QATAR

Qatar’s official language is Arabic, and its local dialect [i] is similar to but slightly distinct from its Arab neighbors. English is commonly spoken as Qatar has sought to strike a balance between acting as a global hub of academia, arts, and politics – a role that in practice requires prioritizing English – and preserving its and the Arab World’s rich tradition and prestige on the global stage by promoting the use of Arabic [ii]. This tension is emblematic of Qatar’s growing pains and its transformation from a small, tribe-oriented, deeply traditional nation to a country of enormously outsized international prominence and influence.

Qatar’s culture blends the local and traditional with the global and avant-garde. Equally prominent are women in modest black abayas and men in traditional white thobes, with younger materially-minded Qataris sporting and showcasing the latest season’s fashions. Traditional cafés and shisha bars litter Doha’s central Souq Waqif [iii], while glitzy nightclubs dot the capital’s many glamorous, world-class hotels. Sculptures and artwork highlight the elegance of Arabic calligraphy [iv] , and architecture preserves Qatar’s iconic, traditional clay buildings [v] ; but so too is the country home to the hyper-modern vertigo-inducing Aspire Tower [vi] and Louise Bourgeois’s Maman [vii]– a towering arachnid sculpture in Qatar’s National Convention Centre.

Qatar is a majority-Sunni nation, operating officially under Sharia law [viii]. The country is home to expats and migrant workers of many faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Qatar has a reputation for religious conservatism, especially given its hosting of some hardline Islamic clerics [ix]. Despite this, the country is a surprisingly empowering place for women, with the highest female labor participation rate [x] in the Arab World, and it is common to encounter Western film and television or see women with their hair uncovered. Alcohol use is permitted by non-Muslims within hotel bars and private homes, but public intoxication is not tolerated.

Qatar is an absolute monarchy [xi] under the Al Thani family. Municipal elections [xii] take place, although these primarily influence local governance and the scope of political campaigning is circumscribed. Despite being nondemocratic, the Qatari government is generally receptive to the needs of its citizens and expatriates, and the Amir enjoys broad support [xiii] among Qatari residents – especially since the blockade of 2017. Although domestically the ruling family is seen as benevolent and legitimate, the family is somewhat secretive, and public understanding of events like the 2013 peaceful transition from the still-living former Amir Hamad Bin Khalifa to his son Tamim remains limited.

Natural gas exports constitute the backbone of Qatar’s economy. Qatar has reinvested much of these funds into a dynamic higher education sector [xiv] in an effort to grow a domestic knowledge economy that can outlast its natural gas reserves and the global use of petrochemicals. In general the menial labor in Qatar (e.g., construction, janitorial work, basic security) is carried out by migrant laborers – a practice that has been harshly criticized [xv] as exploitative and that the Qatari government has made efforts to reform. The currency of Qatar is the Qatari riyal [xvi]; its value is pegged at 27 U.S. cents.

The tribes of Qatar were unified under the House of Al-Thani in 1878 [xvii] and the country achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1971 [xviii]. Since then, Qatar has experienced a breakneck period of growth and cultural transformation. Qatar’s current and previous Amir, whose terms together span the last 25 years, have generally pushed modernization and liberal reforms while simultaneously striving to preserve its traditions and heritage. Some of Qatar’s historic policies, in particular the founding of Al Jazeera [xix] and the government’s outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood [xx], have rankled its neighbors and, in part, resulted in the ongoing blockade against the country.

Qatar is a small, flat, hot, peninsular country in the Persian Gulf and is slightly smaller than the US state of Connecticut. Its only land border is with Saudi Arabia. Qatar has almost no freshwater or arable land. The population is heavily concentrated around the capital of Doha, with over 60% of its population living in Doha [xxi]. Qatar has some small towns in the periphery of the country. Since 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE (as well as Egypt) have closed their borders and airspace to Qatar, forcing any travel to and from the country to transit through Iranian airspace.