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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140407T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140407T180000
DTSTAMP:20260612T015700
CREATED:20140914T223604Z
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SUMMARY:Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy
DESCRIPTION:CIRS held its inaugural Faculty Research Workshop on April 7\, 2014\, led by Karl Widerquist\, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Participants were invited to discuss his book titled\, Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy. The manuscript is currently in its final stages of preparation and argues that many prominent contemporary political theories rely on false claims about human origins and life in non-state societies. This book shows how several dubious claims became widely accepted premises because they seemed plausible (or even obvious) to Europeans of the early colonial period. It shows how contemporary theories continue to pass on those premises\, often unnoticed and unchallenged\, and it assembles anthropological and archaeological evidence to refute them. Finally\, it discusses the ramifications of these findings for contemporary justifications of property\, inequality\, and the state. \n\nThe CIRS Faculty Research Workshop\, in the form of a closed-door\, one-day seminar\, gathers together a small number of renowned scholars to engage in a focused discussion on a book manuscript that is in its final stages of preparation and has been authored by a member of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar faculty. The gathering consists of a series of structured brainstorming sessions\, through which we engage in a thorough and critical discussion of the book manuscript. All participants will have read the entire manuscript in advance of the meeting and we ask individual scholars to lead focused group discussions on different chapters. \n\nSee the workshop agendaRead about the participants\n\nKarl Widerquist specializes in political philosophy. His research is mostly in the area of distributive justice—the ethics of who has what. He holds two doctorates—one in Political Theory form Oxford University (2006) and one in Economics from the City University of New York (1996). He is the author of Independence\, Propertylessness\, and Basic Income: A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say (Palgrave Macmillan 2013)\, and coauthor of Economics for Social Workers (Columbia University Press 2002)\, Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research (Wiley-Blackwell 2013)\, Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model (Palgrave Macmillan 2012)\, Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform around the World (Palgrave Macmillan 2012)\, and the Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guarantee (Ashgate 2005). He is currently under contract to author or coauthor two more books: Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy (Edinburgh University Press 2014) and Justice as the Pursuit of Accord (Palgrave Macmillan 2015).  \n\n\n\nCIRS supported the publication of Karl Widerquist and Grant S.McCall’s book Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy (Oxford University Press/Edinburgh University Press\, 2017).
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/prehistoric-myths-modern-political-philosophy/
CATEGORIES:CIRS Faculty Research Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140412T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140413T180000
DTSTAMP:20260612T015700
CREATED:20140914T223257Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210901T124254Z
UID:10000865-1397289600-1397412000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:The Evolution of Gulf Global Cities Working Group II
DESCRIPTION:On April 12-13\, 2014\, CIRS held the final Working Group of “The Evolution of Gulf Global Cities” research initiative. Academics from various disciplinary backgrounds as well as architects\, urban planners and designers gathered for the second meeting to discuss their research findings and papers around the theme of Gulf cities. The topics discussed ranged in their geographic coverage of the Persian Gulf and in their temporal analysis extending back to the early-twentieth century until the present-day. Elements of continuity and change in the urban landscape were discussed against the political\, cultural and historical backdrop of the Gulf region. \n \n \nRapid urbanization and rising skylines have invigorated academic focus on cities of the Gulf. Opening the discussion\, participants questioned the way in which Gulf cities are discussed in a highly depoliticized manner within popular discourse. Gulf cities are categorically described as transnational and global cities that are also “prosperous\, modern and stable in a larger\, more volatile and impoverished region”—how do these depictions diffuse images of the Gulf that constitute a certain ideological substrate? Discussants problematized the category of “city” itself\, and pushed their analysis further to incorporate more socially and politically nuanced understandings of space. For instance\, how do non-citizens live and fit within the space of the city? How do construction workers who help build the city find their place