Berkley Center

Coming in, I had already known that Qatar is the wealthiest country in the world per capita, but now that I’m living here, I’m starting to realize what that actually means. I witness an absurd amount of wealth in my short commute to and from Georgetown’s campus alone. Just outside my living quarters is the al-Shaqab Horse Racing Academy, where I see dozens of horses worth thousands of dollars standing outside trying to survive the desert heat. After class each day, I usually see a Bentley roll around to pick up a group of Qatari students. What’s special about this Bentley is not that it’s a luxury car, but that it has a license plate with three digits. A symbol of extraordinary wealth, Qataris will pay millions of dollars for a three-digit license plate.

These are just two of several signs of wealth I see day in and day out here. What I would like to explore is what this means for the country as a whole and for the global community.

The Qatari standard of living is outrageous. From luxury cars to expensive jewelry to million-dollar pet falcons, wealth takes center stage. Enjoying a luxurious life is fine, but I find excessive wealth to be problematic. Every once and a while I take a seat on an uncomfortable couch in the library that’s rumored to have been purchased for hundreds of thousands of dollars. My single room has magnetic walls and its own bathroom and television, among other amenities. I attended a soccer game in an air-conditioned stadium. The list goes on and on.

We’ve all heard this narrative before, and you will agree with me when I say it gets old—fast. So what is something positive that wealth offers? Great potential. The only reason Georgetown has a campus in Qatar is because of money. The Qatar Foundation paid for the entire development of the new campus—a beautiful building, by the way—to improve its own educational infrastructure. Now, not only do Qataris have access to a world-renowned education, so too do some of the brightest students in the region. Instead of traveling all the way to Washington, DC, students from Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, etc. can travel the shorter distance to Doha for a renowned Georgetown education.

Where the situation gets tricky is when opportunity turns into exploitation. Right now, the entire city of Doha seems to be under construction, which naturally creates jobs. When I landed in Doha, I stood in line with thousands of migrants about my age from countries like Ethiopia, Somalia, and Nepal lining up to enter a new to earn a better living. Sure, they are making more money than they are at home, but are they living better? I can’t help but feel for the gardeners suffering under the hot desert sun, and I feel embarrassed when there is someone cleaning a public restroom every other time I use it. I’m sure the world would be much happier if people can make a better income in the country they call home doing what they love. But many migrant workers feel like they have no choice but to leave and come here because of one thing: money.

Money itself is not the problem. In fact, I think Qatar’s transition has been mostly positive. Now that it has grown in the global economy, Qatar has become one of the most diverse and free countries in the Middle East. With investment from the international community, Qatar has had no choice but to allow for multiculturalism and different points of view. As a result, I’ve been able to meet a young generation of liberal Qataris open to new perspectives.

The issue I have is how the wealth here is managed. Qatar has an ethical obligation to improve standards of living for everyone who contributes to society, not just a select few. I find it unacceptable that many employees at Georgetown alone were recently laid off because of budget cuts, while the Qatar Foundation still plans on building a million-dollar golf course in Education City. And if Qatar’s own policies do not suffice, the international community ought to do something. Money built this country and can take it down just as quickly.