Example Of Thesis Proposal On Political Science

The Human Security Policy in Qatar

Introduction
Definition of the Concept of Human Security
Analysis of the current and subsequent policy frameworks
Peace Forum in Qatar
Regional security consortium
Policy Frameworks Adjustments
Close Scrutiny
Human Rights Violation
Diplomacy Forums
Peace Building Efforts
Conclusion
Human Policy in Qatar
Introduction
Human security evolves in two directions, first of all, it is necessitated by a comprehensive vision for security and development and secondly by a clear understanding of how the concept is related to the protection of civilians during armed conflicts. This paper aims at analyzing the important issue of human security in Qatar after the new era and discuss all the possible approaches on how effectively human security policies in the country can be adjusted and their relative merits in preparation for its opening up to the world as it expects to host a multitude of international events like the FIFA World cup of 2022 together with other diplomatic conferences and exhibitions. One key way to achieve this as will be evident from the paper, will be through linking human security to protection campaigns to civilians in Qatar (Suhrke 186). This together with a host of other strategies that will be highlighted in paper should be able to revitalize human security in Qatar as a relevant policy concept to help create better and improved security for the people living in exposed communities.

The Concept of Human Security

Since its launch during the early 1990s, the concept of human security has generally evolved to two different directions. One direction of the concept has retained its original nature with the notion of “freedom from threat” in the context of security being added to that of “freedom from want” in the context of development. This was in essence the core idea presented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 1994 in a report that was submitted in 2003 by the Commission on Human Security almost a decade after the UNDP report (UNDP, 1994). It is an idea that revitalized the concept of Human Security in both its specific and broad form (McRae, Robert and Don Hubert 28). The second direction has human security serving as an umbrella with the political energies of its supporters however directed towards the concretization and definition of some of the elements within its cover such that it is able to produce change in practice and policy action.
This paper will therefore have two thematic parts. The first section will discuss the current policy framework concept of human security in Qatar with its potential significant concretization and focus on civilian protection. The second section will examine the subsequent policy adjustment frameworks that can be explored to promote human security in the country with a stress on its general nature in the attempt of giving a concrete discussion on the way forward as Qatar looks forward to accommodating the more liberal world which is very conscious of the importance of human security within its boundaries. The analysis will therefore include a clear example of especially the labor policies in the county, revolving on unfair treatment of expatriates and domestic workers in the country.
Peace Forum in Qatar
Adjustments can be made through the initiation of policy discussions on the need to foster security, peace and development in Qatar (Suhrke, 268). This can be achieved through international diplomatic forums similar to the one that took place on the 1st of January in 2001 in Doha, Qatar sponsored by the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research. This was a project that was aimed at alleviating the tensions within the country as well as those between it and other hegemonies and democracies on the issue of human security and global governance (Gause 5). It was the final phase of the Human Security and Global for the Governance Forum International Commission for Security and Cooperation in West Asia. The Doha forum was cosponsored by different NGOs following meetings in Limassol, Cyprus, in May 2000 and Istanbul, Turkey, in March 1999 The forum was co-chaired by the Director of Toda Institute Dr. Majid Tehranian, Qatar's ambassador to Britain, Nasser al-Khalifa together with delegates who were representing the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries which include Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates together with the UN Secretariat as well as the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (AHDR 2009). Human security issues in Qatar can then be presented as a policy vision. There should be a general sense that the individual as compared to the nation should be at the core of security elements discussions. A conceptual clarification on the vision can then be made to make it an objective of foreign policy ((International Studies Quarterly. 2012). Qatar’s political leaders can then rally behind the positive slogan together with concerned members of the public. Analysts both within and outside the government will also have to assess and understand the importance of the individual interests they are serving together with the likely intended or not intended consequences. The Qatar Government can also work with the United Nations Security Council to protect human security.
Regional security consortium
Policy Frameworks Adjustments
The Qatari government should be pressured to introduce changes in its controversial labor system through campaigns, demonstrations and international criticisms of the treatment of its foreign workers. Qatar's Ministries of Interior and Labor ought to develop plans aimed at easing the restrictions on foreign workers' terms of employment. Qatar is known as one of the countries with huge discrimination between expatriates and citizens. It does not maintain its wage standards for immigrant laborers and does not also permit labor-unions. Under Qatar’s provisions of sponsorship law, sponsors and employers have been given the unilateral power of cancelling the residency permits of their workers to deny them the freedom of changing their employers, sponsors can also "absconded" their workers to police authorities and deny permission of leaving the country. Sponsors therefore restrict workers' movements and workers therefore become afraid of reporting abuses or claiming their rights.
Therefore there should be proposals to abolishing the country's "sponsor" system, whereby workers are bound to a single employer for the period that they reside in the country. This will help to give expatriates greater latitude and ability to freely change jobs and leave the country.
The country’s exit permit system which subjects workers to the necessity of obtaining the consent of their employers' before being allowed to leave the country should also be replaced by new systems. These can include for example, automated systems through the Ministry of Interior with clear and distinct deadlines set for the implementing of these policy adjustment proposals.
These proposals to aimed at changing the labor system must however first be evaluated by the Shura Council, which is Qatar's legislative branch, before ratification.  Such reforms should be administered as soon as possible and facilitated with assistance from responsible individuals in government dockets like Ministry of Interior. These changes should also be applicable to all individuals who are working in Qatar, whether company or domestic workers.
Apart from these, there should be a wide range of other proposed reforms which can include a system that requires employers to pay wages electronically for the improvement of transparency and timely payments which will also increase the penalty for the confiscation of fake workers' passports for a specified amount of money.

