Qatar A Modern History

A successful country is one that has been through political battles and survived social hardships and today stands on its feet stronger than before. When mentioning countries that have been through challenges in shaping themselves, Qatar is a great example. Especially when it has created a prestigious name for itself in such a short time. The different aspects that shaped Qatar throughout history makes it a country worth writing about and studying in details. The variety of key highlights in the ancient, modern and contemporary history of Qatar are written with rich details in Allen Fromherz book Qatar- A Modern History. In this specific chapter "Qatar- A new Model of Modernity?", Fromherz discusses several grasping topics such as, the importance of the past history in today's modernity of Qatar, the role of expatriates, and Al Thani family's role in historic power. All of these shape the country today and play a vital role in the present modern society of Qatar.

The primary feature in defining a country is the history that was once all what it had. As Qatar developed into a booming society the citizens didn't forget the background from which all this progress came. Beneath the five star hotels and the developed business companies lies the significant history all Qataris are thankful and proud of. Fromherz clearly argues that the primary formation that defined Qatari life in the past remains outstandingly resilient (3). I agree with what Frohmerz pointed out as no matter how developed and progressive the society gets, there's always reminders of what was and what now has been. Some may define modernity as bond breakage between the culture's past but this isn't true for Qatar as the efforts of continuous reminders of the history ...

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...e. The citizens are dependent on someone to wash their car, do the grocery shopping, clean the house and even care for their own children. Therefore, I think this concept is one that depicts the need of emigrants in Qatar and the advantages they can offer. They aren't simply a price of modernity but much more.

As countries become modernized they may lose some background or cultural elements and gain new habits. But this chapter discusses how Qatar seemed to have maintained its tradition despite the massive expatriate community that usually adds to the modernization symptoms. The Qatari citizens remain attached to their traditional clothing and to their culture. This tie between the past tradition today helps shape Qatar as one of the countries that isn't taken over by modernization and doesn't sense a break in tradition as some may define modernization to be.