It is not peace. It is a pause that looks like life. NOS, from Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi: schools, restaurants, offices, as before. Terraces full, traffic jams, new migrants. The rockets and drones from earlier in the year have gone into the background. A Dutch diplomat, unnamed: World Investment Forum, Formula 1, Doha Forum — “back to normal”. The formula is his. It is not a ceasefire statement.

The war with Iran, the correspondent writes, has not died. It is in a middle phase. Donald Trump has said he will not attack Iran again before the American elections on 3 November. After that, a blank. Reuters, in March, had already put Dubai’s “safe haven” to the test, when the first strikes stopped the exchanges. The image then: a city that sat above other people’s wars. The image now is scratched, not wiped.

The crack is Riyadh. NOS: Houthi attacks on the airport last week, at least 17 dead, more than 300 wounded, flights cut. The roles reversed. In the war, Riyadh was a refuge. Now Saudis leave for the Gulf to catch a plane. The sirens went quiet for almost two weeks. Reuters, cited by NOS: the authorities feared that repeated alarms would wreck the day. On Monday the alarm returned to the phone.

Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani asked for preparation for “the worst imaginable scenarios”. The Bahrain Grand Prix, for safety, moved to Malaysia. Tourists from outside still stay away. A Dutch consultant in Dubai, also unnamed: some small operators packed up, because there was no work; larger firms are “more realistic”, not in panic. Flight and shipping costs, up. That is the economy of a pause.

The cities sell themselves on safety. Safety is the product. How long it holds until 3 November, nobody in the text guarantees. Washington, Tehran, Tel Aviv — NOS closes there. We do not open a second war. We open the terrace. And the crack in it.

Image: Norlando Pobre, Dubai Marina, 14 February 2020, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The photograph shows the pre-war skyline, not a shelter.

Sources consulted: Na halfjaar Iranoorlog is rust terug in de Golfstaten, maar zekerheid nog niet — NOS; How Dubai's safe-haven status is being put to the test — Reuters.