Qatar: It's Getting Hot in Here

Doha, Qatar is hot. Really hot, even in September. Prepare to use Uber and Careem apps a lot. Careem is better--use the Go option if you want a cheaper fare but an older car, and Go+ if you want to pay a little more and get a newer car model. Regular taxis require a 10 Qatari Rial minimum. 

Despite the heat, Doha's creativity attracts numerous visitors and workers. Its Museum of Islamic Art is incredible. I've never seen so many different and unique items in one place. Guns, pottery, bowls, rugs--you name it, it's here. 

Even the building itself is a work of art, and the view on Friday evening is nice. Not as nice as Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor, but a pleasing replica nonetheless. 

Dhows on the water

Before you visit Doha, remember: it's a Muslim country, so hours will vary on Fridays, the start of the weekend. Thursday afternoons are the worst for traffic--most government employees seem to get off work around 2:30pm, and they all want to head back to their homes at the same time.

Regarding the airport experience, Doha is average in service but its security is hi-tech and requires eye scans to enter. It recently waived visas for most developed countries and is now "the most open country in the [Middle Eastern] region," according to the UNWTO's Secretary General. If you fly Qatar Airways, you are eligible for a complimentary city bus tour, but it's first come, first served, and you must go to a specific counter before passing immigration. 

When booking a hotel, try to stay near or in the Souq Waqif, a faux Middle Eastern bazaar. You'll be near most attractions and a lively nighttime experience. I stayed at the Saraya Corniche hotel after seeing a good deal on the Agoda app and liked it. 

Doha's mosques are understated, so you can skip those. In case you want to visit one, the largest mosque is the State Mosque aka Imam Abdul Wahhab Mosque. 

Nearby the Souq Waqif is the Al Shouyoukh Mosque, a small mosque.

Another building near the Souq Waqif is the Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Center aka Abdullah Bin Zid Almahmud Cultural and Islamic Center (IG: @binzaidqatar). Its displayed literature is too heavy-handed on religion, but it has a mosque (understated, of course) upstairs and a few unique items. I'll post two of them below, both sermons. (Click to enlarge.) 

Other than the MIA (Museum of Islamic Art), the other must-see is Msheireb Museums. It's a collection of four separate houses, with the most interesting one, Bin Jelmood, showcasing a fascinating slavery exhibit. 

Each time a mosque leader calls his community together
for prayer, he follows in the footsteps of a freed black slave.

If you come to Doha, you should see the Museum of Islamic Art, preferably at night, and the Bin Jelmood Museum. The third must-see is Katara Cultural Village. 

Nothing in here now but birds and bird poop.
I checked. My nose hates me.

Katara Village demonstrates the Qatari leadership's vision. Unlike Dubai, which seems to believe architecture is an extended pissing contest, Qatar has not built its sites primarily as tourist destinations. (Remember its understated mosques?) Ideally, if a place attracts local residents and has interesting exhibitions as well as cafes and restaurants, it will become a tourist destination by default. As such, Katara Village includes a music academy, an arts center, a film institute, and even an engineering society. (By the way, if governments built unique places for their most creative residents, they might actually attract the avant-garde, not just prep school wannabes.) Perhaps Katara Village should be judged on whether its 2020 graduates can compete with Julliard and the Royal College of Art, but as a tourist, you will want to visit in the evening, when the restaurants are open and the weather suitable for outdoor seating and a stroll. 

I managed to inveigle my way into the National Library of Qatar, part of the Qatar Foundation's complex. Not to be confused with the forgettable and prosaic Dar Al-Kutub Al-Qatariyya, once the National Library opens to the general public, it will be worth a visit.

