Qatar offers a second compelling example of competitive access to resources before state building leading to kinship having governing salience after state building. Its tribal and historical similarity to Kuwait also makes it a useful point of comparison and provides an enriching empirical illustration of a case with governing salience as an outcome. In Qatar, access to vital limited resources was competitive before state building. During state building, the government attempted to consolidate power by building up public administration and engineering settlement patterns. However, kinship authority instrumentalised bureaucratic authority as a result of pathdependent constraints on how the government conducted this state-building process. Like in Kuwait, Qatar's government engaged kinship groups as kinship groups, preserving the salience of kinship. As a result, kinship in Qatar at the end of state building had governing salience.

Introduction

Qatar is an Arab Gulf state similar in size to Kuwait. It is surrounded by water on all sides except its southwestern border with Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, a historic rival, controls the Hawar Islands about a mile and a half off the western coast. About 2.6 million people live in Qatar – slightly less than in Kuwait. Over 80 per cent are expatriates. Like Kuwait, Qatar was a British protected state and enjoys substantial oil revenues that give it one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world.

Kinship authority played a large historical role in governance in Qatar. Prior to the arrival of the ruling Al Thani family, seasonal migrant tribes inhabited small fishing villages along the coast. These included the al- Musallam in Huwaylah, the Sudan in Fuwayrat, and the Maadhid and Al bin Ali in Doha. Access to Qatar's water resources, similar to Kuwait, was competitive between kinship groups prior to state building. Governmental attempts to bring these tribes within the purview of bureaucratic governance were constrained by pre-existing patterns of resource access. As a result, kinship authority in Qatar has governing salience.

The Ruling Family of Qatar

The Al Thani ruling family of Qatar is a part of the Bani Tamim, a massive tribe which spans the Arabian Peninsula and Levant. Like the Al Sabah in Kuwait, the Al Thani rose to prominence through diplomacy.