For anyone who has visited the Jebel Ali container port near Dubai City, which forms the heart of Dubai Ports World’s operation, the wave of outrage in America in the the past two weeks over DP World’s takeover of P&O has been particularly curious. In the minds of many US congressmen and women, the company from the United Arab Emirates seems to conjure up images of some mad Islamist intent on destroying the US and Israel. But one of the most striking impressions for a visitor to the port is likely to be the powerful bond between the operations at Jebel Ali and one man: Ted Bilkey, a 71-year-old American who is DP World’s chief operating officer.

Tall, white-haired Mr Bilkey, who was born in Sun Valley, Idaho but grew up in New Jersey, became the sixth employee of the Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zones Corporation when he was seconded to the newly-formed body in 1989 from SeaLand, then a major US container shipping line and now part of Denmark’s AP Moeller-Maersk. He was among an influential group of westerners brought into Dubai around the same time by the ruling al-Maktoum family to build up the emirate’s business interests and turn it into the Arabian peninsula’s most important transport and financial hub.