Qatar wants to use the 2022 FIFA World Cup as a soft power mean. They want to remove stains on their reputation via sportswashing. However, there is reason to believe that this effect might not occur in the case of Qatar, or in other words; that the tournament has a soft disempowerment effect on the state of Qatar. By doing a discourse analysis this study exams if the soft power efforts of Qatar have been successful, primarily in the Swedish context by examining how the Swedish media and Swedish FA articulates about Qatar, but also in the context of FIFA. The study also examens whether the articulations can be labeled as cases of Orientalism. The results show that in the Swedish context, both an orientalist and soft disempowerment-discourse are showing, and in the case of FIFA an orientalist discourse and a discourse which suggest that the tournament has been a good soft power resource in the eyes of FIFA occurs.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup for men's football has received massive criticism since it was announced in December 2010 that Qatar would host it. With a significant history of human rights violations, many were shocked that Qatar was elected. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media reported on the ongoing abuses in the country and warned about the consequences of Qatar hosting the World Cup. Therefore, this thesis will examine these consequences and how preparations for the World Cup affect human rights in Qatar – specifically migrant workers' rights. The focus will be on Qatar, companies working with the World Cup, and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), addressing and analyzing their responsibilities and obligations. The thesis is a descriptive analysis discussing how migrant workers' rights were violated and neglected. It is also a normative analysis that will analyze what should and could have been done to prevent it. Both Qatar's legal system and the regulation of international standards for human rights and business will be analyzed in the text. This thesis will shed light on the football world and its relation to human rights, as well as who bears the primary responsibility to ensure human rights in the preparation and execution of the World Cup. It will discuss how football and human rights affect each other, aiming to show that football organizations influence societies and social structures. Football is not only a sport but a tool that can either improve or worsen people's availability to human rights. This thesis is based on two different theories: A Marxist perspective on conflict theory and Corporate Social responsibility theory. To answer the research questions through these theories, this thesis has used a qualitative data analysis method to analyze different reports and documents from NGOs, Qatar, FIFA, and the United Nations. The thesis concludes with a summary highlighting FIFA as the prime duty bearer during the preparation and delivery of the World Cup, as well as acknowledging that Qatar, FIFA, and companies' lack of improvement and monitoring contributes to the enforcement of modern slavery/forced labor.

This research compares the real estate markets of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, focusing on opportunities and challenges for European businesses and portfolio investors. The study integrates theoretical frameworks, empirical findings from interviews, and analysis of official reports. The theoretical insights highlight the importance of economic factors, cultural understanding, and risk management. The empirical findings reinforce these concepts, revealing varying risk tolerance levels among investors. The analysis indicates that the UAE offers more significant investment opportunities than Qatar due to sustained economic growth and infrastructure development. The research provides practical implications for investors and sets the foundation for future studies.

Both Qatar and FIFA have been heavily criticised for the bribes and corruption resulting in Qatar obtaining the FIFA World Cup 2022. Over 6500 migrant workers in Qatar are said to have lost their lives during the construction of new arenas, and the media is an essential part for this being acknowledged. This essay examines and identifies the discourses that are dominating the articles written in the awakening of FIFAs World Cup in Qatar 2022. This will be done through studying the portrayal of Qatar in Dagens Nyheter, the Guardian and Gulf Times. The articles are studied through a narrative analysis method with support from agenda setting, framing and gatekeeping theories. The results show that western media portrays Qatar as unworthy of the world cup, while Qatari media ensures that the country will create the greatest world cup in history. The results suggest that Qatar is guilty of sportswashing through their government-controlled media.

Although several multi-dimensional models of strategic decision-making processes (SDMPs) have been examined in the literature, these studies have paid insufficient attention to the public sector context and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. SDMP in the public sector and the State of Qatar can vary to SDMP in the private sector due to institutional and socio-cultural differences respectively. Therefore, more research is urgently needed to better understand SDPM within this context. To contribute to filling this void, this study develops and tests a multi-dimensional SDMP model including SDMP dimensions, implementation, and outcome. The study model examines (𝑖) the impact of four SDMP dimensions—procedural rationality, intuition, constructive politics, and participation—on the implementation success of the strategic decision; (𝑖𝑖) the impact of the successful implementation of SD over the SD quality; (𝑖𝑖𝑖) the mediation role of the implementation success of SD; (𝑖𝑣) the moderation effect of stakeholder uncertainty. The model was analysed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and tested using data from multiple informants on 170 strategic decisions in 38 Qatari public organisations. The study finds that procedural rationality, constructive politics, participations, and the implementation Success of SD plays a significant and positive role on SDMP and its overall outcome. Finally, the study provides substantial and original contributions to the knowledge of SDMP in the public sector; implications for decision-makers and directions for future research.

Human rights violations and exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar is something which has been extensively researched during recent years. However, a lot of these studies are focusing on specific rights violations; the functioning of the kafala-system; responsibility of actions; or economic gains of Qatar. To a lesser extent, focus have been pointed towards the structural pillars of the Qatari society and how the government is using these structures as means of controlling, and thereby exploiting, migrant workers. Thus, this thesis is striving to fill this research gap by analyzing how different structural facets have been utilized by the state of Qatar in order to control and manipulate these people. The study is working with a qualitative content analysis and is utilizing a specific branch of social harm theory deemed as work-based harm. As such, different angles of structural control are examined and how this control is implicit in worker exploitation. It is concluded that extensive control mechanisms within both political, legal, cultural and economic pillars have been used by the state of Qatar as means of exploitation.

