Qatar’s Societal Security : Towards the Inclusive National Concept of ‘Baladna’: Identity, Migration and External Threats since 2017

The diplomatic crisis of 2017, which isolated Qatar from its neighbours through a regional blockade, changed the perception of the country's societal security. In response, Qatar turned ‘Baladna’ (‘our country’) into a symbol of inclusion, expanding tribal solidarity into a unifying national identity that encompassed both citizens and non-citizens.

Since the 1990s, Qatar has been expanding its concept of societal security to address migration as a presumed threat to national identity. Local citizens regarded communities of migrants increasingly as a threat to existing cultural and linguistic norms, and as a challenge to the country's traditional “we”. The crisis of 2017, which isolated Qatar through a regional blockade, fundamentally changed the perception of the country's societal security. In response, Qatar turned ‘Baladna’ (‘our country’) into a symbol of inclusion, expanding tribal solidarity into a unifying national identity that encompassed both citizens and non-citizens. Following Nordic models, the understanding of social security in Qatar has transformed from a concern about identity to the protection of vital functions of society as a whole.