A successful country is one that has been through political battles and survived social hardships and today stands on its feet stronger than before. When mentioning countries that have been through challenges in shaping themselves, Qatar is a great example. Especially when it has created a prestigious name for itself in such a short time. The different aspects that shaped Qatar throughout history makes it a country worth writing about and studying in details. The variety of key highlights in the ancient, modern and contemporary history of Qatar are written with rich details in Allen Fromherz book Qatar- A Modern History. In this specific chapter "Qatar- A new Model of Modernity?", Fromherz discusses several grasping topics such as, the importance of the past history in today's modernity of Qatar, the role of expatriates, and Al Thani family's role in historic power. All of these shape the country today and play a vital role in the present modern society of Qatar.
The primary feature in defining a country is the history that was once all what it had. As Qatar developed into a booming society the citizens didn't forget the background from which all this progress came. Beneath the five star hotels and the developed business companies lies the significant history all Qataris are thankful and proud of. Fromherz clearly argues that the primary formation that defined Qatari life in the past remains outstandingly resilient (3). I agree with what Frohmerz pointed out as no matter how developed and progressive the society gets, there's always reminders of what was and what now has been. Some may define modernity as bond breakage between the culture's past but this isn't true for Qatar as the efforts of continuous reminders of the history ...
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...e. The citizens are dependent on someone to wash their car, do the grocery shopping, clean the house and even care for their own children. Therefore, I think this concept is one that depicts the need of emigrants in Qatar and the advantages they can offer. They aren't simply a price of modernity but much more.
As countries become modernized they may lose some background or cultural elements and gain new habits. But this chapter discusses how Qatar seemed to have maintained its tradition despite the massive expatriate community that usually adds to the modernization symptoms. The Qatari citizens remain attached to their traditional clothing and to their culture. This tie between the past tradition today helps shape Qatar as one of the countries that isn't taken over by modernization and doesn't sense a break in tradition as some may define modernization to be.
The performative aspect of language conceptualised by Austin half a century ago, enables a more nuanced approach to the statement ‘The Middle East is an Invention’ than a simple examination whether it is true or false. It implies the necessity of an examination that takes into consideration its possible meanings and their historical origins. Moreover, such an action has its political implications. These can become visible if such an argument is considered in contrast to its historical counterpart that presupposes that the term ‘Middle East’ contains an essence of some sort and as such it can be definitely analysed to its components. Comprehended in that manner, the claim that the Middle East is a fictitious artefact is first and foremost a critique.
The Middle Eastern has developed a lot of economic success with the authoritarianism government they’ve established. To some people, if they are economically stable, they’re willing to endure the hardships of being lead under a dictator. Countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are flourishing in the oil business, which keeps them wealthy and involved in international relations. To the citizens of the Middle East, this makes their country look powerful because even with the Western’s opposing ideologies, they’re still working with the Middle East. This is sending the wrong message because even though the western countries have to cooperate and show political support with the Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries. Situations like these give the citizens a positive outlook of how their country is being conducted and support their governme...
Qatar’s culture is progressive neither because it is Western nor because it is fundamentally Islamic but because it manages to use soft diplomacy to lie in the middle of the two, on the front edge of both cultures. Qatar practices soft diplomacy because it allows them the luxury of gaining a variety of allies who would hopefully provide support to them if they were to need it. So, Qatar’s progressive media and culture are based on Qatar’s soft diplomacy that stems from its less fundamental Wahhabism and its efforts to gain
The GCC is claimed to be one of the most flexible world’s organizations consisting of the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. These countries are rich in oil that gives them important political and economic stimulus. The GCC, the author underlines, is very influenti...
“One Arab nation from Gulf to the Ocean,” gives meaning to the term “Pan-Arabism” in the Middle East. A notion where Arab nations transcend their state boundaries to form political mergers with other states and achieve an ‘Arab unity.’ The existence of Arab states had been tumultuous throughout the decline of the Muslim order, the end of the Ottoman Empire, the Palestinian defeat, Six Day War and Arab-Israeli war in 1973. This essay will critically examine Foud Ajami’s case for a raison d’état in the Middle East and his claim that there were six broad trends leading to the alteration of the balance of power away from Pan-Arabism and towards the state. It will be argued that Pan-Arabism was a romantic ideology that Arab states found convenient to support, all in advancement of their nationalistic state agendas. It was never a realistic endeavor that was physically undertaken by the Arab states and was thus never alive in a tangible sense. However, Pan-Arabism as an ideology had a place in the Middle East and was thus alive in an ideological sense.
...g commodified, something that is a principal characteristic of Western culture. From this it may be seen that Western culture is permeating Morocco at many levels, despite its Islamic traditions. It may be argued that Morocco's western location in North Africa and its proximity to Europe is a significant factor that has allowed Western culture to permeate its own cultural fabric and that this pattern shall continue to develop exponentially. Western culture has affected women’s cultural norms, transforming cultural and social expectations in what many perceive at best as a dominant force for cultural change and personal freedom, and at worst the inexorable destruction of the traditional cultural and social order as modern Western consumerist culture continues its polluting journey, and time honoured traditions give way to the inevitable rise of Western materialism
The questions of economic inequality and class division are imposing themselves in the developing countries around the world. Karl Marx is notable for his extensive works on this questions, and his theories have been an informative source for many researchers to understand the process of social stratification and class conflicts. However, Marx does not specify what is economic power that is manipulated by the upper hand “the bourgeoisies”. Bourdieu and Weber stated that the power is not merely the manipulation of the mode of production and the working class, but it is a different instrument (George, 2001). This instrument is arguably given by different institutions to people, but this notion is contested among social theorists. Bourdieu holds that the economic instruments are given to people through the government and the government’s collaborators, and political economy is the precedent force in a spatial sense based on the theory of Habitués (Bourdieu, 1986). This essay is a preliminary attempt on an investigation of one dimension of how these instruments are the society’s manifestation of their economic identity strength against the others by using these tools. This paper focuses on the nature of these instruments in the context of the Emirati society, and the function of such instruments in shaping the beholder’s identities, in view of the close and intricate connection between such instruments and the society.
