ISIL/ISIS/IS/whatever made some threats recently against the American/Western presence in the Arabian Gulf, i.e., us. We had a letter from the girls' school today, and security around campus has been more intense lately. Certain pedestrian gates that used to be open all the time are locked in the evenings and watched over by guards. The police at the university gate stop more cars, more often, for longer. Our housing area has more guards, too, keeping watch.
It's a little unnerving, but as both the university and the school have reminded us, there have been no specific, credible threats against Sharjah in particular. It's most likely just a lot of terrorist hot air. But in the meantime, security is tightened, just in case.