On my first visit to Dubai, 15 years ago, it brought forth the maxims I learned as a child: Opulence is vulgar. Extravagance is unbecoming. Waste is shameful, and bragging, uncouth.
But that was then. During my third and most recent stay, Dubai struck me as a necessary place to visit to understand today’s world. This booming desert city serves up a spectacle that makes Las Vegas seem like a village in the Cotswolds.
