Time for a history lesson....
In the 'old days' (pre 1999) Dubai used to accept traffic directly from Muscat in the east and at 70nm from the west. There was plenty of time to plan and if need be hold aircraft. Then, in 1999, along came 'political interference' and the great Dane began to stamp his authority on the whole UAE ATC interface. An approach unit did not require a large airspace was one of the reasons quoted. So Dubai lost airspace to the east and west and had some seriously restrictive operations placed on the route through PAPAR. Also all flights into/out of the Northern Emirates had to pass through imaginary 'gates'. Work load went up and flexability was restricted. At that time Dubai ATC was able to have the ridiculous SIDs and STARs that were being proposed, shelved. The whole fiasco was the result of a decision maker, who had no recent operational experience in the area, deciding how things should work. The UAE 'Centre' SERCO management at the time were not prepared to voice any objections, and at the meetings I attended they just sat and accepted it all. Dubai management at least tried to get some concessions to facilitate orderly opertions, however most of these requests were rejected out of hand, with indirect threats of political repercussions if the matter was persued.
People need now to look past the current mess and perhaps someone with a bit of 'waasta' could get things reversed; more airspace to work with and better inter-unit proceedures. But don't hold your breath; one of the biggest hinderences to effective ATM that I came across during my five and half years as an ATC in Dubai was the unwillingness of management to accept ideas other than there own. Perhaps (hopefully) things have changed and some of the ideas / thoughts expressed in this post will be accepted by the management and will help bring about change.
During my time there, Dubai ATC was a professional bunch of guys and girls who, under often trying circumstances, kept things moving. I don't see that that would have changed. Give them a break - perhaps a visit on a busy night shift might let you flyguys see why things sometimes tend to 'fall apart'!