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Book Cover
E-book
Author Beydoun, Nasser M., author

Title The glass palace : illusions of freedom and democracy in Qatar / Nasser M. Beydoun and Jennifer Baum
Published New York : Algora Pub., [2012]
©2012

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Description 1 online resource (xv, 179 pages)
Contents Introduction; Chapter 1: An Economic Hostage in Qatar; 1995: A New Qatar Begins to Take Shape; Stunning Economic and Population Growth; Who's Who in Qatar; Striking Oil; Independence; Understanding the Qatari Population; A Plan to Move Away from a Carbon-based Economy; Setting the Stage for 2022's World Cup; Chapter 2: A Wannabe Superpower: Qatar's Political and Military Involvement throughout the Middle East; Lebanon; Israel; Sudan; Yemen; Tunisia; Egypt; Libya; Syria; Influential but Ineffective?
Chapter 3: How a Totalitarian Regime has taken on the Mantel of Bringing Democracy to the RegionThe Guise of Democracy in Qatar; A Decidedly Un-free Society; Women; Workplace and Working Conditions; Noncitizen Rights; Religious Freedoms; Internet Freedoms and Freedom of Speech; Annual Democracy Forums Hosted by a Totalitarian Regime; Using Al Jazeera as the Mouthpiece of the Government; Doha Debates; Shaping the Perception of Youth-in Qatar and Elsewhere; Promoting Democracy? Or Disillusioned Dreams of Controlling the World?; Chapter 4: A Sponsorship System Akin to Slavery
Beyond the GCC: An In-Depth Look at the Kafala SystemFiling Complaints and Demonstrating, Despite a Culture of Silence; A Country where the Vast Majority of the Population Has No Rights; Chapter 5: The Cost of Doing Business in Qatar; Chapter 6: The Opportunity of a Lifetime; Chapter 7: Arabian Nightmares; Chapter 8: Banned from Leaving; Criminal Charges; Human Rights Department; Chapter 9: Life in Qatar and the Never-ending Attempts to Remove the Travel Ban; U.S. Embassy; Removing the Travel Ban; Bounced Checks; Chapter 10: Going Public; Setting the Record Straight
Facebook, Twitter & the MediaThe Audit Committee; Chapter 11: The Real Doha, Behind the Fancy Façade; Life on The Pearl; Day to Day Life; The Final Days; Arriving in Beirut; Detroit; Chapter 12: Moving On; Appendix I: It Could Happen to You: Western Companies Operating in Qatar (And Why They Are); American Education in the Gulf Desert; Research & Development to Bolster Qatar's Knowledge-based Economy; ExxonMobil: An American Behemoth in Qatar; A Growing Financial Services Sector; Rumors of Corruption and the Danger to Foreign Workers; Appendix II: Other Westerners Trapped in Qatar
David ProctorPhilippe Bogaert; Other Victims; Ian Heywood; Tracy Edwards; Yves Pendeliau; Appendix III: Advice to Americans Looking to Work Abroad; Acknowledgements; Bibliography; Index
Summary Is Qatar actually a suitable ally or a legitimate partner for the United States? Under Qatari labor law, foreign workers are actually owned, for all practical purposes, by their Qatari sponsors in a system akin to slavery. This book chronicles the experience of an American executive working in Qatar and delves into Qatar?'s feudal work-sponsorship system, showing that an economic great leap forward is not necessarily accompanied by modernization, despite superficial emblems; that prosperity and democracy need not go hand in hand; and that being a US ally may be totally unrelated to any notion
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Economic development -- Qatar
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Economic Conditions.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Economic History.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Economics -- Comparative.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Economic Conditions.
Economic development
Economic policy
International economic relations
Politics and government
Social conditions
SUBJECT Qatar -- Politics and government
Qatar -- Social conditions
Qatar -- Economic policy
Qatar -- Foreign economic relations
Subject Qatar
Genre/Form Reference works
Reference works.
Ouvrages de référence.
Form Electronic book
Author Baum, Jennifer
LC no. 2012032095
ISBN 9780875869568
0875869564
9780875869568