in these spaces that are generally depicted as transnational and metropolitan yet are highly segregated and limit the mobility of a cohort of its inhabitants? These are all questions that reflect on the current unspoken discursive formations of cities in the Gulf – formations that define ‘cities’ based on narrow and depoliticized interpretations. \n \n \nWhile the current depictions of Gulf cities as “transnational” and “global” assume a historical break and disjuncture with urban characteristics of the pre-oil Gulf\, participants discussed forms of transnational urbanism that were present in the early twentieth-century port cities. With its vast global networks\, the region has always exhibited elements of transnationalism—however\, its urban forms have also historically exhibited a privileging of homogeneity and unity of identity and class; a privileging that has led to the control and a morphological segregation and separation of difference. Looking at pluralism within the historical evolution of Gulf cities indicates that while they may have always been transnational\, they have not been equally cosmopolitan. \n \n \nGiving historical context to these spaces\, Working Group members discussed linkages between territory\, territoriality\, infrastructure\, and nation-building in the Gulf. In the case of the UAE\, infrastructure played a central role during the country’s transformation from an itinerant territory to a fixed one based on oil extraction and subsequently on real estate development. A tool utilized for developing territory\, infrastructure was also utilized by the political rulers as a nation-building medium that formed the essence of Emirati discourses on development\, its modern territorial order\, and ultimately the order of the state. Current major real-estate developers in the UAE—particularly in Dubai—continue to be under the basic control and power of the Emirati rulers\, highlighting real-estate’s distinctive role vis-à-vis the state in promoting economic growth and reinventing the identity of the city. \n \n \nWhile oil and gas revenues have heavily financed infrastructural developments and mega-projects in the Gulf\, recent strides to lay the post-oil era foundation and to develop knowledge-based economies have also influenced their urban fabric. The proliferation of “smart cities\,” cities within cities\, free trade zones\, mixed-use projects and tourism projects are indicative of this transition. Despite rapid urban development\, pockets of historical traditional neighborhoods continue to exist in the Gulf. These spaces provide meaningful insight into the sentiments of residents and their emotional attachment and belonging to place in the midst of the proliferating presence of gated compounds and large houses encapsulated by tall fences. Place identity is a central component of residential satisfaction and as a case-study of traditional neighborhoods in Muscat reveals\, the sense of community that residents ascribe to a place is what gives place meaning. Efforts to reconstruct and rehabilitate traditional neighborhoods around the Gulf—such as Msheireb in Doha\, which envisions bringing the heart of the city back to its roots—in fact risk losing “place-meaning\,” by practicing “place-making” and commoditizing the “traditional.” Across the Gulf\, stressed or “decaying fabrics” of historical areas in Bandar-Abbas experiencing physical and economic decline have expanded throughout the city. While the government has housing plans to renovate these areas\, low-income residents will most likely be pushed to the fringes of the city—exacerbating the “informalization” of their settlements and limiting their right to the city. \n \n \n\nRead the participant bios\nSee the working group schedule\nRead more about this research initiative \n\n \nParticipants and Discussants: \n \n \n\nPooya Alaedini\, University of Tehran\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nMarike Bontenbal\, German University of Technology in Oman\nMatt Buehler\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nNerida Child Dimasi\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nRemah Gharib\, Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies\nBarb Gillis\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nMehran Kamrava\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nAhmed Kanna\, University of the Pacific\nArang Keshavarzian\, New York University\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nDwaa Osman\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nStephen J. Ramos\, University of Georgia\nAshraf M. Salama\, Qatar University\nEvren Tok\, Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nFlorian Wiedmann\, Wiedmann Mirincheva Associates\n\n \n  \n \n \nArticle by Dwaa Osman\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/evolution-gulf-global-cities-working-group-ii/
CATEGORIES:Focused Discussions,Regional Studies
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140415T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140415T180000
DTSTAMP:20260612T015700
CREATED:20140915T053733Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240314T103851Z
UID:10000883-1397548800-1397584800@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Networked Arab Publics and Contention in the Digital Age
