Unconventional Wisdom on Dubai

Most progressives view the Dubai Ports World uproar as one of the only times the Bush Administration bent to the will of the people, backing down from allowing the Emirate-owned business to take over management of several major ports along the U.S. eastern seaboard.

A new book, City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism paints a very different picture of the events and politics leading up to the nixing of the Dubai deal, and most squarely lays blame for anti-Arab hysteria surrounding the deal at the feet of two Democrats: Sen. Charles Schumer and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (both were New York Senators at the time).

While this argument is likely to draw fire from HuffPost readers, this unconventional wisdom is worth a read, particularly as the U.S. seems poised to begin talks with Iran, and to repair relations with Arabs and Muslims after the Bush debacle in Iraq. It appears the United States could learn much from the way Dubai is able to have strong, symbiotic relationships with the U.S, Iran and even Israel, through a diplomacy of tolerance (both public and private) and a belief that business can sometimes achieve what politics cannot.