Close scrutiny

There is need for a timely administration of the policy changes adjustments especially in light of the FIFA World Cup preparations in the country which are already being clouded by reported cases of worker abuses. Qatar's labor situation has therefore come under close scrutiny since it won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup. The construction boom in the country as a result of preparations for the global football bonanza has allegedly led to the rapid increase in human rights abuses. Due to its small native population, Qatar has had to introduce almost 1.4 million migrant laborers who are mostly concentrated in the service and construction sectors. Thousands of these migrant laborers are mostly from India, Nepal and the Philippines. It is only approximately 10 percent of the people over the age of 14 who are citizens of Qatar.
Human Rights Violation
Human rights watchdog, Amnesty International have explained that the labor systems in the Gulf states, which are known as kefala have "excessively unequal power relationship" between workers and their employers. According to a report that was published in 2013 by Amnesty last November, it was discovered that workers in the country face a lot of abuses in the hands of their employers which include forced labor and human trafficking (Ehteshami, Anoushiravan & Steve 4). The report highlighted that workers were being left to go hungry and were "treated like cattle”. Yet another report by the Guardian and based on documents that were obtained at the Nepalese embassy in Qatar published that there were dozens of Nepalese migrant laborers who had died in Qatar in September 2013 in just a few weeks as thousands more were enduring degrading labor abuses. According to their analysis of figures, by 2022 during the World Cup Event, such current construction practices will have resulted in over 4,000. FIFA had already investigated as of December 2013 but has yet taken any action to force Qatar to improve its workers conditions.
There are some Qatari government officials who have already expressed the need for reforms. These officials explain that the sponsorship system was introduced a long time ago when the demographic composition was also different from the present one (Kamrava 548). With the situational change today therefore and the gradual increase in the flow of expats, the officials acknowledge that there is need new positive changes.
There should similarly be policy reforms on the freedom of workers and laborers in the country. Many expatriate laborers in Qatar agree to this as is the case of a security guard working in Qatar from a developing country in Africa who supports that together with other workers in Qatar, they should be able to freely change jobs. This will consequently lead to the increase in competition in the labor market which also improves services. Policies in the country furthermore limit the freedom of workers to choose a field they prefer, for instance getting a job in the sales field in Qatar is a hard procedure (Kelly 779).
Qatar should furthermore introduce the minimum wage law. The country maybe luxurious but its laborers are underpaid and therefore a wage increase should be addressed. The monthly wages for blue-collar workers in Qatar is usually between 800-1,200 riyals a month which is roughly $220-$330) for work done six days a week which then falls to only $1 an hour (Lacqua & Robert, 2014).
There is little information on the view of Qatar towards the labor sponsorship system. From a survey that was carried out in 2010, almost half of Qataris still wanted the system to be made stricter. There are also a number of Qatari business groups support the exit visa requirement explaining that non-Qatari employees or partners may suddenly depart the country without their repayment of loans and business expenses (Khatib 418).
There are however a significant number of Qatari employers who have called for reforms. The editor-in-chief of Doha Stadium Plus magazine, Dr Ahmed Al Mohannadi mentioned that there are some employers who still "take advantage of the system". He adds that it is unfair to prevent workers from leaving for better-paying jobs. People should be motivated to go back to work in the country proud of a good system that appreciates and recognizes their labor input (IMF 2013).
Compared to other states in the region, according to Human Rights Watch's Gulf researcher, Nicholas McGeehan, “although the group has been critical of Qatar, it’s more open compared to those of other states in the region val. The sad reality however is that Qatar little or no plans of seriously reforming from its ruthless ‘kafala" system (Potter, 2013).
Likewise, according to the Amnesty International there should also the fundamental changes needed for addressing the systemic abuses that are meted out against migrant workers as well as foreign expatriates. Although most of the measures may be positive and implementation may assure the improved conditions of workers conditions for workers, it is important to note that what will really change the unfair treatment of workers in the country is a committed government to policy formulation and amendments (Coates 28).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should set up legal safeguards for domestic workers through exclusion from the scope of the Labor Law which will not mean inadequate legal protection for their rights or that there is no law to protect these rights,'' the statement said (Pattisson 2013).