DESCRIPTION:Mohamed Zayani\, Associate Professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\, delivered a CIRS Focused Discussion lecture on “Networked Arab Publics and Contention in the Digital Age” on April 15\, 2014. The talk was based on Zayani’s ongoing book project\, which analyzes the changing relationship between media and politics in the Arab world\, especially as it relates to the Arab uprisings in Tunisia. The book provides an ethnographic account of evolving media practices that bring into focus the intricate relationship between the emerging digital culture in the Arab world; youth engagement and youth involvement; cyber dissidence and resistance; and political expression. Zayani was prompted into further investigations on the subject because in much of the literature\, the role of media\, especially social media\, was either highly inflated or unduly analyzed\, leaving little room to cogitate upon the complexities of the nuanced relationship between people\, media\, politics\, and power. \n \n \nExamining the media’s role in the Arab uprisings\, Zayani highlighted the importance of country-specific studies. There has been a tendency to cast the countries of the Arab uprisings into a single homogenous phenomenon under the rubric of the “Arab Spring\,” without paying attention to the important contextual differences between each state. Tunisia proved to be a crucial site of convergence for media\, politics\, and popular contention as it was the first Arab country to connect to the Internet in 1991 and the first overt site of the Arab uprisings. Thus\, Zayani analyzes the correlation between Internet penetration and political change\, arguing that “on the one hand\, the country lived under the rule of a regime that proved adept at modernizing authoritarianism and ensuring regime durability. On the other hand\, the country adopted an avant-garde Internet development model and purposefully sought to build a digital infrastructure that is capable of positioning the country as a model for an aspiring networked society in the age of globalization.” Attempts to balance these two factors was a challenge for the Tunisian regime\, which ultimately collapsed under the pressure of a technologically-equipped and vocalized public. \n \n \nAs Arab media quickly developed during the 1990s creating a virtual public sphere where political issues could be discussed relatively openly\, this schism became even more pronounced. Internet activism was especially propelled by a number of factors including the demographic reality of the region\, which was encompassed in a youth bulge where two-thirds of the Arab world are below the age of 25. “The conundrum was that this significant socio-demographic category has been largely left out of political life – or at least that was the perception.” Importantly\, this significant and growing youthful population was buoyed by two simultaneous phenomena of mass education and mass media\, both of which were significant in their challenge to traditional constructions of authority and advocacy of critical thinking. \n \n \nFocusing on questions of political socialization\, Zayani’s study is geared towards answering a central question: “how do young people become politicized on the Internet?” This goes against the general assumption that Arab youth were\, on the whole\, politically marginalized and disinterested. The events of the Arab uprisings proved the contrary\, and Arab youth exhibited strong political consciousness\, activism\, and engagement. The main overlooked issue is that they tend to express their political stances through means other than formal political structures. \n \n \nThus\, Zayani concluded by noting the importance of challenging traditional categorizations of what it means to be political\, explaining: “My study aims to redirect attention from the formal political institutions of the Arab world to the politics of everyday life.” In this reformulation\, digital contention yields more than just dissidence; it encourages other forms of assertiveness associated with the concept of citizenship. \n \n \nMohamed Zayani is an Affiliate Faculty with the Communication\, Culture and Technology Graduate Program and the 2013-1014 Faculty Fellow with the Center for Regional and International Studies. His works include Reading the Symptom (1999)\, Arab Satellite Television and Politics in the Middle East (2004)\, The Al Jazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives on New Arab Media (2005) and The Culture of Al Jazeera: Inside an Arab Media Giant (2007). He is a recipient of numerous grants\, including a Social Science Research Council grant\, and a Member of the UNESCO Committee of Experts on Cultural Diversity. \n \n \nArticle by Suzi Mirgani\, Manager and Editor for CIRS Publications 
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/networked-arab-publics-and-contention-digital-age/
CATEGORIES:Dialogue Series,Race & Society,Regional Studies
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140421T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140421T180000
DTSTAMP:20260612T015700
CREATED:20140915T134059Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210901T124230Z
UID:10000793-1398067200-1398103200@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:New Paradigms for a Palestine in Perpetual Limbo?
