NEWSWEEK: International Editions: Highlights And Exclusives, April 21-28, 2008

COVER: ARABIAN FANTASIES (All overseas editions). In this "Travel 2008" report about how oil wealth is reshaping the tourism industry, Middle East Regional Editor Christopher Dickey opens this double issue with a look at the growth of tourism in the Middle East. As Dickey reports, Dubai in the 1970s made its money as a safe haven for gold smugglers. In the 1980s it repaired ships shot up during the Iran-Iraq War. Now it is one of the world's top vacation destinations. The other oil capitals in the region have taken a slower and more deliberate approach to paradise. Abu Dhabi has a stately pleasure dome and Qatar offers serious education with the usual creature comforts.

    http://www.newsweek.com/id/131712

    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080413/NYSU001 )

Establishing a New Kind of Modern. Special Correspondent Sameer Reddy reports on how the conservative and the progressive coexist in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport is an ultramodern, notable landmark and a masterpiece of Islamic architecture, a structure juxtaposed with the vast traditional space where busy travelers can stop and pray.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131713

Taking a High Flier. Senior Writer Adam B. Kushner reports on how Middle Eastern countries are changing the global airline industry. Their carriers are making plays for the lucrative first- and business-class markets by spending lavishly on shiny new planes, terminals and lounges.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131719

Beyond the Glitz. Reddy reports that while Dubai has moved at warp speed over the past decade, with fantastical project after project, beneath the surface of the wealth and prosperity, there is a growing community of influential individuals with different ideas about progress. They are increasingly making their creative mark on an ever-evolving cultural scene and present a welcome alternative to Dubai's better-known options.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131714

A Sophisticated State. Reddy reports on Qatar's highbrow development strategy, starting with the Museum of Islamic Art. Under the guidance of its emir, Sheik Hamad al-Thani, and his politically active wife, Sheika Mozah, it has charted a creative course with the intention of transforming itself into the region's cultural hub.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131715

Living (Almost) Like Bedouins. Special Correspondent Sophie Grove reports on how Oman has set out to rival its neighbor Dubai by offering almost the exact opposite sort of attractions. Unlike other Gulf cities that sprang out of the desert since the discovery of oil, Oman's allure lies primarily in its ancient, checkered history. It is quickly becoming the antidote to anodyne cities like Abu Dhabi.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131717

Building The New Links. Reporter Giananne Brownell looks at how Aberdeen, already popular with business tourists, wants to attract recreational tourism too. For the past two years, the area's business tourism has grown, due largely to the high price of oil. The region has been on the energy world's map since oil was first discovered in the North Sea in 1969. Officials are looking for long-term ways to sustain the local economy after oil productivity stops. One way may be if Donald Trump gets his golf resort approved there, which could dramatically transform the northeast corner of Scotland.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131721

Escape From Caracas. Latin America Regional Editor Joseph Contreras reports on the high number of Venezuelans who are traveling abroad. Venezuela's oil revenue windfall in the past three years has boosted disposable income, and that in turn is helping to drive the highest inflation rate in the Americas -- which gives consumers even more incentive to spend their bolivars.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131720

Making Room for the Russians. Moscow Bureau Chief Owen Matthews reports on the influx of wealthy Russian tourists who spend thousands of dollars in European resorts and who just may be wearing out their welcome in some places. In truth, for every posh hotel trying to turn Russians away, many more are trying to attract them, bad behavior or not.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131727

In the Land of Borat. Assistant Editor Jaime Cunningham and Special Correspondent Christopher Flavelle report that although some people learned everything they know about Kazakhstan from the movie "Borat," the country's standard of living has risen dramatically since 1991 when it gained independence from the Soviet Union. Tourists have begun to take note of its cosmopolitan cities, striking natural landscape and steadily improving Western-standard comforts.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131722

Definitely Not in a Bikini. Special Correspondent Alexandra A. Seno reports that Asia-Pacific countries are keen once again to establish themselves as a favorite destination for travelers from the Middle East. Now in lieu of pepper and cinnamon, these destinations lure visitors with shopping, spas and theme parks.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131724

Five Star and Far Out. Seno reports that remote destinations where once only grubby backpackers dared venture are now drawing business travelers accustomed to wireless access and pillow menus. "The economic map of the world is being redrawn," says Gebhard Rainer, Hyatt's managing director in Paris, who oversees Europe, Africa and the Middle East. "And the five-star business-travel industry follows this."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131725

There Will be Flamboyance. Contributor Nick Foulkes writes about the travel and spending habits of today's oil billionaires, reminding him of the Klondike gold rush, when prospectors blew their nuggets and gold dust in bars and brothels. "They didn't need that ... But when it comes to the manner in which fortunes are dissipated, those derived from mineral sources seem to encourage much more flamboyance than those built up in other ways."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131728

Lured Into Bondage. Hong Kong Bureau Chief George Wehrfritz and Special Correspondents Erika Kinetz and Jonathan Kent report on a new chapter in the globalization story: a growing migratory work force trapped in conditions that verge on slavery. As labor demands a bigger share of the profits in nations that are beyond the early stages of development, cheaper labor is increasingly shipped in from poorer nations. Lured from their homes with false promises of high wages, the trafficked workers often find themselves trapped and deprived of the passport they need to get home.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131707

WORLD VIEW: Don't Play to China's Paranoia. Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria writes that in China, "ordinary Chinese are if anything critical of the Beijing government for being too easy on the Tibetans. The real struggle here is between a nationalist majority and an ethnic and religious minority looking to secure its rights." And a boycott of the Olympics would have "precisely the opposite effect that is intended. The regime in Beijing would only become more defensive and stubborn. The Chinese people would rally around the flag and see the West as trying to humiliate China in its first international moment of glory."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131751

THE LAST WORD: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Zenawi spoke about fighting the insurgency in Somalia. "The response of the international community and the U.N. has been less than stellar. We understand why the U.N. could not send a peacekeeping mission. But we do not understand why the U.N., through the Security Council, could not provide some funding to the AU. The U.S. has been a bit more forthcoming. They have provided support, for example, to the Ugandans to deploy their troops in Mogadishu. They have diplomatically been broadly supportive of the TFG and stabilization in Somalia."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/131703