i am the challenge for you all to reach him and we. cut through the fusion and the fun. from street food to a 5 star restaurant tasting taipei starts september 1st on t w. land of shakes and of big business. but it's a world that these people live in to millions of migrant workers drafted in to make the dream of a modern monarchy become reality. to. millions of gas and petro dollars continue to flow into the building sites mushrooming across a country that prides itself on its rise while observers remain skeptical about its

true direction. cut. a lot of it. difficult tara has a face it's the one seen on streets across the country. a small peninsula on the persian gulf qatar is a hereditary monarchy with the emir ruling supreme over a country the size of los angeles county. everyone who comes here is given a clear message that shake to mean been tiny as a champion of a peaceful and modern qatar. we are invited everybody to visit qatar media to are most welcome to come to doha and freely go everywhere and see what we stand for qatar is a piece of prosperity loving nation we are welcoming all different. well it is here

in qatar to say come stay prosper and be happy. everyone is welcome everywhere. 3 months in advance of our trip we asked for permission to shoot on a construction site for the 2022 soccer world cup. media reports on the working conditions at stadiums in progress have severely tarnish the image of qatar so we wanted to see whether things have changed when we turn up to film however we find ourselves unwelcome why would anyone want to doubt the government line the principle is that abusing any human being is just unacceptable by anyone under any circumstances there is no question. qatar is home to over 2000000 foreign workers 800000 of them alone on construction sites amnesty international and other human rights watchers have a critical view on whether conditions really have improved. this needs to get its

times also to show respect for all these many people coming to qatar without whom the world cup wouldn't have been possible it's they who are building old infrastructure new roads subway lines hotels and restaurants and so on. qatar needs to treat these people with more respect and provide them with acceptable accommodation and working hours then we would give our prisoners let us understand. this building site has now been completed the emir is here in person for the inauguration of qatar's new national library to the sounds of the national anthem it's the highest profile event on the country's social calendar in the spring of 2018. the largest library in the middle east and also intended to symbolize a new spirit in the country. it's very important guitars a constitutional country is as you mentioned. guitar has taken many measures

wittingly towards democracy. in absolute monarchy taking steps towards a democratic future that at least is the oficial line. constitutions are often not worth the paper they're written on i'm extremely surprised to hear that anybody would imagine. is anything remotely resembling a democracy even if that's how he's themselves i don't think would have such hubris to call. a democratic political system. the emir is eager to earn recognition both at home and abroad thank you highness but is all this just a marketing exercise the or is guitar genuinely embarking on reforms towards a more liberal society the new promises are turning to old friends into new enemies people he takes us on a trip to see one of them to the desert filled sound just 50 years ago practically

the entire country looked like this. one g.p.s. in here in my mind. because i ignored that each of you on here if you would last but if you don't know is what is going to have to come not for me what other people think of that you know there but i think that there's a bit over that they throw in the night so we know how many problems. did the 2nd hold for us. after a 90 minute drive from the capitol dome in the east we reach the southwest coast of qatar just across the water for a few kilometers further down the road is the saudi arabia. just a stone's throw away as it were to. cover way for this story. is that a league of grown ups like i do like that. when the way we do. so we come to life.

in political terms this desert region is currently undergoing an icy age and the charges made by those neighbors are serious with the saudis accusing qatar of funding international terrorism and providing refuge for radical islamists what they can do. if i have said what they can do nothing because these off the wall quantico so i can tell about this situation because there's not a lot of talk. because you know there is a cunt talk about these things. ordinary civilians tend not to speak out on political issues qatar's neighborhood dispute is really about one issue regional power. 2017 with a new president in the white house a new international environment the saudis and the terrys marti's the saudis and the martys thought they had a perfect window of opportunity to once and for all bring it to its knees on

june 5th 2017 saudi arabia the united arab emirates and the small island kingdom of bahrain moved to cut off all land sea and air routes to qatar as well as diplomatic relations the emirates has since been an isolated player in the region. in a tizzy total shock to the catty population. everyone was surprised it's chaotic that. the move prompted panic buying a monk atari's supermarket shelves emptied as people wondered when stocks would be replenished until the crisis could tar had imported the majority of its food from its neighbors in the region. it was a definitely something up propped sudden without any justification and it is definitely unjust and doha based al-jazeera the biggest t.v.

