Natural Gas Is Catapulting Qatar into Modernity

(E. Follath: KATAR: “Wie Dubai, nur exklusiver” in Spiegel 28/2006; přeložil Christopher Sultan. Celý anglický text na Qatar Living)

“To be completely honest, and with no offense to the Qataris, their country is little more than a big box of sand, sand that burns when it gets in your eyes, grinds when it gets in your teeth and rubs when it gets in your sandals. It’s a place of shimmering heat, a patch of desert 175 kilometers long and 75 kilometers wide, flat with the exception of a few sand dunes and barren with the exception of a few date groves. Even falcons seem to prefer flying detours around this oven of a country, where even the hardiest antelopes lose their way in its no man’s land.”

“The tiny kingdom, slightly larger than the US state of Connecticut, has almost 15 percent of worldwide natural gas reserves, behind only Russia and Iran.”

“The ruling family is also a major backer of the Al-Jazeera television network, which has been critical of both Arab feudal governments and the Bush administration.”

“Doha appears to be gearing up to compete with Dubai. In Qatar, Dubai is seen as vulgar, boastful, nouveau riche and completely devoid of character.”

“In addition to art lovers, Doha plans to attract sports fans with new facilities and major sporting events. The Asian Games will be held here in December, and the city already hosts major tennis and golf tournaments. As a special attraction, matches featuring stars like tennis player Roger Federer and golf great Vijay Singh will be open to the public, free of charge.”