National Library of Qatar

A place you ought to skip, at least for a few years, until it is completed and better organized, is the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum. I could only handle being there for ten minutes, and I felt like washing my eyes out afterwards. If the MIA is an example of world-class design and organization, the current state of the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum--basically a house that looks like it threw up its eccentric millionaire's belongings--is an example of how not to run a museum. I won't bore you with details, but the security guard takes the key after you deposit your bag in the designated locker, increasing the risk of theft and confusion the locker was installed to prevent, and the museum charges 15 rial to enter but a whopping 50 rial if you want to take pictures. (I foresee the guards following tourists around if the museum maintains its idiotic photo policy.)

I didn't personally see any of the following locations, but I'll list them in case you want to do more research. Qatar's unofficial mascot is the falcon, and its Falcon Souq is probably worth a visit--I didn't go, but I can't imagine Qatar would screw up an important part of its claimed heritage. 

NOT at the Falcon Souq. At a conference.
The bird was eyeing me the entire time,
even blindfolded. Freaky.

The only major cities in Qatar are Doha and Al Rayyan, about 30 minutes from each other by car. The government is trying to promote sites outside of those two places, but I can't find reliable information about them. Al Khor is allegedly a coastal village known for fishing. Al Shamal and Al Zubara--apparently located in Madinat ash Shamal, though I'm not certain--are supposed to have interesting forts and archaeological sites. In development: Al Wakrah Park, part of Luna Park, and the National Museum of Qatar. 

Construction is everywhere in Qatar.

Qatar's "foodie" highlights are its desserts and sweet drinks. I especially enjoyed the Um Ali dessert and the sahlab drink (cinnamon and cardamom with hot milk). Saffron-based desserts are everywhere and usually delicious.

Given widespread construction and renovation happening now, I wouldn't visit Qatar until after December 2017, unless you are already going to Oman or the UAE. You'd need about 5 nights to see everything properly, and the MIA alone will take 5 or more hours. (If you just want to see the museums and Souq Waqif, two nights is sufficient, and traveling now won't be an issue.)

Additionally, Doha's heat--much hotter than Abu Dhabi and Oman, which are near large bodies of water--demands more innovation. If I were in charge, I'd use drones to drop cold water packets from the sky every 30 minutes and install more portable air conditioning units. I'm surprised Qatar isn't collaborating more actively with Singapore to improve its adaptability to heat. Singapore had a similar problem regarding the weather, leading its founder to remark, "Air conditioning was a most important invention for us, perhaps one of the signal inventions of history. It changed the nature of civilization by making development possible in the tropics."

In Doha, it's difficult to walk outside or even be outside between 1pm and 5pm, even in September. Use Careem or Uber and check opening and closing times so you can maximize your sightseeing. To truly be open to outsiders, the time has come for tropical and desert countries to move beyond air conditioning and try more innovative ways to encourage outdoor activity. For now, Doha's museums are world-class. It remains to be seen whether Qatar can take the lead in other areas. Its corporate CEOs, including from Qatar Airways, recognize the next four years are a wonderful opportunity to take market share from overpriced and overhyped American and European destinations. Qatar certainly has the vision. The next three years will answer whether it also has the ability to execute its ambitious plans. 

© Matthew Mehdi Rafat (2017) 

Bonus: "In Qatar, where it’s estimated that Qatari nationals make up less than 10 percent of the population, citizenship is inherited solely through the father. According to a new residency law passed last month, foreign-born residents who have lived in Qatar for at least 20 years will be permitted to apply for permanent residency." --Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic (October 31, 2018)

On Midlife Crises

It is now clear the United States is a shell of its own values. It admires freedom of speech but not tolerance. It showcases the Statue of Liberty while ignoring the inscription on her pedestal’s lower level. It blames foreign powers for election interference, a charge Mossadegh, Castro, and Chavez would find interesting. It believes globalization is responsible for at least some of its economic woes, even as it has benefited handsomely from globalized trade, especially in oil. It claims to honor freedom of religion while making it difficult to donate to Islamic charities or to build or attend mosques. Above all, it loves freedom itself, more so than any other nation’s people--while having the most student loans, incarcerated criminals, and credit card debt.

We can certainly argue about all of the points above. For instance, America is around tenth place, not first, in worldwide debt rankings if we view household debt as a percentage of its GDP. It may have the most student loans, but international students clamor to attend its universities, indicating value. It has massive debt but also considerable wealth, ranking in the top twenty-five worldwide in median wealth per adult. It houses the most criminals, but outside of St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans (one of my favorite cities), and Detroit, most American cities are far less violent than international counterparts. (So far, I’ve only been mugged in Paris, France, where a French police officer refused to assist me, blaming the Moroccan mafia.) On average, Muslim-Americans are more educated and make more money than average non-American Muslims, an effect we can attribute to selective immigration, but no less true.

Despite the availability of reasonable counterarguments, no reasonable person today believes America is on an upswing at this juncture in its relatively young history. One astute British journalist says America is experiencing a horrific midlife crisis and how it emerges from this period will determine its fate. I think it’s much more complicated than a midlife crisis, and I say this while arguably going through one myself.

1.  Unstable Job Markets, More Debt, and Fewer Permanent Relationships in Developed Countries are Causing Unintended Consequences

I promise I won’t generalize too much if you agree to hear me out. Prior to the age of 40, men tend to be more prone to risky behavior. In some instances, young men become calmer and less interested in risky behavior when women take an interest in them. As men age, they generally reduce risky behavior on their own, meaning a woman’s influence on a man at a young age is often immeasurable—whether positive or negative. (Note: one premise behind America’s incarceration of so many young men is to age them out of unstable behavior.) I don’t mean to imply men are total or unilateral winners in relationships, or that all relationships follow gender-based patterns. Obviously, everyone benefits if two people meet, fall in love, and have a lasting relationship.

But does the relationship last? In modern society, very few people are romantics, especially if they've read a Family Code. The world is filled with divorcees who will share fiendishly unique parables of woe and arbitrariness—and that’s before they discuss their experiences in divorce court.

In an era where almost nothing is permanent, risk management causes most people in developed countries to marry later and have children later, which requires governments and communities to find new ways to occupy people’s time. It turns out there are only so many taco trucks and outdoor music festivals one can visit before searching for something more meaningful. Indeed, almost all of the Western world’s culture wars come down to this simple fact: people are no longer busy influencing their children so they seek to influence others and society. Case in point: what sane American counter-protests neo-Nazis in a town unheard of pre-protest unless s/he genuinely believes s/he’s influencing society in a positive way?

Of course, nothing is inherently wrong with attempting to influence others and your own community, but the shrillness behind such attempts feels new. If you spent 140,000 dollars buying a law school diploma, I suppose you’d better believe you can use it to change the world in your own image, or you’re a sucker. Problematically, someone down the seating chart also spent the same money as you and thinks she can influence society too, and if her community doesn’t validate her belief system, the forecast calls for social strife or self-imposed segregation—both with a high chance of stormy weather. And that’s just within one law school, not even one community, nor an entire nation.

2.  Where Do We Go from Here?

As some of you know, I’ve been traveling since two years ago, when I sensed a disturbance in the Force. Just kidding. (For the record, I’m a Star Trek fan. Picard, not Shatner.)

In any case, I bought several one-way tickets and went around the world with no set plan. I came back to California—home to the most active hate groups in America—to vote, casting my lot with a candidate who failed to capture even 5% of the national vote—then left town again.

I’m now in Cebu, Philippines—a wonderful place—and excited to be able to visit the Middle East soon. For now, my next stop is Brunei. I’m most excited about Qatar, and it's not only because their basketball play in the recent FIBA Asia tournament reminded me of the San Antonio Spurs. By coincidence, I’ll be there during World Tourism Day—yes, that’s a thing—and I’m especially pleased to see and support Qatar when it's going through some challenging times. (If the United States is going through a midlife crisis, then Qatar, founded in 1971, has yet to reach puberty.)  No one knows what the future holds, but maybe the secret to happiness is finding a young, rebellious country and convincing it to have a lasting relationship with you. Let's make it so. 

© Matthew Mehdi Rafat (2017)

“The day we stop looking, habib, is the day we die.” – Lt. Colonel Erfan Saad 

Unilateral Action in a Multi-Polar World

Right before our eyes, the world has lost its goddamned mind. America's agencies are reducing resources to counter cyberattacks, which is problematic for our allies because we created the systems they're using, along with the backdoors and security deficiencies. To make matters worse, America is dissuading anyone flying on certain Middle Eastern airlines from bringing laptops, which basically shuts down all business class travel--the most profitable seats--on those airlines unilaterally deemed unsafe. Journalists everywhere discuss America's reduced role in the world, and all seems lost for non-isolationists.

Except it's all a brilliant ploy--if Machiavelli is your role model. Without "free" government cybersecurity help, foreign governments have to pay American security companies more money to help them, increasing American economic strength. Those airlines that aren't up to "code"? Well, they'll just have to hire American defense contractors to help them--for a major fee and multi-year servicing contract, of course. Oh, and if certain Middle Eastern countries don't want to play ball in the foreign policy department, we'll demand our more compliant allies bar their airplanes from flying the friendly skies, and just for good measure, institute an economic blockade (here's looking at you, Qatar). 

America is going to rule the world again while shifting costs to our allies. Take that, China. (Don't worry, Mexico, we haven't forgotten about the wall we want you to pay for.) 

Except it's all a terrible idea. At a time when we desperately need more, not less global cooperation, America has chosen to increase hostility. Does anyone know the rules of engagement for cyber warfare? One expert writes that as long as the costs of cyber warfare, including from North Korea and China, don't exceed 2% of GDP, America will not escalate to the physical realm. I imagine the day will come when a politician moves the bar to 3% because we can't predict the outcome if we actually act on our threat to directly attack countries that violate the stated threshold. What's the point of NATO and all the long-term defense contracts being bought if no one can figure out how to create a basic framework for cyberdefense with every ally and customer on the same page? 

What happened to the idea that corporations can think short-term because of rapidly changing competitive issues, but governments exist to act as a counterbalance, to impose order and institutional long-term knowledge? Without being able to formulate the "rules of the game," even in areas that are dead center in the American government's bailiwick, what is the use of government anyway? 

Also, does anyone in the current administration realize unilateral action no longer works in a multi-polar world? America's current Middle Eastern ploy is to encourage China to buy American LNG rather than Qatari LNG by making China's status quo contingent on interfering with a Saudi-led economic blockade against Qatar. (Say that five times fast.) 

If America and its allies try to isolate Qatar, NK, and Iran in 2017, they can still go to Russia or even Turkey, and that's where global politics becomes really interesting. Once major countries get involved in other major countries' political maneuvers in unexpected ways, there's no set playbook. China has wisely decided to use economic statecraft rather than military force to increase its influence, and it appears America will try to make China's economic alliances more complex. What's the endgame here? 

I don't know if any major country has good answers to the current chaotic situation, but chaos, even at a slow burn, should not be the status quo. Perhaps less assurances of stability will spur other countries to beef up their own cybersecurity and military prowess or to pay American corporations more money to do it for them. Maybe it will reduce the need for America's involvement as the world's police patrol, though with most commercial goods still needing transport across various oceans, I doubt the U.S. Navy will be less necessary. 

The problem with chaos as politics is one never knows the end result with any reasonable certainty. Greater disorder may act as a virus compelling white blood cells to multiply--resulting in better protection against the same or similar issues--or it may overwhelm the entire system, creating more and more splinters (Syria, anyone?). It seems current American officials are betting chaos will promote independently prophylactic behavior, or at least an admission that following America's military--and paying for the privilege--is better than going at it alone. Let's hope they are smarter than we are.

Bonus: from Kamrava's Qatar: Small State, Big Politics (2013).