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Wealthy State with a Big Presence

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Wealthy State with a Big Presence World Cup Construction frenzy has put labour conditions QATAR under scrutiny Page 3 FINANCIAL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT | Saturday December 17 2011 www.ft.com/qatar­2011 | twitter.com/ftreports Wealthy state with a big presence Michael Peel and Modern metropolis: some say Roula Khalaf consider modernisation is going too fast Getty the prospects for a are making the locals an increasingly state that is flexing small minority. Questions are also raised about the priorities of govern- its diplomatic, financial ment spending. and media muscles Abdallah al-Athbah, a columnist and local blogger, says Qataris want he bay at the heart of Doha, more representation and more of a Qatar’s capital, is a striking say in how resources are directed. sight after dark. Across the “Qataris want more hospitals than water from the blocks and stadiums,” he says. Tcurves of the a rapidly multiplying The emir, who took power in 1995 skyscrapers downtown, the softly lit after pushing his father aside and Islamic art museum sits next to a promised a modernisation drive, made huge sports stadium, long boat docks waves in the Gulf back then when for arriving spectators trailing ele- Qataris voted on a constitution. gantly from its sides. But a planned vote for a two-thirds Like much about this small country elected advisory council has been with big ideas, the nocturnal image is repeatedly delayed – and even that part fact, part fantasy. It is the prod- will probably maintain real power in uct of an artist’s impression of what the hands of the al-Thanis. the area might look like by the time As protests have raged all year else- the 2022 football World Cup, which where in the Arab world, the Qatar Qatar won against the odds, comes to government has moved to ensure that town. a pampered population remained con- The museum and the skyline are tent, raising public sector salaries by real enough, but the stadium – like 60 per cent. It has also set 2013 as the most of the rest of the massive infra- date for the advisory council election. structural development planned over As the country gears up for those the next decade – is still just a twinkle polls, the potential strains now facing in a designer’s eye. it are familiar from other oil-rich Gulf It is the next stage of the extraordi- nations and made more acute by its narily ambitious journey planned by small size. Analysts point out that Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of Qatar is essentially run by a handful liquefied natural gas and a growing of people, which allows for decisive regional political force, to establish action but provides limited ability to itself as a leading Middle Eastern follow up on policy edicts. country and a big actor on the world Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Using the World Cup as a fulcrum, One political analyst says: “The big- stage. Inside this issue al-Thani, the prime minister, says Qatar is planning a transformation of gest vulnerability for this country is As Hamad al-Ibrahim, a young Politics There Energy Demand in the US for Doha had no choice but to back the a capital city and hinterland that has the gap between its capabilities and Qatari who has just started a local appears neither Qatari natural gas has been hit by popular struggles. “It was very clear already begun to feel small and con- its ambitions. They could be self-con- think tank, puts it: “We are small but the scope nor the the arrival of shale gas for Qatar – when we saw bloodshed … gested, cars regularly clogging the tained like Brunei. But they want to we are everywhere.” popular appetite but demand from we could not sit back and not say main bay road and highways leading project themselves as a model in the Since winning the World Cup bid for radical change conveniently located something, especially when excessive to locations such as the new national region – and wider than that.” just over a year ago, Qatar has had a Page 3 Asian markets is force has been used,” he says. convention centre. In the coming Qatar’s increasing assertiveness spectacular ride, pushing forward holding up well Page 5 Qatar’s rise to the status of world’s years, a metro, a railway system and internationally also carries risks. with its development plans at home, wealthiest country by some measures, an airport are among the many There is the danger of retaliation, as if unaffected by the world eco- Economy The task of turning Healthcare Debate with an average annual income per projects due to be completed. through terrorist attacks or other nomic downturn. Qatar into a well­functioning over medical care head of more than $100,000 at purchas- Yet for all its economic and foreign means, from supporters of regimes it Analysts are looking for the next diversified economy has only just echoes a wider ing power parity, is confirmation