COVID‐19, nationalism, and the politics of crisis: A scholarly exchange

In this article, several scholars of nationalism discuss the potential for the COVID‐19 pandemic to impact the development of nationalism and world politics. To structure the discussion, the contributors respond to three questions: (1) how should we understand the relationship between nationalism and COVID‐19; (2) will COVID‐19 fuel ethnic and nationalist conflict; and (3) will COVID‐19 reinforce or erode the nation‐state in the long run? The contributors formulated their responses to these questions near to the outset of the pandemic, amid intense uncertainty. This made it acutely difficult, if not impossible, to make predictions. Nevertheless, it was felt that a historically and theoretically informed discussion would shed light on the types of political processes that could be triggered by the COVID‐19 pandemic. In doing so, the aim is to help orient researchers and policy‐makers as they grapple with what has rapidly become the most urgent issue of our times

Higher Education Systems and Institutions, Qatar

The tertiary education sector in Qatar has grown very rapidly, viewed as key to national development on the path to the “knowledge society,” also to reduce its reliance on limited natural resources. The states of the Islamic world, with a significant but long-obscured past of scientific achievement, are witnessing a contemporary renaissance. The establishment of international offshore, satellite or branch campuses in the Persian or Arabian Gulf region emphasizes the dynamism of higher education development. With a history of several decades, Qatar’s higher education and science policies join contrasting strategies prevalent in capacity building attempts worldwide – to emulate the strongest global exemplars through importation as well as to cultivate local, indigenous assets. Thus, university-related and science policymaking on the peninsula has been designed to directly connect with global developments while building local capacity in higher education and scientific productivit