Max Boot and Lee Wolosky write that “traveling to the Middle East can be a disconcerting experience. One day you feel as if you're journeying into the future, the next day into the past.”

Youssef Ibrahim, a risk consultant and the former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times, discusses the flood of money lining Persian Gulf coffers.

Youssef Ibrahim, managing director of Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group, and a former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times, says the pending deal for Dubai Ports World to administer the ports in major U.S. cities is not a security concern in a technical sense. But he says it is worthwhile for the 45-day study to go ahead. "Some good will come out of this. It may even be good for Dubai," says Ibrahim, who is also a former senior fellow in Middle Eastern studies at CFR.

Arnaud de Borchgrave comments in UPI on the downfall of Dubai as the capital of 'casino capitalism' and rising Qatar as its replacement.

Elliott Abrams argues that Congress should approve the United States' 123 Agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

Charles Ferguson looks at the nuclear energy agreement between the United Arab Emirates and the United States.