of policy ambitions, Qatar’s enthusiasm opposes. moves of its sovereign wealth fund, begun Page 4 argument its status as a leading power in one of for political reform at home has been Qatar has already succeeded in estimated at $80bn, which earlier about energy sources of the moment: gas. wanting. Most of the politics that take imprinting itself on the international snapped up stakes in western banks Finance The question is whether how gas While it has been conservative in its place in the country seems to centre consciousness and it has the financial such as Credit Suisse and Barclays. the banks are in a position to be riches exploitation of its golden egg, the on rivalries within the ruling family. power to act independently and Transcending its tiny size and popu- more than mere recyclers of state are directed giant North Field, it has benefited Like elsewhere in the Gulf, the lines aggressively. The tasks it faces are to lation of only 1.7m (most of them for- investment Page 4 Page 5 from high prices for gas among the between the finances of the monarchy socialise that wealth without wasting eigners), Qatar has also sought emerging Asian economies to which it and that of the government are often money, and to bring political reform greater political influence by champi- is conveniently close. blurred. without changing society faster than oning this year’s Arab revolutions, It has just reached its production While few in Qatar are clamouring people want. For an emir apparently flexing its diplomatic, financial and celebrated – if not contributed to – the Libya’s rebels, providing the Nato-led targets for liquefied natural gas pro- for revolution, there are local grum- committed to social activism at home media muscle in support of protest collapse of autocracies in Tunisia, mission with a necessary Arab cover. duction and is now focusing on diver- bles about a modernisation that is and curbing abusive leadership movements. Egypt and Libya, Qatar’s independent- He has since been leading the charge sifying into areas such as petrochemi- going faster than a largely conserva- abroad, the greatest test could yet be While the widely popular Al Jazeera minded emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khal- in the Arab world to raise the pres- cals and liquid derivatives of natural tive society would like and complaints not in how he wields power, but in channel, owned by the government, ifa al-Thani helped finance and train sure on the Syrian regime. gas. about the influx of expatriates that how he gives some of it up. Al Jazeera Heavy responsibilities of a powerful voice Pragmatic pursuit At Al Jazeera’s Doha airing al­Qaeda videos after In the midst of the unrest, headquarters, the security is the September 11 attacks, Waddah Khanfar, after eight a giveaway. Tighter than at providing in­depth coverage years, was replaced by a US embassy, passport in the early days of the Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim of regional interests details are required in Afghan war and, most al­Thani, a little­known advance to enter the recently, covering the revolts member of Qatar’s ruling compound, after which across the Middle East. family, in a move that many that are still largely unaf- where Qatar provided fund- printed permission is “It’s a superb way to win criticised as an Foreign policy fected by the Arab spring ing and military advisers as granted, like a private visa. Arab friends and creates a uncomfortable step towards dread the rise of Islamists well as diplomatic support As the Arabic­language pattern of modernity, as government control. Roula Khalaf finds as the new political power, to the rebels, paid off. But news channel has grown in long as it doesn’t criticise Explanations regarding his that the country is Qatar is in good standing had Muammer Gaddafi sur- prominence over the past 15 too close to home,” says replacement abound, with with many of these move- vived – and for many weeks years, it has earned many one Doha­based media even Mr Khanfar himself treading a fine line ments. in the summer a dangerous followers – and enemies. It expert. tempting others to guess As its prime minister, stalemate had set in – he has been banned from In the past year, as why he resigned on Twitter, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim might well have tried to countries, a number of its revolutions have gripped the the message­broadcasting The sudden outpouring of bin Jabr al-Thani, told the exact revenge on Doha. international offices have Arab world, the channel has network. Commentators rage against Arab autocra- FT, Islamists should be In both Libya and Egypt, been bombed and its come under increasing have cited the need to place cies over the past year sent “tried” to see if they can moreover, Qatar’s promi- reporters detained and scrutiny over its coverage, a Qatari at the top, the shudders through the corri- bring something to the nent role has exposed it to killed.
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