What Americans Watching the Middle East Right Now Might Not Know (Part 1 of 3)

Esther Ayorinde-Iyamu, Co-Founder of Geoffrey, is a dual U.S.–U.K. citizen, technology executive and entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in global tech commerce, a board member, and women’s health advocate whose life and work span the United States, the United Kingdom, and MEA (Middle East and Africa).

A CNBC reporter reached out this week asking what it feels like to live in the UAE during this moment of regional tension.

The question made me realize how different the lived experience can be from the narrative many Americans are seeing from afar. If you are watching the Middle East on the news right now, you probably imagine a region in chaos.

While I am writing this from the United States, one of my homes is in Dubai.

I hold dual citizenship in the United States and the United Kingdom, and over the years my life has naturally stretched across borders. My work, family, friendships, and community span the U.S., the UK, as well as the Middle East and Africa (MEA). I have come to think of myself less as someone who lives in one place and more as someone who lives across several. That perspective at a young age shaped how I see the world.

3 Yorkies: Carrie Bradshaw, Richard Adekunle Scott (Scottie), and Amanda Jiggles

By coincidence, I had traveled to the U.S. just before tensions escalated in the region. My dogs were still at our home in Dubai with a sitter when the situation began unfolding...and still are. Now, like many people with lives spread across countries, I am navigating the complicated what-if's like "how to get the dogs safely to me while travel routes shift and airspace changes" or "will our frozen embryos be safe?".

It has been a reminder of how real geopolitical moments become when pieces of your life are spread across countries.

For the first time since moving to Dubai, I am watching the region the same way many Americans are. Through headlines, breaking news alerts, and concerned messages from friends asking if everyone there is safe.

Esther and Omi arriving in Dubai

My husband and I moved our Oakland home to Dubai in February, 2025, so it's now been a full year there. In that time I've built friendships, routines, community, and operated our businesses there. Life in Dubai feels structured, technologically advanced, and remarkably safe.

So when tensions escalated, I paid close attention to how the UAE responded. What stood out most was the level of coordination, consistency, and transparency displayed by the UAE Government:

• Hotels were covered for thousands of stranded tourists or travel connectors waiting for flights home.

• Mental health services were offered free of charge to residents experiencing stress of this time

• Flights were prioritized to repatriate visitors while freight routes continued moving essential goods into the country.

• Leaders remained visible in the community, communicating reassurance and stability.

Across the region there have been hundreds of airspace diversions coordinated by UAE Air Defense to protect residents, some of which have seen debris fall to either the sea or on land below.

Friends who are still in Dubai tell me daily life has largely continued. Restaurants

and pubs remain open (the selfies have been reassuring). Offices and Hospitals are operating. The most noticeable reminder some days is the sound of air defense activity overhead.

That does not mean the moment is not frightening for those living through it, especially for visitors who may not be used to the level of safety, calm, and transparency typical to the UAE. Uncertainty around safety is very real and scary. And, this time has demonstrated the systems the UAE has designed to protect that safety for residents and visitors alike.

Watching this unfold from our home on the East Coast US gave me an unexpected vantage point.

Particularly, my perspective on what is going on in the UAE at this time has been shaped by three very different communities I’m part of there and the data-driven-nerd in me began to see trends between them.

And watching how differently those three groups reacted to the exact same moment in time revealed something fascinating about how people respond to uncertainty and why.

That’s what I’ll share in Part 2 of this 3 part series