Book Review: Offshore Citizens With the Abu Dhabi economy centred around the ‘immobile’ asset of oil, the emirate pursued a restrictive approach devised to block ‘strangers’ from accessing the benefits of oil extraction. 10 In contrast, as Dubai’s primary economic engagement was through trade, which required the easy movement of people and goods, this emirate enacted far more expansive incorporation practices to facilitate the mobility involved in the commerce sector. 11 At independence in 1971, attempts to establish a common citizenship and immigration system for the entire state consequently had to work around these competing visions of citizenship incorporation. 12 With its superior oil wealth, Abu Dhabi assumed hegemonic status over the other six emirates within the federation of the UAE, and took on responsibility for centralised administration of the issue. The legacy of inter-emirate rivalry with respect to citizenship and naturalisation matters continues to play a role in the functioning of law and policy in contemporary UAE, with the theme of differential situations according to the emirate of residence recurring across subsequent chapters of the book. These unresolved tensions have produced liminal statuses in the UAE, and Lori presents a number of cases where individuals have been ‘incorporated at the local level [eg in Dubai], but are still waiting for the federal approval of their citizenship cases [by Abu Dhabi]’. 13 Chapter 3 traces the evolution of a regime for ‘securitizing national boundaries at the territorial borders and inside the state’. 14 It considers the historic idea among British and pre-independence Trucial State rulers that Arab migrant workers posed a particular threat given their greater inclination to engage in strike action and demands for greater rights against the backdrop of a spreading pan-Arab national ideology. 15 In view of this, the newly independent UAE developed policies of reducing its Arab labourers. They were replaced with south Asian workers, many of whom could be permanently excluded from citizenship. 16 This practice was extended in the 1990s when question marks were placed on migrants from neighbouring countries as infiltrators due to the tense regional politics of the Gulf War. 17 Lori argues that it is this shift from Arab to south Asian labour flows that has significantly contributed to the ‘demographic imbalance’ where foreign workers far outnumber citizens. 18 As such, naturalisation has itself become framed as a security issue in the UAE, with the incorporation of non-Arabs foreclosed to make significant proportions of long-term ‘guest’ workers and residents ineligible for citizenship rights. Building on this, Chapter 4 focuses on the specificities of the kafāla (sponsorship) system used to bring foreign workers into the country, which turns them into permanently deportable ‘guests’. 19 The issuance of renewable contracts means that those who have worked for decades in the UAE are still considered as ‘guests’ and have ‘little or no recourse to permanent settlement or citizenship’ 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ibid 83–88. ibid. ibid 88–89. ibid 131. ibid 97. ibid 106–111. ibid 114–15. ibid 115–16. ibid 114–18. ibid 140–44. 357