DESCRIPTION:Sam Bahour\, Managing Partner at Applied Information Management (AIM)\, Director at the Arab Islamic Bank and a policy adviser to the Al-Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network\, delivered a CIRS Monthly Dialogue lecture on “New Paradigms for a Palestine in Perpetual Limbo\,” on April 21\, 2014\, which centered on the persisting nature of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Bahour explained that it is not just the overt acts of Israeli violence and injustice that Palestine must overcome\, but the “peace industry” itself that has been built around the problem and that paradoxically sustains the struggle even as it attempts to aid in its resolution. A solid superstructure of international NGOs\, human rights organizations\, advocacy groups\, academic think tanks\, cultural programs\, and solidarity groups have been constructed around the conflict\, and thrive off of its existence. \n \n \nBahour argued that Palestine is in a state of perpetual limbo because “today’s Israeli position rests on the assumption that procrastination will continue to tilt the strategic balance increasingly in Israel’s favor.” Decade by decade\, he adumbrated key instances of how power relations between Israel and Palestine were incrementally and consistently skewed in favor of the Israeli state and with the backing\, or indifference\, of much of the international community. The Israeli occupation has ingrained ideological pathologies that do not conceptualize Palestinians as equals or as deserving of equality. “We are not facing a right-wing Israeli government. We are facing the state institution of Israel\, which has embedded within it an exclusivist ideology of Zionism bent on maintaining a world view which gives preferential treatment to Jews\, and is bent on redemption of the land of Israel\,” Bahour explained. \n \n \nIsrael is reticent to reach a final settlement and to put an end to the conflict because of four perceived alternatives to a negotiated agreement—all of which are in Israel’s favor and which undermine the Palestinian position. The first is for Israel to prolong negotiations indefinitely by feigning progress even as it encroaches on Palestinian lands and rights. The second is for Israel to set up a pseudo-provisional two-state arrangement wherein a weakened Palestinian authority masquerades as a Palestinian government. The third is a unilateral separation dictated by Israel\, and the fourth is for Egypt and Jordan to assume control of the occupied territories. \n \n \nHowever\, “Israeli strategic planners overestimate their own strength and underestimate the strategic opportunities available to the Palestinians\,” he said\, as these four Israeli-favored outcomes can be challenged by the reorientation of Palestinian strategy through four new paradigms. These include putting an end to the idea of a two-state negotiation; the reconstitution of the Palestinian authority into a more proactive entity serving Palestinian priorities; the elevation of intelligent resistance over negotiations and the reassertion of national unity through reform of the PLO and eliciting international third-party support; and the shift from a two-state solution to a bi-national or unitary democratic single state. When Palestinians finally concede to the fact that a genuine negotiated outcome is not being offered by the Israelis\, they will be able to conscientiously reject the idea of a two-state solution. \n \n \nShifting to his perspective as a Palestinian parent\, Bahour spoke about how his daughters perceive the future of Palestine. Although his children are aware of the total military occupation that restricts their lives\, their modern and globalized attitude means that they think differently on the same issues\, and have their own opinions on how the conflict should be resolved. Speaking from the perspective of the Palestinian youth generation\, his daughters lamented the futility of fighting against Israel’s behemoth military and nuclear power and expressed their fatigue with decades of struggling for an international law which cannot be implemented. They opted instead to redefine Palestinian self-determination\, and to come up with a radical alternative that is both unimaginable and unacceptable to the older generation of Palestinians: conceding that the Palestinians are powerless to create a viable state under the current conditions\, thus surrendering the Palestinian struggle for statehood in return for their full human\, civil\, and political rights within the structure of the Israeli state. \n \n \n“The issue of Palestine reflects a historical injustice so large and so blatant that its flame refuses to extinguish\,” he argued\, but this new paradigm of self-determination as envisioned by Palestinian youth turns the model of the conflict on its head and defies decades of orchestrated Israeli control with its counter-intuitive offering. Thus\, Bahour concluded\, the youth generation “is at a crossroads between continuing on the statehood path\, which we are losing by the day […] or to drop statehood and call for civil rights.” \n \n \nSam bahour is a Palestinian-American based in Al-Bireh/Ramallah\, Palestine. He is a freelance business consultant operating as Applied Information Management (AIM)\, specializing in business development with a niche focus on start-ups. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Palestine Telecommunications Company and the PLAZA Shopping Center\, and recently completed a full term as a Board of Trustees member at Birzeit University. He serves in various capacities in several community organizations\, including serving as a policy adviser to Al-Shabaka\, the Palestinian Policy Network\, a member of the core Local Reference Group of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI)\, and co-founder of the Dalia Association. Sam writes frequently on Palestinian affairs and has been widely published. He is co-editor of HOMELAND: Oral History of Palestine and Palestinians and may be reached at sbahour@gmail.com. He blogs at www.epalestine.com.  \n \n \nArticle by Suzi Mirgani\, Manager and Editor for CIRS Publications
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/new-paradigms-palestine-perpetual-limbo/
CATEGORIES:Dialogue Series,Regional Studies
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140427T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140427T180000
DTSTAMP:20260612T015700
CREATED:20140915T054415Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240314T103822Z
UID:10000885-1398585600-1398621600@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Gary Wasserman Lectures on “Why Are We Here (in Doha)?”
