Qatar

Qatar PDF Author: Mehran Kamrava
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801454301
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
The Persian Gulf state of Qatar has fewer than 2 million inhabitants, virtually no potable water, and has been an independent nation only since 1971. Yet its enormous oil and gas wealth has permitted the ruling al Thani family to exert a disproportionately large influence on regional and even international politics. Qatar is, as Mehran Kamrava explains in this knowledgeable and incisive account of the emirate, a "tiny giant": although severely lacking in most measures of state power, it is highly influential in diplomatic, cultural, and economic spheres. Kamrava presents Qatar as an experimental country, building a new society while exerting what he calls "subtle power." It is both the headquarters of the global media network Al Jazeera and the site of the U.S. Central Command's Forward Headquarters and the Combined Air Operations Center. Qatar has been a major player during the European financial crisis, it has become a showplace for renowned architects, several U.S. universities have established campuses there, and it will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Qatar's effective use of its subtle power, Kamrava argues, challenges how we understand the role of small states in the global system. Given the Gulf state's outsized influence on regional and international affairs, this book is a critical and timely account of contemporary Qatari politics and society.

Qatar

Qatar PDF Author: Mehran Kamrava
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801454301
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 327

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Persian Gulf state of Qatar has fewer than 2 million inhabitants, virtually no potable water, and has been an independent nation only since 1971. Yet its enormous oil and gas wealth has permitted the ruling al Thani family to exert a disproportionately large influence on regional and even international politics. Qatar is, as Mehran Kamrava explains in this knowledgeable and incisive account of the emirate, a "tiny giant": although severely lacking in most measures of state power, it is highly influential in diplomatic, cultural, and economic spheres. Kamrava presents Qatar as an experimental country, building a new society while exerting what he calls "subtle power." It is both the headquarters of the global media network Al Jazeera and the site of the U.S. Central Command's Forward Headquarters and the Combined Air Operations Center. Qatar has been a major player during the European financial crisis, it has become a showplace for renowned architects, several U.S. universities have established campuses there, and it will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Qatar's effective use of its subtle power, Kamrava argues, challenges how we understand the role of small states in the global system. Given the Gulf state's outsized influence on regional and international affairs, this book is a critical and timely account of contemporary Qatari politics and society.

Qatar and the Arab Spring

Qatar and the Arab Spring PDF Author: Kristian Ulrichsen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190210974
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Qatar and the Arab Spring offers a frank examination of Qatar's startling rise to regional and international prominence, describing how its distinctive policy stance toward the Arab Spring emerged. In only a decade, Qatari policy-makers - led by the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and his prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani - catapulted Qatar from a sleepy backwater to a regional power with truly international reach. In addition to pursuing an aggressive state-branding strategy with its successful bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar forged a reputation for diplomatic mediation that combined intensely personalized engagement with financial backing and favorable media coverage through the Al-Jazeera. These factors converged in early 2011 with the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolts in North Africa, Syria, and Yemen, which Qatari leaders saw as an opportunity to seal their regional and international influence, rather than as a challenge to their authority, and this guided their support of the rebellions against the Gaddafi and Assad regimes in Libya and Syria. From the high watermark of Qatari influence after the toppling of Gaddafi in 2011, that rapidly gave way to policy overreach in Syria in 2012, Coates Ulrichsen analyses Qatari ambition and capabilities as the tiny emirate sought to shape the transitions in the Arab world.