Because the Qatari law has clear guidelines on the steps that should be followed during recruitment, workers are always prevented from straying which provide them with the resolution of disputes sponsors and their workers. Therefore a law related to household workers should also be developed to protect their rights as a measure of Human Security (GSDP 34).
Diplomacy Forums
Diplomacy Forums are also some of the other important steps and measures that can be taken by the Qatar government to promote change in the Human Security Policies. In May 2013 for example, a similar one day Forum was organized, called “Search for Human Security” which was held on the 16th of May at the Malaysia’s Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR). The program targeted an exploration of Islamic teachings on Diplomacy in the light of Human Security and Peace Building. Chief organizers for the forum were IDFR, the IAIS-Malaysia and the International NGO called ‘The Cordoba Foundation (TCF)’ which is UK based. The Foreign Ministry of The State of Qatar together with the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMMF) were some of the contributing partners (Wehrey, 2013). Such programs similarly require officials and scholars who help to offer insight on the significance of the relevance of Human Security for the harmonious relations between nations and the Islamic ideal.
There is also need for a keen assessment of the current conditions of Muslim nations like Qatar on human security. Most of the Muslim nations are significantly lacking some basic aspects especially because since the comprehensive wellbeing people in most Muslim-majority countries leave little to be desired (Butenschon, 44). Some of these shortcomings in Qatar include income inequality, poverty, poor educational and health care opportunities, violent conflict and political repression. Tribal animosities as well as sectarian rivalry are also some of the elements in that plague large areas of Qatar as well as other countries in the Muslim world. Insights on the state’s security paradigm should also be explored through the adoption of social and human requirements for the development of the wellbeing and flourishing of the Islamic teaching vis a vis policies on human security (David & John 2014).
Such forums should be presided over by prominent individuals in the legislative arm of the government like the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar who represent Qatar’s policy of realism, balance and collective security (Coates 18). This Forum held two Panel sessions. Diplomacy issues in the country can also be discussed on human security from conceptual, pragmatic and ethical perspectives as well as the humanitarian role of international NGOs. This should also include sessions whereby views on the national and global challenges that are posed by the search for human security are addressed.
Peace Building Efforts
The “Muslim dilemma” in Qatar is one of the main contributing factors that hinder it from effectively contributing to Peace Building and the promotion of human security (Hertog 77). Instead of complacency therefore, Qatar as a Muslim society, ought to creatively re-think the need for new approaches of dealing with peace and security. This search for human security forums should be a reflection of the country’s commitment to the expanded engagement with contemporary issues of Islamic security and peace. The close link between peace and security indicates their relative importance in policy reformation process. There should be energized efforts by the Qatar government, Muslim civic organizations as well as international NGOs to the devotion of more resources to the building efforts and pursuance of shared efforts towards humanitarian needs and reconciliation (International Studies Quarterly. 2012).
Furthermore, there should be discussions on the details of a common strategy for policy dissemination, joint future activities and capacity building. Mutual consensus can then be reached to widen and strengthen the combined effort towards embedding human security through sharing both material and human resources (Ayoob 24) A collective global network can be established similar to the Forum for Peace & Security (Fps) to link private and public institutions as well as Ministries, International NGO’s and Think Tanks in an effort to propose solutions to violence and conflict through reconciliation, economic, social and equity building.
Conclusion
Qatar should choose to take humanity seriously motivated by the guidance that is conveyed by its sacred traditions which will help it to expand its conception of human security and embrace human dimensions. The search for human security is indeed the gateway to the future of the reformation of global order. The combined experiences of human societies in the modern era in the political, economic, cultural and social domains of life should help to push the country towards a recovery of the security base that is reflected in basic human hopes and needs. Peace and security can only be achieved in Qatar when security is understood in the context of peace and co-existence.

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