De facto

That made Dubai vulnerable to global economic vagaries, and the reckoning arrived in spectacular fashion with the 2008-9 financial crisis, which stopped the city’s progress in its tracks. Abu Dhabi had to go to its rescue, and the price for the bailout was steep: Sheikh Mohammed’s wings were clipped, and his economic imperatives were subsumed under the foreign policy goals of the UAE, which were now decided by the powerful Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and de facto ruler of the emirates. 
...The latest embarrassment for Dubai will only strengthen his ironclad grip on the country, leaving Dubai deeper in the shade. For Sheikh Mohammed, that will mean his legacy will be diminished further. His approach to tackling a post-oil future for the region will also be discredited. Despite his contributions to Dubai’s economy and the moderating effects it may have had on the otherwise-chaotic violence gripping the Middle East, Sheikh Mohammed, once a leader seen as exceptional in the West, will be seen as just another oil monarch who failed to rein in his excesses, particularly in the light of the all-powerful women’s movement  southchinamorningpost

Il vero artefice del salvataggio del 2009 e della strategia a tutto campo che vede Dubai al centro di investimenti, commercio, turismo, banche e tanto altro, è Ahmed bin Saeed.
Sua Altezza continua a manovrare all'interno dei consigli d'amministrazione mentre Mohammed bin Rashid esibisce i tre pargoli per rassicurare la piazza.
Questo gioco, soprattutto in vista di Expo, potrebbe non bastare più.
In un ruolo ufficiale di primo piano, all'interno del governo, il principe della Emirates riuscirebbe a garantire maggiore solidità per rassicurare gli investitori stranieri e a costruire un'alleanza mirata e duratura con Mohammed bin Zayed.