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Qatar: A Modern History
What role does Qatar play in the Middle East and how does it differ from the other Gulf states? How has the ruling Al-Thani family shaped Qatar from a traditional tribal society and British protectorate to a modern state? How has Qatar become an economic superpower with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world? What are the social, political, and economic consequences of Qatar's extremely rapid development?
In this groundbreaking history of modern Qatar, Allen J. Fromherz presents a full portrait that analyzes Qatar's crucial role in the Middle East and its growing regional influence within a broader historical context. Drawing on original sources in Arabic, English, and French as well as his own fieldwork in the Middle East, the author deftly traces the influence of the Ottoman and British empires and Qatar's Gulf neighbors on the country prior to Qatar's meteoric rise in the post-independence era.
Fromherz gives particular weight to the nation's economic and social history, from its modest origins in the pearling and fishing industries to the considerable economic clout it exerts today, a clout that comes with having the second-highest natural gas reserves in the region. He also looks at what the future holds for Qatar's economy as the country tries to diversify beyond oil and gas. Furthermore, the book examines the paradox of Qatar where monarchy, traditional tribal culture, and conservative Islamic values appear to coexist with ultra modern development and a large population of foreign workers who outnumber Qatari citizens.
This book is as unique as the country it documents―a multi-faceted picture of the political, cultural, religious, social, and economic make up of modern Qatar and its significance within the Gulf Cooperation Council and the wider region.
In this groundbreaking history of modern Qatar, Allen J. Fromherz presents a full portrait that analyzes Qatar's crucial role in the Middle East and its growing regional influence within a broader historical context. Drawing on original sources in Arabic, English, and French as well as his own fieldwork in the Middle East, the author deftly traces the influence of the Ottoman and British empires and Qatar's Gulf neighbors on the country prior to Qatar's meteoric rise in the post-independence era.
Fromherz gives particular weight to the nation's economic and social history, from its modest origins in the pearling and fishing industries to the considerable economic clout it exerts today, a clout that comes with having the second-highest natural gas reserves in the region. He also looks at what the future holds for Qatar's economy as the country tries to diversify beyond oil and gas. Furthermore, the book examines the paradox of Qatar where monarchy, traditional tribal culture, and conservative Islamic values appear to coexist with ultra modern development and a large population of foreign workers who outnumber Qatari citizens.
This book is as unique as the country it documents―a multi-faceted picture of the political, cultural, religious, social, and economic make up of modern Qatar and its significance within the Gulf Cooperation Council and the wider region.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 16, 2013
You know you're reading a book by an academic when the author apparently feels the need to quote several anthropologists at length on the impact of culture on a society's development before he'll delve into the topic himself. Apparently such a daring foray from the accepted norms of history writing can only be undertaken after it's been justified by other Ph.D's. Such is Qatar: A Modern History: dry and cautious, a tome written more for a tenure review board than for a curious lay reader. There's a lot of interesting information here, but the writing style, while hardly the worst academia has to offer, makes it less engaging than it could have been.
That said, if you want to read a history of Qatar, this seems to be the only up-to-date option on the table. I haven't read any other academic books on the country so I'm not sure how original the work is, but it was published much more recently than Oil Politics in the Gulf by Jill Crystal (whose work Fromherz mentions repeatedly) in a field where a decade or two makes a big difference. I particularly enjoyed Fromherz's study of the contrast between the Emir's power on paper--absolute--and the informal checks on his power provided by tribal politics.
In the end, maybe we should give Fromherz a break for getting it done at all--he alludes to the difficulties he faced in obtaining information from or about Qatar's extremely secretive government. If nothing else, his thorough, sometimes-tentative approach at least gives one confidence that he's taken pains to get the information he presents right.
That said, if you want to read a history of Qatar, this seems to be the only up-to-date option on the table. I haven't read any other academic books on the country so I'm not sure how original the work is, but it was published much more recently than Oil Politics in the Gulf by Jill Crystal (whose work Fromherz mentions repeatedly) in a field where a decade or two makes a big difference. I particularly enjoyed Fromherz's study of the contrast between the Emir's power on paper--absolute--and the informal checks on his power provided by tribal politics.
