Feb
13

Overcoming Smallness

What particular challenges do "small states" have and what options might they employ to overcome them? Building out of a collaborative teaching class, Miller and Al-Marri (2022) wrote "Overcoming Smallness". The book offers a useful introduction to the literature on small states, with Chapter 1 on what small states are (and debates about that), Chapters 2 and 3 cover economics and natural resources in small states, Chapters 4 and 5 explore security and alliances, and Chapters 6 and 7 delve into a country case study of Qatar. The case study engages the literature of the opening chapters, bridging the theory to an applied case. Might have been useful to use the case to have an additional chapter on how the case can inform the theory in new ways or offer new directions in small state research. A few notes:

"Knowledge is also an important resource that has provided the wherewithal for some small states such as Finland, Estonia, Taiwan and Ireland to innovate and gain influence in industries such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, telecommunications and cyber security. This has required investment in high quality education, human capital development and the building of quality institutional frameworks. This underscores another point, that the intangible resources developed by small states can be used in the innovation of new tangible resources." (p. 69-70)

"From the perspective of small state security studies, the blockade of Qatar is an excellent example of a crisis in which a larger opponent with expansionist or revisinis goals uses hybrid warfare to target a smaller state to achieve its strategic objectives. From the outset, the intention of blockading countries was to destabilize Qatar and pressure decision makers in Doha to Accede there demands. The overt and concord methods adopted by the Saudi-UAE led anti-Qatar coalition in pursuit of their goals included disinformation, cyber-attacks, economic pressure and diplomatic isolation at a level that, in the words of NATO definition of hybrid warfare, remained "below the threshold of formally declared warfare." (p. 125)

"With the start of the crisis, Qatar was transformed overnight from a pro-active international actor into a besieged small state in a hostile regional environment with little choice but to defend its core interest from the much smaller coalition raged against it. Yet despite the notable power imbalance from the duration of the blockade Qatar managed to contain successfully its negative impact, and to maintain its political autonomy and economic sovereignty. As previous chapters have noted, states that can achieve economic and political self-reliance will be more difficult external opponents to divide and rule than ones that are economically dependent on other actors." (p.134) 

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Feb
07

Teaching Interculturally in Qatar

Qatar has unique traits that make some areas of inquiry particularly relevant. That the citizen population is a minority and that there are so many international K-12 schools as well as international university branch campuses, the country is very well suited to explore education, identity and language questions. Wisam Abdul-Jabbar edited a 2025 book delving into this topic, "Teaching Interculturally in Qatar", covering K12 as well as higher education. The book has 14 chapters, with seven parts of 2 chapters each. Part 1 covers cultural and educational ethics, Part 2 culture and religion in higher education, Part 3 on cultural identity, Part 4 on intercultural communication, Part 5 on intercultural competencies, Part 6 on media, and Part 7 on translation and language teaching. It is often the case that academics draw on lessons and best practices on multicultural education from countries such as Australia and Canada. This book shows that Qatar has much to offer, and in many regards a more inclusive form of intercultural engagement (which allows comparing and contrasting with the assimilationist melting pot approaches or togetherness in different salad bowl ideas).

As a counter narrative to the stereotypes of the region and country, Chapter 3 by Patrick Laude notes: "Islam is the official religion of the state in Qatar, and the presence of a Catholic University on its land may have suggested to some local constituencies an alarming potential for religious proselytization. The presence of Catholic priests on the faculty, as well as that of a multi‑confessional chapel in the Georgetown building in Doha, could have raised suspicion of religious apostolate. None of these features seems to have been a factor of controversy or disruption. Catholic priests on the faculty were generally well‑received by students. There was never any suspicion that they would be engaged in religious activities promoting their faith. The faculty priests were also involved in interfaith activities; some had a deep knowledge of Islam and the Islamic world. In parallel, Qatar had also positioned itself as a country fostering interfaith dialogue. The Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue was founded in 2010 under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since then, it has been at the forefront of interfaith activities in the country and abroad. It hosts a biennial interfaith conference, among many other community activities, and sponsors a journal of interreligious studies." (p. 33) 

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Aug
26

New Military Strategies in the Gulf

Published by I.B. Tauris, "New Military Strategies in the Gulf: The Mirage of Autonomy in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar" (2023) by Jean-Loup Samaan offers a unique analysis of the changing military directions of the Gulf (focusing on those three nations). There are many books that do a poor job covering the region, this one is a unique contribution and is well researched, supported with insider perspectives (former educator in UAE at military school and NATO advisor). In addition to military history and modern developments, the author critiques common claims and draws less-than-favorable assessments of the aspirations (for example, assessing it as: "a top-down reform process relying on foreign expertise... engendering the de facto Westernization of local armed forces" (p. 37)). Lots of interesting parts, a few:

"This book tells the story of how, in the 2010-20 decade, three Gulf states - Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar - embraced new foreign and defence policy's that no longer relied exclusively on western security patronage. These states increasingly asserted their own agendas at the regional level, first diplomatically and economically, and then militarily. In other words, they launched a quest for their strategic autonomy." (p. 3)

"I posit that the current state of Saudi, Emirati, Qatari armed forces evidences a discrepancy between the aspirations of local rulers and the implementation of their policies. Specifically, my study shows that gulf decision-makers still heavily rely on western assistance in all the major sectors of defence policy, from military education and training to arms procurement." (p. 7)

"… at the strategic level, isomorphism implies the adoption of fundamental beliefs and ideas on how these states envision and define their security. This distortion was also salient in the way Western instructors in Saudi, Emirati or Qatari schools relied on numerous examples drawn from Western military history. For example, Gulf officers were asked to study Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War or the evolution of the US counter-insurgency doctrine but much less so their own experience of war." (p. 50)

"… the Washington Post reported after an investigation relying on US intelligence sources that the hacking of Qatari websites had in fact been ordered by the UAE government. The claim was immediately denied by Emirati officials. In the weeks preceding the crisis, the hacking and the subsequent anti-Qatar campaign on social networks played such a role in building a momentum for the blockade that it shed light on the Gulf use of medias and social networks for strategic purposes." (p. 113)

"… the critical parameter of Gulf military policies remains - and will remain for the near future - their anchoring in the Western orbit. Changing the fundamental relationship between Gulf and Western military partners could lead to uncharted territories, especially if these changes are unilaterally and unevenly decided in each of the Gulf states (for instance, if the UAE dismantles this partnership while Qatar maintains close proximity with US armed forces)." 

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Jul
17

Kinship, State Formation and Governance in the Arab Gulf States

Compared to other regions, there are few books about the GCC, and specifically Qatar. I try to track new publications and I came across "Kinship, State Formation and Governance in the Arab Gulf States" by Scott J. Weiner (2022), which was published by Edinburgh University Press. The book is covers Kuwait, Oman and Qatar (the latter less so compared the others) and is the author's doctoral work. The conclusion (somewhat disjointedly) adds Somaliland and Iran. The basis of the book is fifty interviews. At several points the book is repetitive. The audience is not for experts of those moderately familiar with the region, much of the context is basic socio-cultural introduction for each country (as a PhD thesis, expected, as an academic press book, less so). The book does pose an interesting question about comparative state building in the GCC, but it largely presents descriptions rather than an answer. One quote:

"This book theorises a path-dependent process of state building that occurs in three stages. In stage one, the rule builds or expands physical and bureaucratic infrastructure. In stage two, it uses this infrastructure to extend the bureaucratic authority from the urban center to non-urban areas. In stage three, the state creates a nationalist idiom which underpins a narrative of the state's heritage and political origins." (p. 46-47) 

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