news station in the arab world also found itself caught up in the conflict it's multinational work force protested against another demand made by qatar's neighbors for the channel to be closed down immediately that's our pursuit foreign policy and the security policy which was designed to minimize adversaries and maximize friends the saudis did not. appreciate. that's how the trying to come to its own trying to secure its own place on the global. but the attempts to stifle qatar's cautious opening to the west proved ineffective here at the new industrial porton musée need it was a case of boom rather than bust qatar subsequently turned to we ran in turkey for its food imports while also deepening its trade relations with the european union. al-jazeera is like was still in business. the station is state owned and has come

under criticism from abroad for its allegedly biased coverage in favor of the muslim brotherhood. qatar's neighbors see al-jazeera as a mouthpiece of the emir and have made repeated demands for it to be taken off the air. it shows how these countries have no tolerance of the freedom of the media or profession would be they want only the media that is that works as a mouth a mouthpiece for themselves and that's what happened actually with all the media that's end of their control so having having this kind of demands is really an indication of how far they are from any kind of freedom or democracy or liberal thinking. there are 2 faces to al-jazeera it's english language our music internationally respected and largely considered

objective on the arab language channel however coverage of the royal family for example is never critical reporters without borders ranks qatar down in 125th place out of 180 in its world press freedom index al-jazeera is at pains to salvage its image. when people talk about the disease. as one sided channel especially out of it they cannot be watching it as yet because i would slogan from the beginning of you is the opinion and the author opinion there's you know was the 1st channel in the out of countries to bring on our screen these rightly is why. is it because we love them no we don't know or hate anybody it's because they need it to be there in order to balance the views of what we bring the palestinians or the arabs you name it and it's that we never have one on

the one side never every day life in qatar barely changed following the country's regional isolation and the mayor's personal profile seems to have been boosted by the situation and see his ministers by his commitment. his finest the need is a true leader visionary. he can decide for his country his people so he gained the the heart and mind of his people. for the young emir who was handed the reins by his father in 2013 the young going round with the country's neighbors has proved a boom in terms of his heroic domestic image. suited to blockade i think this has doubled and maybe tripled so the me it shifts to me miss someone who is very much loved by the people he's a people's person think atar needs a people's person much of the international criticism the country has come under

since being awarded the world cup in 2010 is concerned its treatment of the powerless in society the treatment of foreign workers has been equated with modern day slavery i have been surprised at the extent to which public relations firms. paid by the te's have been able to shape the narrative that is on this region but also what is equally surprising is how gullible or how mio pick and selective the west has been looking at and not outside or united arab emirate or. the gulf region countries together have 23000000 migrant workers and their families but only qatar has suffered scrutiny and negative press on such. just scale but the focus of their criticism is the so-called tough on a system which requires foreign workers to seek their employers permission to change jobs or even leave the country start as one of the 1st countries in the

region to wallish the sponsorship system or what's known as the define a system those conditions have improved at the. i urge you very much to go and have field visits as well except field visits with camera crews are there easy footage like this has to be shot discreetly so we at least were unable to ascertain whether the cuff on a labor sponsorship system that binds workers to their employer is still in place or not it's late and fortunately it has not been abolished they did pass new legislation called the law on the resident see an entry and exit of employees it covers more or less everything that the old could fall a little used to goven. with the mine a difference. that it's not quite as straight. as he did it is. more visible to the outside world or the emirates massive investments in the cultural realm. the museum of islamic art designed by the world

famous architect your ming opened in 2008 its collection is unrivaled. education city a new complex on the outskirts of doha both said number of university campuses and this new landmark the national library of qatar. a member of the project was overseen by german scholar claudio looks together with local experts it was financed by the qatar foundation a semi private organization that has provided substantial funding for education and the sciences since the mid 1990 s. . because their foundation had shrunk the cutoff foundation did come back corruption from the outside. it and implemented these changes with a very modern approach always setting an example for the entire nation and it was the same with the library i enjoyed

