Change, Challenge, and Continuity in Qatari Development: Identity and Citizenship in the Fulcrum of Hyper-Globalization

Abstract

Despite its massive wealth and efforts to put itself in the international spotlight, Qatar remains a rather obscure country, certainly in its contribution to social science theories regarding nationality, citizenship, and identity. However, in its trajectory from fairly recent national independence to a major crossroads of globalization, Qatar, like its peers in the Arab Gulf region, represents a revealing incubator for rapid economic power and great ambition, which evokes national identity issues. Thus, it is high time that countries like Qatar should be studied for the experience they might contribute to the knowledge of social science. This chapter takes a modest step in this direction, specifically in terms of how Qatari nation-building has required a strong state.

Some of the work for this chapter is based on research conducted under NPRP Grant 6-459-5-050 from the Qatar National Research Fund