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History and Government
History: The families that rule the northern Arabian Gulf states are, almost without exception, descended from migrants from the central region of the Arabian peninsula in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Al-Khalifas, who today govern Bahrain, also established a settlement on the small peninsula directly opposite the island –modern-day Qatar. The Al-Khalifas were unable to hold on to their mainland possession, however, and were displaced by the Al-Thani clan. The Al-Thanis were part of the original wave of migration, but little else is known about their origins. Although the Al-Khalifas had agreed a treaty with the British in 1868, this did not prevent Qatar being absorbed into the Turkish Ottoman empire – then undergoing a brief resurgence during a period of otherwise chronic decline – in 1872.
After the Ottoman collapse during World War I, Qatar once again came under British suzerainty. The British recognised the Al-Thanis as rulers, providing military protection in exchange for control of Qatar’s external affairs under treaties signed in 1916 and 1934. British troops were moved out of the Gulf in 1968 as part of the ‘East of Suez’ withdrawals. Plans to enhance Qatar’s security through federations with Bahrain and the Trucial States (now the United Arab Emirates) failed and in 1971 Qatar assumed full independence under the rule of Sheikh Ahmad.
Rivalries within the Al-Thani family immediately after independence culminated in a coup by the chief minister, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani. Under Khalifa’s regime, Qatar has used its substantial oil revenues to develop a modern infrastructure, health and education services. It has allied itself closely with Saudi Arabia on regional and international issues (but see below). Qatar was also one of the instigators of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), inaugurated in 1981, which seeks to establish an EU-style trade structure in the Gulf area and to provide for a regional defence policy. The security aspect of the Council’s work has received greater attention since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Despite formal support for its fellow Arabs in Iraq in its 1980s war against Iran, Qatar avoided the same level of involvement in the conflict as some of its Gulf neighbours, although it did play a major role during the protracted peace negotiations. Qatar was also an active participant in the multinational alliance assembled to liberate Kuwait in 1990. During the early 1990s, Qatar became involved in several serious arguments with other Gulf states. In July 1991 the Gulf Cooperation Council intervened to calm a dispute between Qatar and Bahrain over the small but potentially oil-rich Hawar islands in the Gulf. The issue was settled (largely in favour of Bahrain) in 2001 by the International Court of Justice. A border dispute with Saudi Arabia, which had flared up in 1992, was also settled around the same time. In a wider context, Qatar’s Arab neighbours looked disapprovingly upon its burgeoning commercial relations with Israel (although these have since been sharply curtailed). Qatar was also one of the few countries to maintain relations of any kind with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan (although it has very good relations with the US, see below).
The Emir’s conduct of Qatari foreign policy undoubtedly exacerbated the divisions within the ruling family, which have persisted throughout Qatar’s period of independence. Once again these came to a head in 1995 when the Emir was deposed by his son, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in a bloodless palace coup. A counter-coup by prominent supporters of the deposed Emir, including ex-finance minister Sheikh Hamed bin Jassem Al-Thani, to restore him was thwarted in February 1996.
Sheikh Hamad appointed a new government with one of his sons as deputy and heir apparent and his brother as chief minister. A woman was appointed to a ministerial post (Under-Secretary for Education and Culture) for the first time. Since then, the Emir has embarked on a very gradual process of democratisation; municipal elections were held for the first time in 1999, and plans are in hand for an elected national parliament.
More controversial than these domestic moves, however, was the Sheikh’s decision in late 2002 to allow the US military to set up its main Gulf regional command centre at Sayliyah. The 1991 Gulf War had been controlled from Saudi Arabia, but Saudi sensitivities had limited the Americans’ freedom of manoeuvre in planning a possible war on Iraq; the Qataris offered a welcome alternative.
Government: The Al-Thani family rules Qatar as an absolute monarchy without an independent legislature or political parties. Executive power is partially devolved to a Council of Ministers appointed by the Emir who is both head of state and prime minister. An advisory council with 30 appointees was created in 1972. There is an advisory council with limited powers to request information from the government and debate forthcoming legislation (but not to change or block it). The Emir plans a gradual process of democratisation (see above).
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