Is Qatar Following the Americanization - Assignment Example

Ali Al-Ghanim Yoon Jung Lee English 0812 3 October Is Qatar Following The Americanization? In the recent years, United s has gained control on the world by a magical power. It is transferring ideas, behaviors, language, and even products all over the world. Nowadays, the first language in the world is English, which is the official language in the U.S. and some other countries. The American culture has become a massive power because of which it has the ability to destroy the other cultures. “The U.S. has become the most powerful, significant world force in terms of cultural imperialism [and] expansion (163),” says Ian Ralston, American studies director at Liverpool John Moores University. It has a clear influence on most parts of the world, and this influence is known as “Americanization”. Most people across the world have accepted the idea of Americanization and they have involved it in their daily lives, however they did not pay attention to the negative aspects of Americanization. Despite of this, there are still some parts in the world which have been able to combat Americanization with success and they are still able to hold their identity. Qatar is one such example, which is located in the Middle East, and it avoided several things which could enable it to lose its identity. The religion and traditions of Qatar and the Iraq war are reasons for the failure to comply with the American culture. Qatar is one of the countries which trying to become a developing country. The people there are trying to improve every single thing but without ignoring their traditions and their culture. It is on the top of the list of countries that exports natural Gas to the world. In Qatar, Islam is controlling the biggest part of the country and every single movement. The rules have been defined with regards to Islam and Muslims, for instance, courts in Qatar are only punishing the criminals standing against some instructions from the Quran, that have been followed by Muslims from thousands of years. The fact that the world is benefiting from the US cannot be ignored. This is mainly because of the innovations in products which are also being purchased by the people in Qatar. Moreover, Americanization is not subjected only to business or technology; however, it is more than morals and traditions. If we consider the economy as an important influence, it is better to call it “globalization.” This is because U.S. is not the only country which is considered to spread these phenomena. In particular, the industry there is using some sources from several countries such as, Japan, China, and some other European countries as well. It is obvious that Qatar is only looking for what it needs, however, it still considers that the U.S is the largest exporter to Qatar as it exported nearly "400 to 450 millions of dollars in 2004"(Wallace, Douglas). As a main impact of avoiding Americanization, Islam is imposing itself on the life of the Qataris in several ways. Islam is the religion which is predominant in most of the countries in the Middle East, part of the East of Asia, and North Africa. Muslims there are following Islam with regards to the Islamic rules and are living their daily lives accordingly. Therefore, it can be said that Islam has defined the lifestyles of the people in Qatar. This can further be explained by an example of the conflict between Islam and the American culture, there are some estimated rates for family inheritance that Muslims have to comply to, but the properties can be inherited by a will in the U.S. Besides this, there are some things the use of which is prohibited to the Muslims, except some specific situations such as, meats and the method of its preparing, alcohol and its derivatives, which can be used usually in the U.S. As a result of that, the U.S. lost a part of Qataris life and Arabs in general. Moreover, girls in Qatar are not able to dress like American or European girls do, and this is because a Muslim girl has to wear Abaya to cover her body and head. Although they wear some other clothes instead of being subjected to Abaya, but it should be ensured that the clothing covers their body. On the other hand, men are also are not influenced by Americans even though they have the chance to wear clothes in American style and behave like them in public. The “Thob” and the use of head cover called "Chmagh" is popularly wore by the men in Qatar. Mostly, the citizens in Qatar look at other citizens who dress like Americans, as strangers, and they have been pointed out by Jassim Salman, a Qatari author in Al-Ittihad newspaper by the quote, “the one who follows and try to simulate the Americans is gaining a negative attitude from the others because he looks like a stranger.” According to Jassim Salmans, there is a small part in the Qatari society, which is subjected to the American culture only in the teenage. Even if that age group is influenced, they are slightly affected. They are in the teenage, which means that they are trying to determine their own character. They are trying and doing everything they like and it is hard to control them. Being like famous American actor, addicted to American fast food or wearing some strange clothes gradually fades after that age. If we consider those habits as a big deal, people are going to argue to support themselves. Vicente Verdu stated, “In Norway, McDonalds uses salmon instead of beef, and in India, they call the big mac a Maharaja Mac and make it out of lamb rather than beef in accordance with Hindu beliefs.” According to that, every country gives McDonalds their properties. They only do the layout of the original one, but they switch those meals to other meals with regards to the local traditions in the society. For instance, in Qatar they are selling Mac Arabia, which has never been sold in the U.S. before and all the meats that are being used there are Halal. The world market is always linked with politics, and this is the reason why the political activities of the US had a negative impact on their brands. According to Roberts, “NOP world found similar evidence suggesting that American companies were seen as less trustworthy and honest after the Iraq war (170).” Indeed, the negative reaction came from all over the world. Iraq is a Muslim country that faced negative consequences because of the war with U.S. and the war resulted in mass destruction. The US did whatever they wanted while they were losing their reputation. Most Arabic and Muslim nations boycotted U.S. because of the war, however, it was not easy for the U.S. to accept boycott of their products from 1.5 billion Muslims. War was called by the US with Iraq due to political reasons, however, many people became its victims and they were killed mercilessly. It was because of the boycotts of the American products that it lost $63 billion. The American culture has not benefitted in Qatar because of the differences in religion, traditions and strategies, which is clear according to what Martha Bayles reported, “America is also exporting more than enough depictions of profanity, nudity, violence and criminal activity to violate norms of propriety still honored in much of the world (174).” The US has tarnished its reputation because of war with Iraq and therefore, the Americans have to look back and try to clean up the bad image that has been developed. Families in Qatar consider American culture as the culture with no values. In short it can be said that the American culture will lose its power in some countries such as Qatar if it continues with its political activities. Moreover, simulating is not the right way to be taken; proofing the identity of culture is much more significant. Despite the fact that the U.S. has almost controlled most of the parts of the world, it is not an honor to be like them in such a situation. It is high time that the people should open their eyes and stop their blinded love for the US. Work Cited Bayles, Martha. "Exporting the Wrong Picture." International Views: America and the Rest of the World. Ed.Gumery, Keith. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. 172-177. Print Jassim Salman. " Clothes and Strange Haircuts." Alittihad Newspaper. 09 Aug. 2009. Web. 20 Sep. 2011. (In Arabic) Rice - Oxley, Mark. “In 2,000 years, Will the World Remember Diseny or Plato?” International Views:America and the Rest of the World. Ed.Gumery, Keith. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. 163-167. Print. Roberts, Dan. " Is The World Falling Out of Love with U.S Brands? ". International Views: America and the Rest of the World. Ed.Gumery, Keith. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. 167-172. Print. Verdu, Vicente. "We Are AU Americans".The New World Reader:Thinking and Writing about the Global Community. Ed.Gilbert H. Muller. 3rd ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011. 23-25. Print. Wallace, Douglas. "Consider Qatar" The Commercial Section at the American Embassy in Qatar 2005. Read More