In the end, maybe we should give Fromherz a break for getting it done at all--he alludes to the difficulties he faced in obtaining information from or about Qatar's extremely secretive government. If nothing else, his thorough, sometimes-tentative approach at least gives one confidence that he's taken pains to get the information he presents right.
December 25, 2012
A sound western analysis. It lacks Arab & Muslim latitude to get the right picture on the current Society, its real traditions and their aspirations. As often happens, the western dominated paradigm on history, economy, society a democracy predominates. The author relied too much on translations re contemporary references and traditional sources. For a book like this a Qatari co-author is a must. The insider views would have enriched this work. Good starting point to start serious studies on Contemporary Qatar.
July 9, 2014
If you were hoping for a Lawrence of Arabia style romp through Qatar's history, this is not the book for you. It is a carefully researched, even more carefully worded scholarly work that was sometimes so dry I could almost taste the sand dunes drowning me. So I'll be honest. If this book was about absolutely any other country in the world, it would barely snag itself two stars.
However it's about Qatar, my beloved Qatar. That stole its first undeserved star.
The other star was generously donated because I have lived among the Qataris long enough to know that direct questions about difficult topics (such as a historian is likely to ask) must have been answered with a plethora of meaningful adjustments of the guthra, offers of tea, and shrugs accompanied by an offer to discuss this "bukhra inshallah".
So although the author takes an inordinately long time in meandering through the few years of recorded history we have, he does at least strike on a few rich veins that served to refresh my memory and even taught me a few things about the country I called home.
However it's about Qatar, my beloved Qatar. That stole its first undeserved star.
The other star was generously donated because I have lived among the Qataris long enough to know that direct questions about difficult topics (such as a historian is likely to ask) must have been answered with a plethora of meaningful adjustments of the guthra, offers of tea, and shrugs accompanied by an offer to discuss this "bukhra inshallah".
So although the author takes an inordinately long time in meandering through the few years of recorded history we have, he does at least strike on a few rich veins that served to refresh my memory and even taught me a few things about the country I called home.
September 24, 2025
This book is a bit of a mixed bag in all honesty.
Originally printed as ‘Qatar: A Modern History’ in 2012, it was re-released in 2017 with the more accurate (if slightly grammatically awkward) title ‘Qatar: Rise to Power and Influence’. The book is not a chronological history in the typical sense, but more a set of themed essays.
We start off with a somewhat odd and freewheeling chapter which explores philosophically the idea of ‘modernisation’ as applied to Qatar, replete with references to Durkheim and Foucault. The author’s main contention is that despite the opulence and hyper-modernity of the country, its traditions still remain strong under the surface, hence there is little of the social alienation and dislocation that we see in the western world. It’s a bit of a strange way to open and the academic jargon almost put me off carrying on, though things improve after it.
After a brief geographical overview we get to the heart of the book - three chapters on the history of Qatar. This is probably the most interesting part of the text, as the author describes the development of an irrelevant and impoverished backwater into the fabulously wealthy statelet we see today. However there are some odd gaps. The ancient history is dispensed with in five paragraphs, though that’s perhaps understandable given the focus of the book. However after this there are odd lacunae - the 1940s, 50s and 60s are just skipped over, we then have the 1972 coup, the 1980s are covered in minimal detail, and then we’re at the 1995 coup. All in all not very satisfying, and I had to refer to the chronology at the back and other sources to work out what was going on in the periods the author didn’t cover. The author does come back to the labour unrest in the 60s in a later chapter (important as it convinced the rulers to use imported contract labourers for manual jobs who could be easily fired/deported if they got too uppity) however it seems strange not to mention it here, esp. as references are made to it throughout book.
We then have chapters covering Qatar’s foreign relations, economy and political system. All interesting and useful stuff esp the jockeying for influence and prestige within the ruling Al-Thani family.
Overall the books feels like more of a collection of essays which were hurriedly stitched together to form a book. The 2017 re-release appears to have been a lazy affair, amounting to the occasional insertion of a new paragraph (for instance, Sheikh Hamad is frequently described as the current emir despite stepping down in 2013). There are also quite a few typographical errors which are distracting.
Overall, it wasn’t quite what was expecting, though I did learn quite a bit about Qatar, so it was worth a read. There are only a tiny number of books about the country available so your choice is limited.