Qatar

Qatar PDF Author: David B. Roberts
Publisher: Hurst & Company
ISBN: 9781849043250
Category : International relations and culture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Rarely has a state changed its character so completely in so short a period of time. Previously content to play a role befitting its small size, Qatar was a traditional, risk-averse Gulf monarchy until the early 1990s. A bloodless coup in 1995 brought to power an emerging elite with a progressive vision for the future. Financed by gas exports and protected by a US security umbrella, Qatar diversified its foreign relations to include Iran and Israel, established the satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera, assumed a leading role in international mediation, and hosted a number of top-level sporting tournaments, culminating in the successful FIFA World Cup 2022 bid. Qatar's disparate, often misunderstood, policies coalesce to propagate a distinct brand. Whether to counter regional economic competitors or to further tie Qatar to the economies of the world's leading countries, this brand is de- signed innovatively to counter a range of security concerns; in short, Qatar is diversifying its dependencies. Qatar's prominent role in the Arab Spring follows a similar pattern, yet the gamble it is taking in supporting Islamists and ousting dictators is potentially dangerous: not only is it at risk from 'blowback' in dealing with such actors, but a lack of transparency means that clichés and assumptions threaten to derail "brand Qatar."

Qatar and the Gulf Crisis

Qatar and the Gulf Crisis PDF Author: Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197536069
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, launching an economic blockade by land, air and sea. The self-proclaimed 'Anti-Terror Quartet' offered maximalist demands: thirteen 'conditions' recalling Austria-Hungary's 1914 ultimatum to Serbia. They may even have intended military action. Well into its second year, the standoff in the Gulf has no realistic end in sight. With the Bahraini and Emirati criminalisation of expressing support for Qatar, and the Saudi labelling of detainees as 'traitors' for their alleged Qatari links, bitterness has been stoked between deeply interconnected peoples. The adviser to the Saudi crown prince advocating a moat to physically separate Qatar from the Arabian Peninsula illustrates the ongoing intensity--and irrationality--of the crisis. Most reporting and analysis of these developments has focused on questions of regional geopolitics, and framed the standoff in terms of its impact on (largely) Western interests. Lost in this thicket of commentary is consideration of how the Qatari leadership and population have responded to the blockade. As the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws closer, the ongoing Qatar crisis becomes increasingly important to understand. Ulrichsen offers an authoritative study of this international standoff, from both sides.

Sports Diplomacy

Sports Diplomacy PDF Author: Stuart Murray
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351126946
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
This book offers an accessible overview of the role sport plays in international relations and diplomacy. Sports diplomacy has previously been defined as an old but under-studied aspect of the estranged relations between peoples, nations and states. These days, it is better understood as the conscious, strategic and ongoing use of sport, sportspeople and sporting events by state and non-state actors to advance policy, trade, development, education, image, reputation, brand, and people-to-people links. In order to better understand the many occasions where sport and diplomacy overlap, this book presents four new, inter-disciplinary and theoretical categories of sports diplomacy: traditional, ‘new’, sport-as-diplomacy, and sports anti-diplomacy. These categories are further validated by a large number of case studies, ranging from the Ancient Olympiad to the recent appearance of esoteric, government sports diplomacy strategies, and beyond, to the activities of non-state sporting actors such as F.C. Barcelona, Colin Kaepernick and the digital world of e-sports. As a result, the landscape of sports diplomacy becomes clearer, as do the pitfalls and limitations of using sport as a diplomatic tool. This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy, foreign policy, sports studies, and International Relations in general.

Contemporary Qatar

Contemporary Qatar PDF Author: Mahjoob Zweiri
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811613915
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
This book addresses critical topics and unanswered questions on the contemporary state of Qatar. Drawing together a unique combination of authors that have researched the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in general, and the state of Qatar specifically, each author provides an in-depth empirical analysis of Qatar’s current social, political, and economic landscape against a historically informed backdrop. Cognizant of its rapid state of flux, the contributors collectively provide a comprehensive overview of the intersection of these respective areas, delving into the historical creation of Qatar as a state, its politics and systems of governance, its economic strata and reliance on natural resources, its society and national identity, its new and thriving sports culture, and, most topically, matters of diplomacy, the 2017 blockade, and its armed forces. Owing to the contributors’ invaluable firsthand experience and knowledge of Qatar, this book provides valuable insights into this nation, at once old and new, and its intertwined trajectories in its socio-political and economic positionality within the region. This book is an invaluable resource for students and scholars researching the Middle East generally, and the Gulf, specifically, with interests in topics such as politics and international relations, political economy and foreign policy, development, sources of social change, societal activism, popular culture, and the various elements of identity.

