Qatars Nationalism Critical Thinking Example

The Qatar National Day is a public holiday celebrated annually on the 18th of December. This special day also marks the 1878 historical date when Sheikh Jassim Al Thani marshaled the peninsula’s tribes into unity. However, the Qatar National day does not do signify the birth of an independent nation but serves as a constant reminder of the time when the concept of a Qatar people came into being. It is aimed at maintaining an understanding and appreciation of Qatar's heritage, and to foster pride among Qatar’s. Established by Emiri decree in 2007, the National Day celebrations are getting better by the year. Social development is one of the development pillars as envisaged in Qatar’s National Vision 2030, which encompasses a system committed to the protection and social welfare of all citizens. This also translates to equal educational, career and employment opportunities for all citizens, irrespective of their background.
National day celebrations are a useful way of understanding Qatar nationalism since they are hinged on the idea of an ethnic/civic nationalism binary. Despite the indigenous Qatars who are the legal citizens of this country making up less than 20% of the total population, other ‘out-groups’ that comprise the vast majority are also acknowledged for their hard work towards the betterment of Qatar. As per the goals of this day, it was founded to offer people a chance to honor the history and identity of their nation, and to honor those who labored and continue to labor towards the prosperity of Qatar. The National day assures all that regardless whether one is Qatar, British, American, Indian, Japanese, Philippine, and Chinese amongst others. Qatar remains a melting pot of their diversity. This has brought about a kind of civil nationalism for all and sundry to think positively and hope for a fantastic future in Qatar.
However, Qatar’s nationalism also illustrates a ‘positive turning inward’ as opposed to a ‘negative turning outward’. This turning inward can include a nationalism expressed in the ethnopoetic of chauvinism towards non-national residents and even other naturalized citizens, judged inadequate by the standards of the indigenous community within the nation. Thus, on one hand, the ethnic/civic nationalism binary evidenced in Qatar emphasizes that the key social bond is between members of the same cultural community in the presence of naturalized citizens and non-national identities within the nation. On the second hand, this nationalism binary imagines that the community of the nation exists in the minds of its members, who feel communion with foreigners. Consequently, the national community is the primary locus of loyalty and identity.
The regulation of the majority non-citizen population in Qatar involves a wide array of actors, including native Arabs; foreigners of diverse generational, national and class backgrounds; global and local corporations; global and local rights activists and foreign regimes. These diverse actors function within two significant symbolic narratives of progress in this regard. The nationalist narrative in the contemporary Qatar setting is thus premised on the foundations of triumphs in creating diverse developmental landmarks of global pride and ideal practices of merging tradition with the development. It is this nationalist narrative that is very important for the hereditary Islamist monarchy of Qatar.
It can be inferred that the ethnic/civic binary has been useful in defining the nature of Qatar nationalism. On one hand, the National day assures all that irrespective of their nationality, Qatar remains a melting pot of their diversity. This is intended to foster some civil nationalism for all and sundry to think positively towards the development of Qatar. On the other hand, Qatar reflects the state leadership’s distrust of most of its civilians by classifying the majority of its population as effectively second class. More significantly and in numerical terms, this categorization ensures that those thought of as foreigners are left voiceless in important national affairs. There are significant sensitivities that revolve around the issue of identity. Hence, Jassim Al Thani sought to root newer generations of Qatars in their collective past and extend their historical knowledge and to promise their identity not on new imported ideologies or customs but on indigenous Qatar symbols and traditions through the National day celebrations.
The Qatar nationalism is similar to nationalism in other Arab settings where citizens comprise the majority of the population. Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a predominantly inward-looking and state-led nationalism is committed to protecting and widening their national identity by focusing on Arab and Islamic norms. This can be seen where reforms have facilitated the entry of many nationals into the workforce. Consequently, nationalist-style sensitivity has sprung up to counter the impact of foreigners that are perceived to dilute local identities in as much as their significant numerical presence is unlikely to alter it fundamentally. Qatar is currently occupied in fostering its nationalism to find its indelible place in its history. The dynamics of change, the massive influx of foreigners and fast-paced modernization in all areas of life remains a concern to some Qatar’s. This they believe may sever their links to their history. Thus, it seems that the nationalism in the Gulf will keep on being a diffuse and contested ideology.