No / I-MEET is an Integrated Model for Evaluating E-government services Transformation from stakeholders' perspectives. It is based on an integration of concepts from value chain management and business process transformation to optimize the system-wide value chain of providers and users simultaneously. It aims to align stakeholders on a common global value against traditional disintegrated approaches where each stakeholder optimizes its e-service local value at the expense of others. The measured variables are derived from the literature and focused groups. They are then categorized into cost and risk (Inputs) and (benefit and opportunity) Outputs after a validation process based on Structured Equation Models using a sample of 1540 user-responses of e-services in the UK. Finally, Data Envelopment Analysis is conducted to derive an aggregated of an e-service satisfaction value using the various inputs and outputs. The empirical results demonstrate that data-derived weights for aggregating indicators are variable rather than fixed across e-services. The novelty of the assessment approach lies in its capability to provide informed suggestions to set targets to improve an eservice from the perspective of all engaging users. Hence it provides a better transformation of public administration services and improved take up by citizens and businesses.

Imperial powers have employed a range of strategies to establish and then maintain control over foreign territories and communities. As deploying military forces from the home country is often costly – not to mention logistically stretching when long distances are involved – many imperial powers have used indigenous forces to extend control or protect influence in overseas territories. This study charts the extent to which Britain employed this method in its informal empire among the small states of Eastern Arabia: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the seven Trucial States (modern day UAE), and Oman before 1971. Resolved in the defence of its imperial lines of communication to India and the protection of mercantile shipping, Britain first organised and enforced a set of maritime truces with the local Arab coastal shaikhs of Eastern Arabia in order to maintain peace on the sea. Throughout the first part of the nineteenth century, the primary concern in the Gulf for the British, operating through the Government of India, was therefore the cessation of piracy and maritime warfare. Later, British interests were expanded to suppressing the activities of slave traders and arms traffickers. At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, Britain also sought to exclude foreign powers from gaining a foothold in the area. It was during this time that the British government assumed full responsibility for the external relations of these shaikhdoms and that Britain conferred the status of ‘protected state’ upon them. Up to this point, when Britain needed to protect these interests or use force to compel local rulers to comply with its wishes, naval power usually sufficed. By the midpoint of the twentieth century, Britain’s interests in the area had swelled and migrated inland – first because of the establishment of air stations servicing the imperial route to India, then as a result of oil exploration and production. At the same time, growing international opposition to colonialism and a steady reduction in Britain’s ability to project military power overseas made it more and more difficult for Britain to discharge it security duties in the Gulf. So how did Britain bridge this gap? Studies of British security policy towards the Gulf have focused almost exclusively on Britain’s formal military architecture. Using India Office records and British Government archival documents, this study provides a reinterpretation of the means by which Britain sought to maintain order, protect its interests in the region and discharge its defence obligations. The records, it will be shown, point to a broad British policy before 1971 of enhancing the coercive instruments available to the local rulers. Rather than having to revert to using its own military forces, Britain wanted the Gulf rulers to acquire a monopoly over the use of force within their territories and to be in a stronger position to defend their own domains against cross-border raiders and covetous neighbours. This policy was not always successful; Britain was progressively drawn into the internal security affairs of a number of ITS protégés, especially after the Second World War. The security forces that emerged – armed police forces, gendarmeries and militaries – varied considerably, as did Britain’s involvement in their establishment and running. Nevertheless, taken as whole, a trend emerges between 1921 and 1971 of Britain pushing the Gulf states to take over more and more of the security burden. Indeed, at a time when its traditional sources of global power were fading, indigenous security forces were an important tool in Britain’s pursuit of its interests before its military withdrawal from the Gulf in December 1971. This aspect of Britain’s approach to security in the Gulf has largely been overlooked.

Journalists use the term Arab Street to describe what they often imply is a volatile Arabic public opinion. This photo story travels through four Arab areas or Jordan, Qatar, Israel/Palestine and Egypt in order to show the diversity and complexity of each. The media’s tendency to lump all Arabs into one political block is detrimental to a true sense of cultural understanding that is required for peace. / text

Since the 1990 the use of Electronic Patient Records (EPR) in health services has become increasingly prevalent world wide. EPR has become an important aspect of the continuous improvement of patient care. Transferring all patient records from paper based to electronic is now a priority for many health services. The research reported in this thesis is sponsored by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) to provide opportunity to explore the potential role for EPR in the Medical Records Department. The study has been designed to gain better understanding of the users perspectives with regard to the use of patient records. In order to analyse and understand the complex dynamic involved in the management and use of patient records, it was recognised that systems thinking offered an appropriate framework for this research. Soft System Methodology (SSM) was therefore applied to the analysis of the data and used to inform the development of a conceptual model. Using SSM in combination with the structured questionnaire survey and telephone semi-structured interview, triangulation of methods was achieved. Use of these generated rich data revealing for example the general dissatisfaction expressed with the existing manual patient records system, the lack of confidentiality, poor legibility, shortage of space and the frequent misfiling of records. The need to address these problems has informed the strategic plan for the development and implementation of EPR for HMC. The research has successfully addressed the stated aims and research questions and guided the formulation of proposals for improvements.