TY - JOUR T1 - Beyond rentierism: the United Arab Emirates’ exceptionalism in a turbulent region JF - Contemporary Arab Affairs SP - 522 LP - 536 DO - 10.1080/17550912.2017.1399640 VL - 10 IS - 4 AU - Antwi-Boateng, Osman AU - Binhuwaidin, Mohammed Y1 - 2017/10/01 UR - http://caa.ucpress.edu/content/10/4/522.abstract N2 - The Arab-Muslim world is often described negatively as undemocratic, intolerant and economically backward. Rare positive commentary about the region is usually reserved for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states based on the belief that their status as rentier states coupled with immense energy resources has enabled them to escape the failures of the larger region. However, this research posits a United Arab Emirates (UAE) exceptionalism attributed to its internalization of key political, economic and social norms, and the promotion of such norms as a norm entrepreneur. The attractiveness of the UAE's accomplishments in the region has made it worthy of emulation and, thus, a soft power. ER -