a lot of support in that respect also when it came to turning down requests to hand jobs to specific people something i've seen in berlin 2 by the way because it wasn't much money up. the completion of the library coincided with qatar's year of culture being hosted by germany. alongside the german ambassador shake and been counted out china chairwoman of the qatar foundation seen here opening the library's 1st exhibition on aptly enough german and arab fairy tales and they do one specific everyone who's visited says the image of qatar has completely changed all i can say is come here and take a look at the country there are traditions in the region that we do not tolerate and we don't have to because there's a lot of tolerance here too there is so few could tyreese living there and so many foreign as and everyone gets on and tries hard to ensure integration and the library is part of that integration stuff will take its entire does and to its.

center of learning and stylish centerpiece of qatar's education system one of the most advanced in the gulf region great schools colleges and the library are all excessive all free of charge although access to the internet is heavily censored. qatar is a land of contrasts. 40 kilometers away from doha has more camels than human residents in qatar camel racing is known as the sport of the shakes. the camels are there we buy the hay and we bring it over there. friday is race day and a big day for business here there are also 2 small supermarkets and a fast food outlet but the best food available here is for the candidates.

it tastes good. had to make good. and here too it's migrant workers who make the entire spectacle possible. next door the stores selling racing paraphernalia 100 percent handcrafted the 3 men who run the business came to katon from afghanistan. this one is. enough it. what. when you're not eating for any think. this. camels were originally used for carrying cargo by the better we spit on magic tribe's indigenous to qatar and the wider region since then the camels have been indispensable for the qataris there is big business to be done with camels. is a place where the qataris love for competition and forty's clear to see. and an ideal

opportunity to showcase that enthusiasm was the 2015 world man's handball championships posted for the 1st time by khadafi. most of its own team had been enticed to play for the gold state thanks to substantial financial bonuses and they finished a sensational 2nd to the distinction of many handball if you see a not so. and a similar policy saw the qatari men's soccer team win this year's asian cup with a 2022 world cup now only 3 years away. for decades the bidding contest for hosting the tournament has been overshadowed by bribery allegations and the vote in favor of qatar a country with no previous tradition in the sport was particularly controversial. and for the 1st time. certainly the 1st time in these parts of the world people

love football. they love this kind of activities and at the same time i believe it adds to the potations the good reputation of. as a country that can actually do a project such a big project a project that pushed construction work in the country up yet another gear. the cost of hosting the world cup for russia in 2018 and qatar 4 years later use in each case an estimated $10000000000.00 euros but that sum is more by the money invested by the emirates in preparation for the event $170000000000.00 euros for stadiums and other infrastructure this is the 1st venue to be completed here 2 filming is not officially permitted the khalifa stadium complex also includes a park with an indoor swimming pool running tracks a sports medicine center and public soccer pitchers. the infrastructure will be

a legacy which will enjoy for decades and it will help the economy and the quality of life in qatar that's why we are not wasting any dollar in the development of all these facilities. it's saturday in doha. at the weekend the city's residents flocked to local parks and to the soup the traditional arab bazaar. here the traditional qatar of old lives on. among the traders at the market is maya who sells pearls. he grew up in a different and poorer i drink oyster pulls from the sea i open them and get

them. they're pros and said that. they don't say that have you got any pros from the old days i could not keep it because how to keep the prize in my pocket and my stomach is empty. anything they get. says to get leave. today side is my only enjoys a relatively good life he's a local legend known as the old pearl fisher everyone knows him and countless celebrities have stopped by to have their photo taken with them. appears to be ip visitors have included queen beatrix of the netherlands and former german president chris dodd to invite 2nd. guitar used to be a british protectorate until it gained independence in 1971 at the time an underdeveloped nation where pearl fishers were still among the best earners.