Persian Gulf countries are known for having high percentages of their population represented by immigrants and Qatar is no exception. According to peoplemov.in the population of Qatar is 1,696,563 and the total amount of immigrants is 1,305,428. In percentage terms, 76.95% of the Qatari population are immigrants. These statistics are outside of the norm, as migrants make up only 3% of the world’s population (peoplemov.in.) When looking specifically at the portion of the population in the Qatari working force, immigrants make up an even bigger percentage of the population. According to Qatar census data taken in 2010 there are a total of 1,199,107 “non Qatari” employed workers located in the state of Qatar. 1,070,973 of those workers are male and 505,721 of the non Qatari workers work in the construction industry (Qatar Census 2010.) To compare this to the Qatari population, only 71,076 are employed (Qatar Census 2010.) This shows that 94.4% of the working force in Qatar are immigrants which clearly demonstrates that Qatar is a guest worker country. The Amnesty International report “The Dark Side of Migration” (2013) states the reason for this large ratio of migrant workers can partly be accredited to Qatar winning the bid to host the World Cup in 2022. Qatar has very large and perhaps over spectacular plans to create a global hub for the World Cup to take place, and has needed to hire hundreds of thousands of workers to try to complete the upcoming projects on time. Most immigrants in Qatar migrate from South Asia, and one of the top migrant native countries is Nepal whose migrant workers make up around 12.5% of the total immigrant population in Qatar (peoplemov.in.) Recently, Qatar is getting scrutiny by many media outlets as ...
The Arab world consists of twenty-two countries encompassing all of North Africa and much of the Middle East. The Arab people number over 360 million and while they share a common language, there is a surprising degree of diversity among them, whether in terms of nationality, culture, religion, economics, or politics. (McCaffrey, 3) Most inhabitants of the Ar...
Kuwait was a small country that had once been part of the Ottoman Empire like Iraq. Then Kuwait had become a British Protectorate from which it had been granted its independence. Its borders had been set in a subjective manner causing it to be difficult to de...
Since the 1950s, the cities of Saudi Arabia witnessed significant changes in the composition of the population and the arrangement of the built environment. The Saudi society has transformed from a nomadic pastoral society to a highly modernized one as a result of the increase in national revenues from oil production. Rapid growth and improved economic conditions led to the adoption of modern planning principles which are in contrary to the traditional city. Although modernization had contributed to raising the living standard of the neighbourhood, it led to the creation of social, cultural and climate problems as well.
...gely by religious values: Conservative dress, conservative literature, and conservative behavior. Freedom of political and religious expression is not allowed, and diversions like dancing, or movies, activities are almost nonexistence in Saudi Arabia. As it has been for centuries, the cultural and political life of Saudi Arabia continues to be expressed in terms of Islamic principles.
This report draws from many publications written over the last twenty years exposing the unique situation in Saudi Arabia, while also utilizing recent headl...
...Arabia is a petrostate. Oil dominates the national economy, international exports, and the nation’s politics. It has greatly shaped what the kingdom is today. Having started out as somewhat of a tourist economy, the kingdom has become a world, monetary power. From their massive amounts of oil and extremely cheap production, the country has been able to gain large amounts of affluence and political power. With its large abundance of oil, the country has been able to profit immensely on sales and spur diplomatic outcomes to their benefit due to the great need of the resource. Without the discovery oil, Saudi Arabia would be of little importance in the modern world, having the Grand Mosque be the extent of its importance. But because of its discovery of oil, Saudi Arabia became of international importance, coming to be one of the greatest assets to world superpowers.
First, in Power Distance the USA scored 40 in comparison to Saudi Arabia's score of 95. Second, in Individualism, the USA ranked at 91 while Saudi Arabia is at 25. Third, the Masculinity rating for the USA is 62, and similarly in Saudi Arabia the rating is 60. Fourth, the Uncertainty Avoidance for USA is 46, while Saudi Arabia scored much higher in this category at 80. Regarding the fifth dimension of Long-Term Orientation, USA scored 26 with Saudi Arabia at 36. Lastly, in the sixth and final category of Indulgence, USA has a score of 68 in comparison to Saudi Arabia at 52. These scores translate into specific inferences for each country's cultural characteristics. Saudi Arabia scores high relative to the USA in regards to Power Distance, highlighting their country's emphasis on hierarchical order in which individual subordination is accepted and unchallenged. This is very different from the American ideals of equal rights in all societal aspects. For Individualism, the rank is reversed with the USA scoring much higher than Saudi Arabia. Individualism is popular in our culture, with independence highly valued and members tend to be responsible only for themselves and their direct family. Saudi Arabia is considered a collectivist society where loyalty and long-term relationships are held in high-regard with collective responsibility for group members. Both countries have nearly identical scores in the dimension of Masculinity. This exhibits the driving cultural forces of competition and achievement with success held in high regard over other values. With Uncertainty Avoidance, the countries are once again polarized. With the USA's relatively low score, the culture exhibits acceptance for new ideas with an emphasis on innovation and toleration. On the opposite end of