There is such a thing as a cosmopolitan conservative. When I want to discuss Dubai — and when do I not? — I have to turn to apolitical or right-leaning acquaintances. With liberals, the conversation starts and ends with muttered distaste about human rights in the Gulf. Good. Nice to see a bit of western moral confidence in these otherwise self-doubting times. But applied consistently, this attitude can amount to a scandalised recoil from much of the rest of the world. Until such time as everywhere catches up with European labour standards and sexual freedoms, we are to do what exactly? Visit Provence ad infinitum? Talk about Berlin nightlife again?