This future scenario is the result of increasing globalization, but decreasing migration. In other words, the flight of capital around the world intensifies, but barriers are put up to stop people from following suit. Here is a world of controlled borders, artificial cities, robot factories, codified social hierarchies and barbarians at the gates. Its determining image might be the luxurious Atlantis resort, built by the United Arab Emirates on an artificial island, the Palm, which is connected to the Dubai coast by an overseas monorail. Meanwhile, in the hinterlands of the city, the indentured labour force imported from South Asia faces an uncertain future. For more on the ‘evil paradise’ of Dubai, see  
http://newleftreview.org/II/41/mike-davis-fear-and-money-in-dubai