DESCRIPTION:Gary Wasserman\, professor of Government at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\, delivered a CIRS Focused Discussionlecture titled\, “Why Are We Here (in Doha)?” on April 27\, 2014. Encouraging discussion among members of the Georgetown University in Qatar community\, Wasserman noted that he did not have an answer to the question posed in the title of the lecture\, but would offer five different possible models that approach an answer. \n \n \nThe first model is to consider Georgetown University in Qatar as an extension of the American imperium. In this model\, the United States offers the Middle East region two of its key capabilities: military bases for regional security\, and US schools providing world class education—in other words\, what political scientists call hard power of economic wealth and military weapons as well as soft power of ideas. In this sense\, Wasserman argued “we are the American superpower in its educational garb.” \n \n \nThese offerings are not necessarily negative and may be key to the current peace and prosperity in much of the world. The limitation to this model\, however\, is that the faculty and educators at Georgetown in Qatar do not necessarily serve as ideal ambassadors of US government policy. They are more likely to dissent\, to question\, and to challenge official US policy in their critical scribblings\, and in their informed debates with students and others\, whether at home or abroad. Moreover\, the Qatari hosts are hardly a passive colonized people; they initiated this relationship\, they pay for it\, and they negotiate the contract under which Georgetown in Qatar operates\, at the least as equals.  \n \n \nOn the opposite end of the spectrum lies the second model offered by Wasserman—the “expat model.” Here\, individual members of the Georgetown community travel abroad to practice their professions; a practical task that is not always integrated into that of any larger\, more idealized notion of a Western institution. In this sense\, he argued\, “we are well-compensated hired help. We are here to fill a job and provide a service that cannot be produced locally; arguably a home-delivered prestige commodity—a Western brand name.” However\, Wasserman’s objection to this model is that\, whether consciously or not\, Georgetown is expected to\, and is in fact\, changing behavior\, as all educational institutions are wont to do. \n \n \nThe third model is the “contract model\,” where Georgetown is obligated to act as a professional school for training diplomats in and for Qatar. The institution was invited by its Qatari hosts to offer some\, but not all\, aspects of the Georgetown college experience\, sanitizing the more controversial elements of US culture and society. Wasserman’s reservations of this model center on the fact that very few of the graduates actually end up in the foreign service\, and so the Georgetown education is far more encompassing than merely a training center for diplomats. “We are in fact as close to a liberal arts college as Education City gets\,” he explained. \n \n \nWhich leads to the fourth model\, that of “liberalism\,” where Georgetown can be seen as spreading secular humanism in the form of the widest possible inquiry and tolerance of freedom of thought and expression\, especially as for those who struggle with social oppression in terms of gender\, race\, or sexual orientation. However\, Wasserman’s objection to the applicability of this model is that even though Georgetown invites students to think for themselves\, the institution is in fact asking them to subscribe to a particular Westernized ideal of thinking. By being in Qatar\, Georgetown must reconcile with the reality that it does not operate in a liberal society that elevates individual thought above all.  Rather it is one where family\, community\, and religious ties are more highly valued. The students from this region are a complex mix of loyalty and obligation to their families and societies\, along with a desire to integrate into globalizing outlooks and identities. This mixed campus experience makes it difficult for Georgetown to “cleanly” deliver the traditional Western ideals of liberalism. Nor should we\, Wasserman stated. \n \n \nThe fifth and concluding model Wasserman offered is what he called “the muddled bubble.” In this model\, Georgetown in Qatar is operating\, without a set blueprint\, in an environment of messy uncertainty. This\, he argued\, will necessarily mean that the institution is at the interface of different and changing cultures. “We occupy what should be an uncomfortable\, unpredictable\, but potentially innovative space\,” he argued. The model of the bubble demands that Georgetown in Qatar seek a degree of autonomy\, not only from potentially reactionary local pressures\, but also from the foreign traditions and interests of the main campus. The “muddled” part of the model\, he explained\, comes from the experimental\, unclear process by which we create an unusual blend of transnational students prepared for an unclear and unique future. Thus\, Wasserman concluded\, we should celebrate our unique position of being muddled “not by a clash of civilizations\, but by a confusion of civilizations.”  \n \n \nArticle by Suzi Mirgani\, Manager and Editor for CIRS Publications.  \n \n \nGary Wasserman has fashioned a career in teaching\, political consulting and writing. Previously he taught graduate students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Nanjing\, China.  He received his Ph.D. with Distinction from Columbia University. He recently wrote Politics in Action: Cases in Modern American Government (2012)\, and Pearson is publishing the 15th edition of his text\, The Basics of American Politics (2015). His MOOC\, “The Game of American Politics\,” is available online this spring. 
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/gary-wasserman-lectures-why-are-we-here-doha/
CATEGORIES:American Studies,Dialogue Series,Distingushed Lectures,Race & Society,Regional Studies
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140427T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20140428T180000
DTSTAMP:20260612T015700
CREATED:20140914T150427Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210901T124123Z
UID:10000864-1398621600-1398708000@cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu
SUMMARY:Healthcare Policy and Politics in the Gulf States Working Group I
DESCRIPTION:On April 27-28\, 2014\, CIRS convened the first working group under the research initiative Healthcare Policy and Politics in the Gulf States. Healthcare practitioners\, strategists and social scientists from various disciplinary backgrounds gathered over two days to discuss the rapidly changing health profile of the region\, the existing conditions of health systems\, and the challenges posed to healthcare management across the six countries of the GCC. \n \n \nIn recent decades\, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) governments have heavily invested in socioeconomic development and have increasingly played an instrumental role in the development of healthcare systems. Rapid transformation of health systems took place between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s across the six GCC States. Commonalities between GCC states\, such as geographic location\, political order\, the presence of hydrocarbon reserves\, and the large influx of foreigners into the region\, have created common threads across the healthcare industries of Bahrain\, Saudi Arabia\, Oman\, Kuwait\, Qatar\, and the UAE. The evolution of healthcare systems\, however\, has not been uniform across the region\, with Oman (ranked 8th in the 2000 World Health Report on health systems) and Bahrain experiencing more successful models of development as compared to their Gulf counterparts. The participants attributed this development to two salient features in healthcare planning: local healthcare leadership and progressive planning that focused on comprehensive health services. The healthcare leadership involved in the organization and planning of Oman’s healthcare system in the early 1970s was predominantly comprised of local expertise allowing for models of development that were based on local needs and that were conducive to the local environment catering towards long-term development of the sector. This stands in comparison to the “mercenary mentality” that was characteristic of foreign healthcare leadership in other GCC States. Bahrain was amongst the first in the GCC to set up primary healthcare centers enabling a significant proportion of the population to easily access health services—a sector that continues to be under-developed in other GCC states as they disproportionately give emphasis to secondary and tertiary care.  Despite disparate levels of healthcare services development across the GCC\, the GCC secretariat has adopted some common plans and models that provide a regional approach to the sector. One example is the GCC-wide common purchasing in the pharmaceutical industry\, which started in the mid-1970s and has\, accordingly\, had a major impact on the market. More recently\, GCC ministers of health have agreed to create a unified mental health improvement plan to develop a sector that has long been neglected in the region and that is in need of transformation. \n \n \nWhile GCC healthcare expenditure continues to be on the rise\, there remains a significant gap between investments in healthcare and health outcomes of Gulf citizenry. Rapid urbanization rates and changes in lifestyle have resulted in populations that exhibit a high prevalence of diabetes and obesity (in Qatar\, for instance\, 70% of nationals are overweight and 40% are obese). Chronic non-communicable disease is on the rise in the Gulf and\, as such\, preventive medicine and lifestyle health are of growing importance\, emphasizing a necessary shift from the current focus on secondary curative care.  