Where now for ruler's 'vision'?

DUBAI: The "Dubai vision," which has suffered a crushing blow from the freewheeling Gulf emirate's sudden debt crisis, is the creation of one man who failed to apply the rules of open governance.

The city state's rapid growth revolved around the ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who outlined his ideas in a book, My Vision, where he suggested other Arab countries could replicate Dubai's success. Now the model - always controversial among Gulf Arabs since it involved building shining cities in the desert at breakneck speed through the import of foreign residents, finance and labor - is on the ropes.

Questions will surface over what went wrong.