Hello, Dubai
THE empire of global capitalism strikes back. After the riots in Prague, the Interna- tional Monetary Fund retired to its fortress in Washington, where those concrete lumps in front of the entrance are tank traps. One year in three, by tradition, the IMF holds its meeting out of town — before Prague came Bangkok, Madrid and Hong Kong — but where could it go next? Who would want to play host to the rioters? Was this, then, the last of the IMF's away matches? Not a hit of it. I learn that the meeting of 2003 has been booked for Dubai. Visiting protesters would have to walk or ride or swim quite a long way to get there, and could then expect to be told that their papers were out of order. Visiting global capitalists would be waved through and expect that their hosts, the Maktoums, would give them a day at the races. A date for my diary, and a coup for the empire.
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