Moreover\, primary care – considered to be the “gate-keeper” of healthcare models in developed countries around the world – plays a key role in preventive medicine\, emphasizing the need to provide incentives to patients for its utilization. In addition to the type of care\, participants emphasized the need for multidisciplinary teams—incorporating nutrition experts and diabetes educators\, for instance—to effectively prevent a rise in the prevalence of chronic disease. \n \n \nWhile Gulf nationals predominantly suffer from these lifestyle diseases\, the expatriate and migrant populations of the GCC have health profiles that are distinct from nationals.  The three tiered population of the region—comprised of locals\, long-term residents\, and more transient migrant workers—requires Gulf governments to plan accordingly for the health needs of each population. One segment of the population\, short-term migrants\, is largely employed in the construction sectors of the GCC and\, as such\, incorporation of occupational health and safety in the healthcare model is another component that the Gulf is increasingly focusing on. Much like the need for preventive care in the case of lifestyle diseases\, primary needs for occupational health—such as safety assessments and hazard identification—are not healthcare related but are related to prevention. To have an effective systems approach to occupational health however\, a feedback system needs to be incorporated that includes frontline workers and allows for open communication with higher management. Achieving this form of participatory health planning and management\, however\, is very challenging in hierarchical settings that lack labor unions and labor management. \n \n \nIn addition to satisfying the health needs of foreign migrant residents—who comprise the bulk of GCC populations—GCC states have to cope with their reliance on foreign skills to supply their healthcare workforce. This poses broad risks to the region as the excessive reliance on foreign human resources may leave GCC states vulnerable in times of regional sociopolitical instability should there be an exodus of the foreign workforce. In the absence of political crises\, however\, challenges remain. In the hospital setting or workplace where nurses\, physicians\, and staff come from a variety of different cultures\, speak a multitude of languages\, and have been trained under different schools and standards\, the effectiveness of providing care is challenged. Additionally\, the hierarchical social organization that was outlined in the context of the construction industry is also prevalent in hospital settings—much of it due to many of the GCC states’ sponsorship system (kefala) where tenuousness exists in the work-status of foreign staff. This tenuousness affects relationship dynamics between local and foreign staff and between patients and hospital staff. \n \n \nWhile participants of the working group tackled a multitude of topics—ranging from substance abuse in the Gulf to social organization of nursing practices—a common challenge facing scholars studying healthcare in the region is the lack of both available and published data. Thus\, while the industry is rapidly evolving\, scholarship on the topic remains limited and is constrained by the limited availability of information\, underscoring the need for additional research on the area. \n \n \n\nRead the participant bios\nSee the working group schedule\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n \n  \n \n \nParticipants and Discussants: \n \n \n\nMohamad Alameddine\, American University of Beirut\nSamir Al-Adawi\, Sultan Qaboos University\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nMatt Buehler\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nNerida Child Dimasi\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nSuhaila Ghuloum\, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar; Hamad Medical Center\nBarb Gillis\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nCother Hajat\, United Arab Emirates University\nMehran Kamrava\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nNadir Kheir\, Qatar University\nNabil Kronfol\, Lebanese Healthcare Management Association; Center for Studies on Ageing\nRavinder Mamtani\, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar\nTatjana Martinoska\, Enertech Qatar\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nDwaa Osman\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nJanet Rankin\, University of Calgary Qatar\nSalman Rawaf\, Imperial College London; WHO Collaborating Center for Public Health Education and Training\nGanesh Seshan\, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\nRosemary Sokas\, Georgetown University\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar\n\n \n  \n \n \nArticle by Dwaa Osman\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/healthcare-policy-and-politics-gulf-states-working-group-i/
CATEGORIES:Focused Discussions,Regional Studies
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