the physically demanding and laborious business but still of business. then the country was transformed by the discovery of huge oil and gas deposits the south pars north dong field in the persian gulf is shared between qatar and iran it is by far the world's largest natural gas reservoir with reserves larger than all the other fields combined. nice started for the gas industry and the elegy in particular when qatar was not even to create its rated and from scratch we became the biggest aling t.v. producer and exporter of the world we produced we process we store we transport we have the biggest fleet off ellen de it's transportation and the war so it's a wonderful story too to say. the. serbs are projected to last around 160 years and

have already made qatar the richest nation on the planet. germany's per capita gross domestic product for example is $43000.00 euros you could talk it's 2 and a half times that figure. that development has been meteoric as oil and petro dollars started being pumped into the economy we see a massive rise in infrastructure in buildings in and consistent with that we see social change tars manufacturing itself a modern society at its top is the emir who enjoys absolute power but he does use that power to benefit his people the country has a generous social security system for qatari nationals and a high standard of health care plus continued billions for education and the arts that's made a deliberate effort to cultivate what is called knowledge based economy and to

prepare themselves for the post oil era. one calculated decision that was made was that in order to be able to survive you need additional revenue streams other than oil and these revenue streams can be best accrued and secured through investment. dollars west bank the hub of qatar is growing global economic empire the qatar investment authority is the biggest shareholder in the london stock exchange and the 3rd biggest investor in german carmaker volpe's fagen and it also has stakes in everything from real estate to luxury goods and hollywood film production companies guitars investment strategy is a global one giving the nation considerable economic muscle and the regime now apparently wants to open up politically too this would normally mean more power for

the people except trade unions and parties are still banned in 2011 the emir's father promised qatar's 1st parliamentary elections scheduled for 2013 they still have to be held. that's the primary reason that that's a leadership prize discovered that it then runs the risk of creating an institutional forum for more conservative elements in society that may not necessarily subscribe to its vision of how it wants to move the country forward. but is the pace at which young qatar's are racing towards the future too fast for more tradition mind to change its. might they still try to turn back the clock. officially at least elections are now on the cards. guitar was trying to be sensitive. to its neighbors. who thought that its might be

too soon for g.c.c. countries to. go through shura council elections. and guitar was trying to be aligned and he says that if to those neighbors now says those neighbors decided to book is because you are. there was no reason. to postpone any war. but behind the shining facade the country still has some distinctly unmodern laws sexual relations between people of the same gender can be punished with imprisonment and muslims found guilty of adultery can potentially face the death penalty. qatar faces a balancing act between tradition and innovation by the end of our trip we are able to shoot footage at a stadium construction site in years past the world's media reported thousands of workers losing their lives due to dangerous conditions today everyone wears our debt in many regards it looks like

a construction site in any developed world nation and there is no indication that this is all just a show for our camera crew we're not allowed to talk to the workers however making it difficult to gauge whether conditions have improved and besides the migrant workers at the world cup stadium sites comprise a mere 3 percent of the total foreign workforce qatar is definitely ready to take this responsibility on board asked for qatar's image to the rest of the world we'll have to see what happens when the visitors when the visitors arrive it's it's up to them to to judge but only judge by actually being here rather than hearing accounts on the news or depending on on media to to build an opinion. this side alone employs some 3 and a half 1000 workers to ensure that qatar's stays on schedule they work in 2 shifts around the clock and the qatar foundation stadium in doha is just one of 8 brand

new arenas when opened it will have a capacity of for. 45000 but 30 years still has to be built after the world cup 15000 seats will be removed nobody here seems to have any doubts about the project success. that it got to award cup but 2022 i can assure you that we would organize a good one but i cannot assure you off winning the cup but i hope that we can do wouldn't. millions of migrant workers toiling away to keep the desert nations dream alive people who good time will have to take seriously if the vision of a liberal monarchy is not destined to be a fairy tale without a happy ending. how

about taking a few risks you could even take a chance on was. raring to. don't expect happy ending. the church folks cause. it's. slanted a little too sky for me i love berlin. 50 nations 50 stories and 50 very personal to links very best feature. book now planet for. the max series every week on d w.

this is deja vu news live from berlin a new life for children off islamic state fighters thousands live with their mothers and account in both eastern syria south european countries have allowed some of them to come home now germany has agreed to take 4 or german fathers or mothers. also coming up the french president to find one back home hosts his russian counterpart for a rare meeting with a number of crises fueling tensions between moscow and the west can't be found to find common ground plotting to put it.