A handout from Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum's media office shows Sheikh Mohammad, the ruler of Dubai, inaugurating the Burj Dubai tower, the tallest skyscraper in the world, during its opening ceremony in Dubai January 4, 2010. Dubai opened the world's tallest structure on Monday, and a statement said it was 828 metres (2,717 ft) high. Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed renamed the tower Burj Khalifa after the president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi. But Dubai's ruler, who took a personal interest in what was to be the ultimate symbol of the city-state's independence, has made the very public sacrifice of naming the tower after his cousin, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Fireworks explode around Burj Dubai, the world's tallest tower, during the opening ceremony in Dubai January 4, 2010. Dubai opened the world's tallest structure on Monday, and a statement said it was 828 metres (2,717 ft) high. Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum renamed the tower Burj Khalifa after the president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The newly named Burj Khalifa is now a symbol of Dubai's loss of independence. But by swallowing his pride, Dubai's Sheik Mohammed may have guaranteed his emirate's economic future, and given anxious investors owed more than $80 billion by the city-state reason to breathe easier. Dubai came close to default last month until Abu Dhabi stepped in with a $10 billion bailout. Bankers are being asked to agree to a standstill on $22 billion of debt owed by government-owned conglomerate Dubai World.
Now, Dubai seems to have acknowledged reality: The United Arab Emirates is one country, dependent on Abu Dhabi and its vast oil wealth. Investors must hope that Sheik Khalifa, in allowing his name to be attached to the new tower, also has acknowledged Abu Dhabi's new reality, and that his support for his troubled neighbor is now nailed down.
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