In a week, the US will hold its most consequential election since the Civil War-era.
It pits a centrist Democratic Party led by Vice President Kamala Harris, still committed to the Constitution and rule of law, against a personalised Republican Party that serves only its leader, former president Donald Trump, who has called for entire articles in the Constitution to be “terminated” to keep him in power.
The election will either reaffirm US political norms and traditions or usher in an experiment with American tyranny modelled after that in some other states: an openly self-serving president supported by and, in turn, favouring, politicised oligarchs, as I explained in these pages last week.
Tyranny is by no means guaranteed if Mr Trump wins. He will enter the White House with experience and preparation, ready to try to replace thousands of civil servants with handpicked ideological cronies, as he himself has said he would. But the opposition will be similarly prepared, and efforts to defend the rule of law will kick into action without hesitation, because Mr Trump’s intentions are so clearly telegraphed.
This matters for the rest of the world, including Gulf countries. Ms Harris stands for US traditions at home and abroad. She represents the continuation of the post-Second World War and post-Cold War US policies that centre on robust internationalism based on alliances and long-standing friendships around the world. Mr Trump, by contrast, has viewed these alliances, even Nato, with cynicism, often seeing them as little more than a protection racket, demanding payment directly to the US from any country that benefits from its protection.
Some Gulf countries have been seeking “ironclad” mutual defence agreements. This has yet to be achieved, but considerable progress has been made in this direction with the administration of President Joe Biden. Further progress under Ms Harris appears entirely plausible. But given his attitudes towards international relations, there seems little chance of any such agreements under Mr Trump.
If the Biden administration played any role in prompting the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel that produced a series of interwoven crises rocking the Middle East, it wasn’t through neglect, weakness or any egregious error. On the contrary, insofar as Hamas paid any attention to Washington regarding this attack, it was seeking to thwart the Biden administration’s progress in talks with Saudi Arabia for a triangular agreement involving normalisation with Israel.
Some Arab countries have adopted a policy of strategic diversification as a consequence of uncertainty about the nature of the US security commitments and Washington’s willingness to act in their defence. Yet they remain fundamentally committed to keeping the US as the centrepiece of their diplomatic architecture and primary partner of choice in key national security strategies.
The unpredictability and arbitrary nature of the personalised presidency promised by Mr Trump is not in the interest of America’s allies and partners. Unpredictability has been Washington’s biggest failing in recent decades, and Mr Trump is the last person to correct that fault.
Dark clouds are looming over Washington even before a possible Trump victory.
Two major newspapers – The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times – declined for the first time in decades to endorse a presidential candidate, allegedly to curry favour with Mr Trump. Owner Jeff Bezos denied there was any connection between the Post’s decision and his space company’s meeting with Mr Trump last week.
Like the Silicon Valley elites I described last week, some of these media-owning would-be oligarchs are breaking the first rule of resisting tyranny proposed by historian Timothy Snyder: “Do not obey in advance.”
Tellingly, all the distortions to American traditions coming from the wealthy and powerful find them adapting to Mr Trump, not Ms Harris. No one is self-censoring in fear of a crackdown by Democrats. And Republican voters are relatively blase about the outcome, knowing that everything will go on as usual even if they lose. Democrats are gripped with huge alarm, because they have every reason to believe that if they lose, the constitutional system may be upended.
As its closing argument, the racism of the Trump campaign has hit a deafening crescendo.
Today in Dearborn, Michigan, home of the largest Arab-American community in the country, I was immediately confronted by a huge billboard featuring a blue Star of David and slogans about how Ms Harris can be relied upon to “protect Israel” and “our Jewish communities”. It was widely reportedly to be the handiwork of a shadowy Republican-linked group.
At an intensely racist Trump rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday, one speaker referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating pile of garbage”. Another referred to Ms Harris as “the Antichrist”. Then one of Mr Trump’s closest aides, Stephen Miller, thundered that “America is for Americans and Americans only”.
It’s the perfect coda to the campaign that promises Mr Trump will be “a dictator” but only on “day one”. He has threatened to use the military and police against political opponents, to crush and deport pro-Palestinian campus protesters and “set that movement back 25 or 30 years”, to instigate “bloody” mass deportations of up to 15 million migrants, and to wage an all-out war against “the enemy from within”.
Mr Trump is overtly offering a wild experiment in authoritarianism. US allies should readily understand that American fascism would offer nothing useful.
There is a growing sense that, after the hate-filled Madison Square Garden rally, the tide may be turning decisively against Mr Trump. Arab countries, and all friends of the US, should be deeply relieved when Ms Harris wins.
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
'Project Power'
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback
Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Rating: 3.5/5
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)
Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)
Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)
Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)
Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 2 (Willems 25', Shelvey 88')
Manchester City 2 (Sterling 22', De Bruyne 82')
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
More on Palestine-Israeli relations
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
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Results
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
More on Quran memorisation:
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
CREW
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
