economic diversification to reduce reliance on oil. Key sectors include:

  • construction

  • tourism

  • aviation (Emirates airline)

  • finance and logistics

  • real estate

Dubai deliberately positioned itself as a global hub city, offering:

  • low regulation

  • no income tax

  • business-friendly policies

  • strong transport connectivity

This integration into global capitalism increased demand for both low-wage labour and high-wage international professionals, accelerating international migration.

Migration and Population Change

Some countries rely on low-wage foreign labour as they globalise their economies. The Gulf states rely heavily on such migration in order to make the most of their wealth gained from oil and natural gas sales, especially to build cities, infrastructure and to deliver services to their citizens. Foreign nationals make up 30 per cent of the workforce in Saudi Arabia, rising to 80 per cent in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The low labour participation rates for females and the small native populations help explain this reliance on foreign workers. Most male migrants come from India, Pakistan, Egypt and Bangladesh, while female migrants come to the Gulf states from Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Bangladesh to work in domestic service. The emerging economies that are the source of these migrants receive remittances that the migrants send back home. For example, the World Bank estimated that in 2010 the Philippines received $21.3 billion in remittances, accounting for 8.9 per cent of its GDP.

Scale and structure of migration

Today, the UAE has the most migrant-dense population in the world:

  • Around 90% of residents are foreign-born

  • Native Emiratis are a minority in their own country

  • Migration is overwhelmingly temporary and contract-based

The largest migrant groups come from:

  • India (around 30% of the population)

  • Pakistan

  • Bangladesh

  • Sri Lanka

  • Philippines

This reflects strong economic links between the UAE and South Asia.

Types of migration

The UAE attracts two main types of migrants:

  1. Low-wage economic migrants, working in construction, manufacturing, transport and domestic service

  2. High-wage and elite migrants, including professionals, investors and wealthy individuals drawn by low taxes and political stability

This dual migration system highlights how global hub regions attract very different flows of people, deepening global inequalities but also global interdependence.

Social Impacts of Migration

For migrants

Low-wage migrants often face significant challenges:

  • poor working and living conditions

  • long hours in extreme heat

  • limited legal protection

  • dependence on employers for visas

Human rights organisations have reported:

  • exploitation of construction workers

  • unequal protection for women and domestic workers

  • recruitment agents charging large fees, placing migrants in debt before arrival

Despite this, many migrants continue to come because wages are still significantly higher than in their home countries, allowing them to support families through remittances.

For Emirati society

The large migrant population has created a highly segregated society:

  • Emiratis hold political power and many public-sector jobs

  • Migrants dominate the private sector and manual labour

There is very limited cultural assimilation. Migrants are expected to work, earn, and eventually leave, rather than integrate. This has preserved Emirati culture but has also led to:

  • social division

  • marginalisation of native culture in urban spaces

  • dependence on foreign labour for basic services

Economic Impacts and Interdependence

Benefits to the UAE

  • Rapid urban and infrastructure development

  • Cheap and flexible labour supply

  • Growth of global cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi

  • Attraction of foreign investment and global elites

  • Increased global influence and “soft power”

Mega-projects such as skyscrapers, airports and artificial islands would not have been possible without migrant labour.

Benefits to source countries

  • Large remittance flows (e.g. ≈$5 billion annually from Indian migrants alone)

  • Reduced unemployment pressure

  • Improved household living standards

  • Strong economic links with the Gulf states

This creates mutual economic dependence between the UAE and migrant source countries.

Economic criticisms

  • Migrants rarely gain long-term security or citizenship

  • Source countries risk dependency on overseas employment

  • UAE economy is vulnerable if migrant flows are disrupted

Political and Cultural Context

The UAE is an absolute monarchy with no democratic elections. Freedom of speech is limited, protests are restricted, and political opposition is not tolerated. Sharia law influences the legal system, and the country remains socially conservative, with strict laws around:

  • public behaviour

  • sexuality

  • gender roles

At the same time, the UAE has pursued a strategy of selective globalisation:

  • hosting global events such as COP28

  • investing in Western cultural institutions (e.g. Louvre Abu Dhabi)

  • acting as a major foreign aid donor relative to GDP

This creates a tension between global economic openness and political and social control, a strong evaluative point for essays.

Environmental Limits and Sustainability

The UAE’s development has occurred in a harsh desert environment:

  • very low rainfall

  • extreme temperatures

  • limited natural freshwater

As a result:

  • almost all drinking water comes from desalination

  • energy consumption and carbon emissions are very high

  • cities rely heavily on air conditioning

Migrant labour underpins this system, especially in construction and infrastructure, raising ethical questions about environmental sustainability and labour exploitation occurring together.

Overall Significance as a Globalisation Case Study

The UAE shows how globalisation:

  • drives mass international migration

  • creates powerful global hub cities

  • deepens interdependence between regions

  • produces both extreme wealth and severe inequality

It is a particularly strong case study because it combines:

  • low-wage economic migration

  • elite global migration

  • political authoritarianism

  • rapid environmental transformation