Oh, I do not think that Qatar will extend citizenship.
I am just saying it is one of the only solutions to being a minority within their own country. The immediate upside of keeping citizenship small is more wealth for the few. The long term consequences we are already seeing--minority in their own country and of decreasing importance to running it. Education reforms and Qatarization might slow down the process (but judging from the posts here I doubt it), but they will not stop it. Besides, when women are more educated and have more career opportunities, they marry later and have less children (a fact proven over time and across cultures), so a consequence of these reforms is a reduced birthrate for Qataris (adding to the problem).
Culturally, Qataris have already been marginalized to minority status. Yes, they still make the laws, but the government must balance Qatari cultural norms against accommodating the throngs of expats who are running the economy--i.e. more revealing Western dress, different strands of Islamic thought, the presence of alcohol, availability of Western media and entertainment, the predominance of English, a large USA military presence, etc., etc. People on QL are often saying that "it is their country", "if you don't like it, leave", but in all seriousness, is it practically speaking still their country if they act and feel like a minority and they are forced to make so many accommodations in order to keep the country running? Quite simply, there is a price for having someone else do everything for you, and this is it. It will only get worse, and Qataris, like nationals in the UE, are in real danger of becoming obsolete in their own country.
I sympathize with the sentiments of the Qataris quoted in the article. I would not want to feel like foreigner in my own country either.
Oh, I do not think that Qatar will extend citizenship.
I am just saying it is one of the only solutions to being a minority within their own country. The immediate upside of keeping citizenship small is more wealth for the few. The long term consequences we are already seeing--minority in their own country and of decreasing importance to running it. Education reforms and Qatarization might slow down the process (but judging from the posts here I doubt it), but they will not stop it. Besides, when women are more educated and have more career opportunities, they marry later and have less children (a fact proven over time and across cultures), so a consequence of these reforms is a reduced birthrate for Qataris (adding to the problem).
Culturally, Qataris have already been marginalized to minority status. Yes, they still make the laws, but the government must balance Qatari cultural norms against accommodating the throngs of expats who are running the economy--i.e. more revealing Western dress, different strands of Islamic thought, the presence of alcohol, availability of Western media and entertainment, the predominance of English, a large USA military presence, etc., etc. People on QL are often saying that "it is their country", "if you don't like it, leave", but in all seriousness, is it practically speaking still their country if they act and feel like a minority and they are forced to make so many accommodations in order to keep the country running? Quite simply, there is a price for having someone else do everything for you, and this is it. It will only get worse, and Qataris, like nationals in the UE, are in real danger of becoming obsolete in their own country.
I sympathize with the sentiments of the Qataris quoted in the article. I would not want to feel like foreigner in my own country either.