American author and international relations analyst Parag Khanna yesterday called the UAE a "rare success story", attributing it to its geographical location, globalisation and blend of foreign legacies with indigenous power structures.

Speaking on the role of the emirates in the geopolitical market place, Khanna, Fellow and Director of Global Governance Initiative at the New America Foundation, a non-partisan, public policy institute in Washington DC, termed the UAE "a meeting point for first world European technology and third world labour".

"The UAE has a culture of Eurasia. It is a story of foreign legacies blended with indigenous power structures in a post-colonial world. It is also a success story of globalisation, which is rare in post-colonial countries," said Khanna, who was a geopolitical advisor to the United States Special Operations Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007... LINK