dubai is cool, but it has it's limitations. it's basically like an entire state arranged to simulate a Disney image of America... with thousands of Indians and Pakistanis (and Filipinos and Sri Lankans and...) working behind the scenes to keep it ticking.I have had some of the best times of my life in UAE. Dubai is a fucking awesome city. But as you stated the Brits have basically took over UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.
They do have a cool "meeting point between asia, europe and africa" thing going though. I never suspected that the global village, center of the Dubai Shopping Festival, would be as cool as it is.