Originally printed as ‘Qatar: A Modern History’ in 2012, it was re-released in 2017 with the more accurate (if slightly grammatically awkward) title ‘Qatar: Rise to Power and Influence’. The book is not a chronological history in the typical sense, but more a set of themed essays.
We start off with a somewhat odd and freewheeling chapter which explores philosophically the idea of ‘modernisation’ as applied to Qatar, replete with references to Durkheim and Foucault. The author’s main contention is that despite the opulence and hyper-modernity of the country, its traditions still remain strong under the surface, hence there is little of the social alienation and dislocation that we see in the western world. It’s a bit of a strange way to open and the academic jargon almost put me off carrying on, though things improve after it.
After a brief geographical overview we get to the heart of the book - three chapters on the history of Qatar. This is probably the most interesting part of the text, as the author describes the development of an irrelevant and impoverished backwater into the fabulously wealthy statelet we see today. However there are some odd gaps. The ancient history is dispensed with in five paragraphs, though that’s perhaps understandable given the focus of the book. However after this there are odd lacunae - the 1940s, 50s and 60s are just skipped over, we then have the 1972 coup, the 1980s are covered in minimal detail, and then we’re at the 1995 coup. All in all not very satisfying, and I had to refer to the chronology at the back and other sources to work out what was going on in the periods the author didn’t cover. The author does come back to the labour unrest in the 60s in a later chapter (important as it convinced the rulers to use imported contract labourers for manual jobs who could be easily fired/deported if they got too uppity) however it seems strange not to mention it here, esp. as references are made to it throughout book.
We then have chapters covering Qatar’s foreign relations, economy and political system. All interesting and useful stuff esp the jockeying for influence and prestige within the ruling Al-Thani family.
Overall the books feels like more of a collection of essays which were hurriedly stitched together to form a book. The 2017 re-release appears to have been a lazy affair, amounting to the occasional insertion of a new paragraph (for instance, Sheikh Hamad is frequently described as the current emir despite stepping down in 2013). There are also quite a few typographical errors which are distracting.
Overall, it wasn’t quite what was expecting, though I did learn quite a bit about Qatar, so it was worth a read. There are only a tiny number of books about the country available so your choice is limited.
May 16, 2021
I read /Qatar: A Modern History/, by Allen Fromherz:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journa...
Extremely thorough and well-researched book on the history, politics, religion, society, economy, landscape, education system, infastructure, rules, social structure, and population of Qatar, and other countries' external influences on Qatar.
Looking forward to the World Cup next year!
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journa...
Extremely thorough and well-researched book on the history, politics, religion, society, economy, landscape, education system, infastructure, rules, social structure, and population of Qatar, and other countries' external influences on Qatar.
Looking forward to the World Cup next year!
October 27, 2019
Boring autobiographical details - my firm is currently working on Qatar Ministry of Transport's countrywide parking inventory plan and I've been told I may be going to Doha to work on it in the next year or two, so I tried to seek out a history of Qatar, and this appears to be the only general history of the country available in English, so here goes.
Qatar has gone from being a backwater's backwater inhabited by a few thousand Bedouins making a living off of pearling in a barely habitable climate to being the world's richest and fastest growing country - 2.6 million people and counting - buoyed first by oil exports and then liquid natural gas exports. Qatar: A Modern History tells the story of this transformation, centered on the story of the Al-Thanis, an immigrant clan originally from Saudi Arabia that secured the Qatar's throne through a mix of skillful diplomatic maneuvering and the successful attraction of British and later American patronage.
Beneath Doha's modern skyline and buzzing expatriate communities, Qatar is still run by the Qataris themselves, who make up under 10% of the country's population and belong to several different clans. Although on paper the power of the Al-Thani monarch is absolute (there's still no distinction between the public treasury and the monarch's personal finances) in reality there are many avenues for other royals and clan leaders to apply their influence, in a way that's far from democratic but recognizes the practical limits of royal power.
As a small country in a chaotic region Qatar has also successfully applied plenty of soft power. Over the past few decades Qatar has been neutral ground for negotiations, treaties, and peace talks affecting the entire Arab world, provided refuge for Arab and other Muslim (including Chechen) dissidents, and famously hosts Al-Jazeera, Qatar's most famous cultural product. (Al Udeid base west of Doha also hosts US Central Command, not a small protective anchor).
