WAR ALBUM

A portrait series documenting people during global change

COLLABORATE

IN THE WAR ALBUM, I SKETCH THE FACES OF PEOPLE AT THE CORE OF THE DUBAI COMMUNITY, WHILE WE ARE WITNESSING ONE OF THE BIGGEST SHIFTS OF THE MODERN WORLD:

  • The world economy and power dynamics

  • ASI

  • Quantum physics and multiverse theories

  • The first robot soldier on the battlefield

Participants are CEOs, founders, and thinkers from key fields of the Dubai community: hospitality, finance, government, and beyond.

The group curates itself, as each participant is invited to suggest people who they believe will shape the new world.

DIFFERENT PEOPLE. DIFFERENT ANSWERS. SAME QUESTION.

“IF THE OLD WORLD ORDER WAS COMPLETELY RUINED,
WHAT WOULD BE THE ONE RULE YOU WOULD IMPLEMENT IN THE NEW ORDER?”

The album started as Instagram stories. Now it is a web page. In one year, a printed album. A clean cut of the UAE community in history.

what to expect?

New portraits and introductions of the participants will continue to appear on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Each month on this webpage, I will present a gallery of portraits and a short summary of that month, written by one of the project participants.

We make history

I am happy to collaborate. To support the project through participant suggestions, hosting, printing, financial support, PR, or other forms of collaboration, please contact me.

COLLABORATE

MARCH 2026

PEOPLE

Signals and Whispers

  • Autonomous systems and battlefield AI move deeper into the war in Ukraine

  • Iran tightens control over the Strait of Hormuz, oil surges above $110 per barrel

  • Dubai property transactions fall sharply, while distress spreads through real-estate bonds

  • The UAE comes under repeated drone and missile threats

  • The US sends additional Marines and troops into the Gulf region

  • ByteDance’s DeerFlow 2.0 pushes multi-agent AI into public view

  • Dubai hotel occupancy drops from around 90% to 16%

March perspective

During the Roman Empire, what we still call the Ides of March marked the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. It is still remembered as a moment of shock and rupture, but it acted only as a hinge between an old order and a new beginning.

During this last month of March, our intimate personal crises can catalyze renewal, but only when met with courage, humility, and imagination.

The phoenix of renewal is not born from forgetting the past, but from learning from it. We will all remember March 2026 by preserving memory while daring to change.

That balance—between remembrance and reinvention—is the enduring gift of the Ides: a reminder that endings can be the prologue to something wiser, fairer, and more enduring.

Roman Yazbek
Experienced business leader, growth strategist, sustainability enthusiast
Dubai, UAE