The UAE and Qatar have a good relationship, or at least media make it look that way. The two countries are naturally compared to each other in media because of their similarities in geography, media, resources, and finances. This video is a prime example of how media in Qatar and UAE depict the countries’ relations with each other. The video features hundreds of UAE and Qatari flags flown next to each other, valiant men from both countries riding across the desert on horseback together, men dancing together in celebration, images of Doha, and parade and celebration footage complete with confetti. In comparing United Arab Emirates, I hoped to find why Dubai is perceived (at least in Western culture) as being more of an accessible place than Doha.
Reporters Without Borders’ 2016 World Press Freedom Index ranked Qatar 117 of 180 countries. UAE ranked 119.12
2015 UN Happiness Report ranks Qatar 28th and UAE 20th. 13
22.5% of the UAE’s national parliament seats are held by women, compared to 0% in Qatar. 14
Both are members of the UN, have very high GDPs, have the same 3:1 rate of men: women.
Unemployment rate is 3.6% in UAE, .3% in Qatar. 15
UAE has a much larger population than Qatar; 9.16 million compared to 2.24 million 16
99% urban population in Qatar vs. 85% urban population in UAE 17
In social media use, Qatar seems to consistently fall just behind the UAE in the Middle East region, according to Northwestern University of Qatar’s 2016 social media study18:
I chose Singapore to compare to Qatar because both are small countries with high expat populations. Economic prosperity is celebrated in both nations. Singapore has no rural population because the entire (albeit small) nation is urban, much like how most of Qatar’s population lives in and around Doha. In Singapore, there is a large state control over the economy, much like Qatar’s oil is controlled by the state. However, Singapore relies mainly on imports because of its lack of natural resources, while Qatar exports oil and gas on a huge scale. Women are underrepresented in Singapore leadership and are not represented at all in Qatar leadership—gender roles in both nations is striking. 19
Singapore is also plugged-in. Behind only UAE and South Korea, Singapore ranks third globally for social media usage, as you can see from this graphic.20 Like Qatar, Singapore has cultural trepidation in the massive amounts of media usage there is in the nation. Dr. Michael Netzley of Singapore Management University said there could be ramifications of becoming a "truly networked society." 21