Qatar

Qatar PDF Author: Diana Galeeva
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000569985
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
This book explains the parameters of Qatar’s political growth by developing an alternative theory of power – ‘rented’ power. The author demonstrates how Qatar’s emergence as a regional power can be solely explained by its capacity as a gas-rich rentier state. By using Qatar as an empirical case study of the ‘rented’ power theory, readers will gain insight into Qatar’s engagement with non-state actors (political Islam, tribes, media, sports, and others) to wield its power, allowing Qatar to ‘rent’ the well-established influence of non-state actors due to their transnational nature. The Qatari case demonstrates a state’s ability to establish a patron-client relationship with non-state actors, overcoming limitations set by size or military strength to gain international influence. This book is accessible to a wide readership: it will be of interest of scholars, postgraduates, journalists, policy experts, and a general audience whose interests include the politics of the Middle East and the GCC states particularly

Qatar's Foreign Policy

Qatar's Foreign Policy PDF Author: Marwan Kabalan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755655214
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
This study offers an analysis of Qatar's foreign policy since its independence from Britain in 1971. Locked between two vying powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and lacking the traditional elements of influence in the regional and international state system such as land, human capital, and advanced industry, Qatar nevertheless wields a disproportionately large amount of regional influence with an assertive foreign policy approach. Here, Marwan Kabalan highlights the strategies pursued by the ruling Qatari elite, especially during the last two decades, and delves into the methods Qatar has used to deal with the structural challenges to its foreign policy. These strategies include financially leveraging its access to crucial resources, such as natural gas, and its manipulation of existing regional frictions. The book also addresses Qatar's soft power influence – positioning itself as an alternative cultural and intellectual hub in the Arab world, enabling it to take a leading role, particularly as a mediator, in the region. By highlighting Qatar's foreign policy strategies and outcomes, Kabalan illustrates how the Qatari case challenges key assumptions of international relations theory which assumes that wealthy small powers tend to pursue passive foreign policies, and that structural forces minimize the role of ruling elites in foreign policymaking.

The Small Gulf States

The Small Gulf States PDF Author: Khalid S. Almezaini
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131721434X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
Small states are often believed to have been resigned to the margins of international politics. However, the recent increase in the number of small states has increased their influence and forced the international community to incorporate some of them into the global governance system. This is particularly evident in the Middle East where small Gulf states have played an important role in the changing dynamics of the region in the last decade. The Small Gulf States analyses the evolution of these states’ foreign and security policies since the Arab Spring. With particular focus on Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, it explores how these states have been successful in not only guaranteeing their survival, but also in increasing their influence in the region. It then discusses the security dilemmas small states face, and suggests a multitude of foreign and security policy options, ranging from autonomy to influence, in order to deal with this. The book also looks at the influence of regional and international actors on the policies of these countries. It concludes with a discussion of the peculiarities and contributions of the Gulf states for the study of small states’ foreign and security policies in general. Providing a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the unique foreign and security policies of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) before and after the Arab Spring, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East studies, foreign policy and international relations.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy

Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy PDF Author: Neil Partrick
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857727931
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 413

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Book Description
As the only oil producer with sufficient spare capacity to shape the world economy, Saudi Arabia is one of the most significant states in twenty-first century geopolitics. Despite the enormous potential for Saudi Arabia to play a more robust regional and international role, the Kingdom faces serious internal and external challenges in the form of political incapacity and competition with states such as Iran. In this examination of Saudi Arabia's foreign policy, Gulf expert Neil Partrick, and other regional analysts, address the Kingdom's relations in the Middle East and wider Islamic world, and its engagement with both established and emergent global powers. In doing so, he analyses the factors, ranging from identity politics to Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons that determine the Kingdom's foreign policy. As Saudi Arabia prepares for a generational shift brought about by an ageing leadership, the rapidly changing balance of power in the Middle East offers both great opportunity and great danger. For students of the Middle East and international relations, understanding Saudi Arabia's foreign policy and its engagement with the region and the world is more important than ever.