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Burj Al Arab, Dubai

I went to the Madinat hotel the other night, after my few hours inside the Burj al Arab. The Madinat is actually 3 hotels, interlinked by a network of canals. Boats take guests to restaurants, bars and shops in the hotel. It is unique as far as I can tell.

Here is the Burj at night, taken from inside the Madinat hotel.

Here is a view of the massive Madinat complex
, taken from the SkyView Bar inside the Burj.
Here is the Jumeirah complex view from the SkyView Bar.

Tbilisi Blues

Charles King has been doing some good essays on the problems in Georgia for Foreign Affairs. Elections in the breakaway region of Abkhazia have brought Georgia back into the news recently. It should be noted that the Kremlin’s man is likely to win in what Georgia sees as illegitamate elections.

Raul Khadzhimba is seen as Moscow’s man in a region where Russian influence and investment is increasing steadily, despite an official economic blockade. For this unrecognised strip of land, Russia’s support has provided a lifeline. “Abkhazia will continue in the same direction it’s been heading, for full independence”, Mr Khadzhimba declared, emerging from the polling booth. “Unity with Georgia is a thing of the past, now we look to Russia for economic integration, but as an independent state.”

But as King notes in an update in a Foreign Affairs entry, the situation is far from clear cut:

Tensions have also been rising in Abkhazia, the region along the northwestern coast which, like South Ossetia, has been functionally independent for more than ten years. President Saakashvili has vowed to block any ships from docking at Abkhazia’s ports and to try to prevent Russian tourists from visiting the attractive beaches (a mainstay of the secessionist republic’s economy). The Georgian government has repeatedly argued that it is seeking a peaceful solution to these crises and that any violence has been solely the result of provocation by Russia and the secessionists. Yet it was in precisely these conditions that the disastrous wars of the early 1990s began: as attempts by the central government to push its case for reintegrating regions that had already de facto seceded.

President Saakashvili has often argued that these unrecognized states are little more than Russia’s stooges — levers that Moscow can use to keep Georgia weak at a time when the country has become a solid partner of the United States. That understates the complexity of the situation, however. Especially in Abkhazia, local citizens are united in their desire not to be part of Georgia. They won a war for independence in the early 1990s, and they have spent more than a decade building something that looks like a real state. Georgia’s territorial woes are thus not simply about rebuilding a single country. They are about trying to unite several independent ones. So far, however, neither Georgia nor the international community has been able to offer anything attractive enough to woo the South Ossetians and Abkhaz into a unified country. As recent events have shown, when Georgia flexes its muscles, the secessionists are simply reminded of why they fought — and, with Russia’s help, won — the civil wars of the early 1990s.

While many might support the right to self-determination of the Abkhaz people, it should be noted that up until the war in the early 90’s, most of the region were Georgians. As this BBC entry notes:

At the time of the collapse of the USSR in 1991, less than a fifth of the people of Abkhazia were ethnic Abkhaz while the rest of the population was made up largely of Georgians.

When Georgia became independent, supporters of a break with Tbilisi in favour of independence and closer ties with Russia became more vociferous. Tension rose and in 1992 Georgia sent troops to enforce the status quo.

In late 1993, they were driven out amidst fierce fighting. Several thousand people were killed. About 250,000 Georgians became refugees and are still unable to return. Most of those who remained have since left too.

I can see why Georgians might be pretty pissed off.

Sanctions worked: George Lopez, David Cortright

George A. Lopez, Director of Policy Studies at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and David Cortright, President of the Fourth Freedom Forum and Research Fellow at the Kroc Institute, argue in favour of the sanctions regime in Iraq during the 1990’s.

Writing in Foreign Affairs, they propose that far from being a complete disaster, the sanctions regime, and the subsequent introduction of “smartâ€? sanctions, was a resounding success.

They base their argument largely on the fact that the UN inspection teams, UNSCOM and UNMOVIC, were successful in both destroying existing weaponry (as evidenced by the non-existence of WMD after the invasion) – and in monitoring the Iraqi regime to a sufficient extent that a new weapons program could not be implemented. The sanctions were essentially the stick with which the inspectors could threaten the regime, while the carrot was the lifting of sanctions.

The sanctions regime was also successful in stopping Saddam reconstituting his conventional weapons, as evidenced by the lack of medium to heavy weaponry after the March 2003 invasion.

Lopez and Cortright are quite convincing, while also being critical of the current administration, they note:

Having failed to understand how sanctions and inspections worked in Iraq, the United States risks repeating its mistake in the future. The crisis of intelligence that pundits and politicians should be considering is not why so many officials overestimated what was wrong in Iraq; it is why they ignored so much readily available evidence of what was right about existing policies. By disregarding the success of inspections and sanctions, Washington discarded an effective system of containment and deterrence and, on the basis of faulty intelligence and wrong assumptions, launch a preventive war in its place.

Critics might point out that the war in Iraq had the effect of getting Libya into line, and abandoning its WMD program. But Lopez and Cortright deal with this issue too:

The case of Libya shows that sanctions can indeed influence regime behaviour in the long term. Muammar al-Qadaffi was once as much an outlaw as Saddam Hussein. But over time, and under the weigh of international sanctions, Libya accepted international norms, ended its support of terrorism, and gave up its clandestine efforts to acquire or build WMD. President Bush and other supporters of the war in Iraq have attributed Libya’s dramatic turnaround to what Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif) termed the “pedagogic valueâ€? of the war. But in reality, Libya’s reversal began years earlier. UN sanctions during the 1990s brought about the negotiations that convinced Libya to turn over suspected terrorists for trial in The Hague.

Are Lopez and Cortright correct? Could the introduction of smart sanctions brought about a more prosperous Iraq while preventing the spread of WMD? And would this have brought an eventual end to Saddam’s regime without the need for invasion? We will never know.

Burj al Arab – inside the sail hotel

Well it is not often one gets the oppurtunity to go inside such an opulent hotel as this. But the interior of the Burj al Arab is quite simply unlike any building interior I have ever seen. I went for afternoon tea in the Sky View Bar, located on the very top of the hotel. As you can imagine I took quite alot of photos, some with spectacular views over the currently under construction Palm Island, some over the recently completed Madinat Jumeirah, and more over the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. It is also much taller than I expected, at over 321 metres tall. Here are some more facts about the Burj:

Construction of this architectural and engineering marvel commenced in 1994. Piling goes 40 meters deep into the seabed.

At 321 meters high, Burj Al Arab is taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 60 meters shorter than the Empire State Building.

Burj Al Arab is the world’s tallest hotel building. With its helipad on the 28th floor and a restaurant seemingly suspended in mid air, this hotel has already become a landmark and icon on the Dubai skyline.

The sail façade represented an astonishing technical challenge, featuring a double-skinned Teflon-coated woven glass fiber screen. It is the first time such technology has been used vertically in such form and extent in any building worldwide.

It is dazzling white by day and used as a canvas for a rainbow of spectacular light displays at night, providing a brilliant entrance to the marvels that await the guest inside.
Combining the latest technology with a long-standing reputation of Arabian hospitality, Burj Al Arab symbolizes the very essence of Dubai, embracing the best of the new alongside traditions of the past.

SUITES

An all-suite hotel standing 28 double-height storeys high, Burj Al Arab comprises 202 duplex suites. Convenience, luxury and a highly personalized service are available for every traveler, enhanced by private reception desks on every floor. In-suite check-in, a brigade of exclusive butlers that provides around the clock assistance to each and every guest, and unrivalled attention will charm the visitor.

Reaching new heights of luxury and service levels, the hotel offers a choice of:

142 Deluxe Suites (One Bedroom)
18 Panoramic Suites (One Bedroom)
4 Club Suites (One Bedroom)
28 2-Bedroom Suites
6 3-Bedroom Suites
2 Presidential Suites
2 Royal Suites

They all feature floor to ceiling windows, offering a breathtaking view of the sea, and range from 170 sq. m to 780 sq. m in floor area. All are equipped with the latest technology, laptop computers and Internet access.

The TV and its remote control manage numerous services and functions. The ability to view any visitor to the suite and give access without leaving the comfort of your armchair is only one of them!

Topping all other suites are the two Royal Suites spread over the 25th floor. Palatial surroundings reach unsurpassed peaks of luxury, including a private elevator, private cinema, rotating beds, majlis (Arabic meeting room) and even dressing rooms larger than the average hotel bedroom.

The finest materials have been sourced from around the globe, coming together in exquisitely designed and crafted interiors.

AL MUNTAHA – SKYVIEW RESTAURANT

In Arabic, the “ultimateâ€?, or “highestâ€?, Al Muntaha instantly matches expectations with its location suspended 200 meters above the Arabian Gulf, offering unrivalled views of Dubai and the coastline shimmering in the distance.

Reached by an express panoramic lift traveling six meters per second, the restaurant features seating for about 140 guests who can enjoy delicious Mediterranean cuisine in a sophisticated setting with scenic windows to the world. The incorporated cocktail area is a stylish and exclusive venue for pre- and post-dinner drinks.

The story behind my latest diss

I have registered to an interesting Eminem forum recently that is very informative. Although I have always shown respect to each member, even when they happened to strongly disagree with me, a silly teenage boy started some beef with me because I had argued about the right spelling of Paul Rosenberg on a topic. He started calling me “a teenage homo Stan groupie” (how funny and how original) and pointed out that I had nothing to do on an Eminem forum as a freelance writer.
Because he’s been a real bitch to me, I have decided to make this diss public. Have some fun!

Continue reading “The story behind my latest diss”


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