Arab states (8)
I believe the answer is:
emirates
'arab states' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for emirates that I've seen before include "in the airline business" , "Federation of Arab states" , "Territory of independent rulers in the Islamic world" , "United Arab -------, Gulf state" , "Eg, Abu Dhabi & Dubai" .)