Summary

In “Big Voice, Tiny Country: Al-Jazeera in Qatar,” el-Nawawy and Iskandar describe Qatar’s socio-political environment and the extent to which it is affected by the emir’s actions and personality. In fact, they state that “to understand Al-Jazeera, one must understand its host country” (71). Qatar is a “monarchy without democratically elected institutions or political parties” (72) and is governed by the Al-Thani family. A surprising event in Qatari history saw the heir to the throne of Sheikh Khalifa Al-Thani, his son Sheikh Hamad, organize a coup and seize power from the elderly ruler, with several factors such as the weakness of Sheikh Khalifa and the prevailing corruption in key governmental sectors playing a significant role. However, Qatar’s basic governing structure remained the same with absolute power concentrated in the hands of the emir and religious law guiding...