Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Zarqa Parvez
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From the margins to the middle: Pakistan’s role in the Iran war
When the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt landed in Islamabad on March 29, 2026, much of the international media reached for the same word: unexpected. The AP wire described Pakistan as an “unexpected mediator.” Foreign Policy’s Michael Kugelman, an otherwise careful South Asia analyst, opened his piece…
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A deal was on the table. They bombed it
On the morning of 28th February, I woke to an emergency alert telling everyone in Qatar to stay indoors. Moments later came the sounds, blasts, intercepted drones, the unmistakable audio of a region entering war. I write from Doha, from inside a country that has spent years constructing the diplomatic…
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Jeffrey Epstein is plural: An autopsy of the liberal world order
As a political sociologist, I have trained myself to maintain analytical distance from my subjects, to study everyday events and political phenomena with the detachment required for rigorous scholarship. My work revolves around analyzing, researching, and explaining the processes, historical influences, and unfolding of global socio-political events. But the recent…
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The Doha attack: Exposing the collapse of international order
On 9 September 2025, Israel conducted its first-ever direct military strike on Qatar, targeting Hamas negotiators in Doha’s diplomatic quarter while they were reviewing a US-brokered ceasefire proposal (Al Jazeera, 2025; CNN, 2025). The attack, which killed six people including a Qatari security officer and several Hamas members, represents far…
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When peacemakers become targets: How the attack on Qatar’s sovereignty endangers global diplomacy
Warfare and conflict are not new to human nature, yet they have been fundamentally reframed, restructured, and paradoxically rebranded in the 21st century, often justified as necessary means to achieve “peace.” This contradiction lies at the heart of our contemporary international system, where violence masquerades as peacemaking and diplomatic solutions…
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Institutional power and the diversity paradox: A Middle Eastern perspective
When I walk into institutional spaces today, I see “diversity” plastered everywhere, from mission statements to posters on office walls. This has become even more pronounced in 2024, as institutions scramble to demonstrate their commitment to inclusion following the global scrutiny of diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at elite…
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Racist riots and imagined purity – paradox: The UK’s battle with its multicultural identity
The UK has experienced a surge of riots, civil unrest and disruptive violence over the last week. This unrest erupted after a 17-year-old Christian boy, born to Rwandan parents in Wales, killed three girls in Southport. Misinformation on social media platform X about the killer being Muslim is seen as…
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Qatar’s diplomacy amid the Gaza genocide provides an evolving framework for peace-building
The ongoing genocide in Gaza represents a grim culmination of Israel’s violent settler-colonialism, signalling a pivotal moment in the historical oppression of Palestine and its people. While some attribute this current tragedy solely to the events of 7 October, it is crucial to acknowledge the decades of persistent violations of…
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The politics of sport, human rights and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Contemporary sport is a key component of modern nation state-building and a cornerstone of international diplomacy and image building; it is not limited to the sport in question and its effects. As a social activity, sport is a key tool to foster a sense of collective national identity through the…
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Qatar’s soft power, shifting alliances and strategic interests
On 31 January, 2022, during Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad’s visit to Washington, Joe Biden officially announced the designation of Qatar as a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA). It goes without saying that the decision is a highly strategic one, rooted deeply in US foreign policy interests in the region,…
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The politicisation of civilisations and ideologies: Macron, Charlie Hebdo and blasphemy in France
The reproduction of Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) recently was no surprise. What was frustrating though was French President Emmanuel Macron’s open endorsement of them and his claim that “Islam is in crisis”. He has made orientalist, neo-colonial statements such as, “I want to build…
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The contextualization of racism and discrimination in the Gulf
The latest Black Lives Matter protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd on 25 May by a Minneapolis police officer highlight the fact that we live in a time of multiple crises. Floyd’s killing was a wake-up call for humanity to put an end to racism, and has prompted…
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Um Haroon and the politics of normalisation in the Gulf
MBC’s Ramadan drama series Um Haroon has sparked controversy and debate about the presence of Jews in the Gulf region and their relationship with local Muslim communities. In itself, it is the beginning of normalisation of regional relations with Israel; the first stage of a new regional order. The series…
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Nationalism and National Identity in Gulf States
Nationalism and national identity are two key concepts in the shaping of the contemporary world since the 19th century. Nationalism aims to create group loyalty, through a single national identity based on various aspects particular to a certain nation or homeland, including culture, religion, politics and a common shared history.…
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Qatar and the blockade have a new narrative with the Gulf Cup
The news that the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are to participate in the Gulf Cup football tournament was a surprise to most people. Ever since the blockade was imposed on Qatar in 2017, the blockading countries have refused to enter any negotiations. The region has witnessed a cold war…
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Israa Ghrayeb: murdered for ‘honour’
Dedicated to Israa Ghrayeb and all women who have been murdered in the name of “honour”. The recent heart-wrenching news of the murder of Israa Ghrayeb in Palestine sparked interest and debate on the concept of honour crimes in the Middle East. Every day, many women like Israa are killed…
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The power of storytelling and narrative-building for Middle Eastern women
Lila Abu-Lughod describes the work of contemporary scholars on women and gender studies in the Middle East as that of “storytelling”. She explains that these scholars are narrating stories about women and their lives in relation to power structures grounded in historical specificities within local contexts, cultural settings and political…
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The ‘othering’ of humanity, a divided world and the global rise in terrorism
Among the most pressing issues of the 21st century, “othering” and “belonging” have become common themes. These are part of the broader issues of nations and nationalism, and homogeneous identities which strive to create an “us” against “them” mentality. They require a sense of “separateness” through which our “belonging” is…
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Qatar’s victory in the Asian Cup illustrates the strength of soft power
The Asian Cup 2019 occupied centre stage in the Gulf over the past few weeks. The football matches between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and Qatar and the UAE in particular generated strong emotions and heated reactions in the countries involved. They were the first time since the start of the…
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Is ‘feminism’ really helping women’s rights in the Middle East?
“Feminism” was perhaps one of the most commonly used terms in 2018. In the past two years, global awareness on women’s issues has grown as a result of the #MeToo movement, and more recently #HearMeToo, the UN campaign to end gender violence globally. Until recently, I resolutely and almost rebelliously…