Interesting read for people interested in, traveling, or doing business in Qatar.
Qatar has gone from being a backwater's backwater inhabited by a few thousand Bedouins making a living off of pearling in a barely habitable climate to being the world's richest and fastest growing country - 2.6 million people and counting - buoyed first by oil exports and then liquid natural gas exports. Qatar: A Modern History tells the story of this transformation, centered on the story of the Al-Thanis, an immigrant clan originally from Saudi Arabia that secured the Qatar's throne through a mix of skillful diplomatic maneuvering and the successful attraction of British and later American patronage.
Beneath Doha's modern skyline and buzzing expatriate communities, Qatar is still run by the Qataris themselves, who make up under 10% of the country's population and belong to several different clans. Although on paper the power of the Al-Thani monarch is absolute (there's still no distinction between the public treasury and the monarch's personal finances) in reality there are many avenues for other royals and clan leaders to apply their influence, in a way that's far from democratic but recognizes the practical limits of royal power.
As a small country in a chaotic region Qatar has also successfully applied plenty of soft power. Over the past few decades Qatar has been neutral ground for negotiations, treaties, and peace talks affecting the entire Arab world, provided refuge for Arab and other Muslim (including Chechen) dissidents, and famously hosts Al-Jazeera, Qatar's most famous cultural product. (Al Udeid base west of Doha also hosts US Central Command, not a small protective anchor).
Interesting read for people interested in, traveling, or doing business in Qatar.
November 22, 2018
The accession of a new Emir to the throne, the 2014 oil crash and the Saudi blockade in the 5 last years have been enough to make most of this book out of date. The study of traditional and informal networks of power is relevant, the rest of the book feels superficially researched and hastily edited; it feels like the author lacks much interest in the realities of trade networks or oil economy. Good introduction, good conclusion, you can skip the middle of the book.
Anyway, glad this book exists. Anyone will concede that studying Qatari politics as an outsider is a daunting endeavour.
Anyway, glad this book exists. Anyone will concede that studying Qatari politics as an outsider is a daunting endeavour.
November 11, 2025
Qatar: peninsula off Saudi Arabia
Facts:
1. Muslim country
2. Slavery — a huge amount of slaves TODAY. Their kafala system lures people to come “work” then they steal their passports and enslave them.
3. Massive amount of “worker” (slave) deaths, horrifying Human Rights Advocates.
4. They use the “male guardianship system” — women are OWNED by men — women have no rights.
5. LGBT is illegal, up to and including KILLING gay people for who they love.
Facts:
1. Muslim country
2. Slavery — a huge amount of slaves TODAY. Their kafala system lures people to come “work” then they steal their passports and enslave them.
3. Massive amount of “worker” (slave) deaths, horrifying Human Rights Advocates.
4. They use the “male guardianship system” — women are OWNED by men — women have no rights.
5. LGBT is illegal, up to and including KILLING gay people for who they love.
September 5, 2018
This book has spelling errors. What gives?
January 8, 2023
Usually the go-to book on Qatar, it seems. Disagreed with a lot of it, especially the parts on anomie.
April 30, 2024
A typo on practically every page and horribly written. How does a professor not know how to construct a coherent paragraph? I don't know how this got past the Georgetown University press editors.
March 21, 2023
This is a short history, very readable. It's helpful to read before a visit because the tourist spots make sense and so does the city. It tells about how Qatar changed from a small fishing village with pearl fisherman to the modern city of highrise buildings and relative wealth. It also explains about the government and culture.
April 7, 2021
If you are going to work in Qatar, this is a must read book to get you up to speed. It is not dispositive regarding culture but it will quickly make you more understanding of where you are going to work.
November 7, 2013
This book gives a good insight not only to Qatar, but to the entire region. At times the writing was a bit dry and the author seemed to ramble a bit.
August 22, 2016
5 stars for objectivity, new perspective and approach. Minus 1 star for leaving a bit to be desired details-wise.
Currently reading
January 19, 2019Reads like an attempt to turn a dissertation into a - well, a book. The intro explains what the book is going to tell you, (as academic papers do) and is way too long. Could serve as a resource.
Read
December 13, 2017very good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews