Introduction -- Chapter 1: An Economic Hostage in Qatar -- 1995: A New Qatar Begins to Take Shape -- Stunning Economic and Population Growth -- Who's Who in Qatar -- Striking Oil -- Independence -- Understanding the Qatari Population -- A Plan to Move Away from a Carbon-based Economy -- Setting the Stage for 2022's World Cup -- Chapter 2: A Wannabe Superpower: Qatar's Political and Military Involvement throughout the Middle East -- Lebanon -- Israel -- Sudan -- Yemen -- Tunisia -- Egypt -- Libya -- Syria -- Influential but Ineffective? -- Chapter 3: How a Totalitarian Regime has taken on the Mantel of Bringing Democracy to the Region -- The Guise of Democracy in Qatar -- A Decidedly Un-free Society -- Women -- Workplace and Working Conditions -- Noncitizen Rights -- Religious Freedoms -- Internet Freedoms and Freedom of Speech -- Annual Democracy Forums Hosted by a Totalitarian Regime -- Using Al Jazeera as the Mouthpiece of the Government -- Doha Debates -- Shaping the Perception of Youth-in Qatar and Elsewhere -- Promoting Democracy? Or Disillusioned Dreams of Controlling the World? -- Chapter 4: A Sponsorship System Akin to Slavery -- Beyond the GCC: An In-Depth Look at the Kafala System -- Filing Complaints and Demonstrating, Despite a Culture of Silence -- A Country where the Vast Majority of the Population Has No Rights -- Chapter 5: The Cost of Doing Business in Qatar -- Chapter 6: The Opportunity of a Lifetime -- Chapter 7: Arabian Nightmares -- Chapter 8: Banned from Leaving -- Criminal Charges -- Human Rights Department -- Chapter 9: Life in Qatar and the Never-ending Attempts to Remove the Travel Ban -- U.S. Embassy -- Removing the Travel Ban -- Bounced Checks -- Chapter 10: Going Public -- Setting the Record Straight -- Facebook, Twitter & the Media -- The Audit Committee -- Chapter 11: The Real Doha, Behind the Fancy Façade.

Life on The Pearl -- Day to Day Life -- The Final Days -- Arriving in Beirut -- Detroit -- Chapter 12: Moving On -- Appendix I: It Could Happen to You: Western Companies Operating in Qatar (And Why They Are) -- American Education in the Gulf Desert -- Research & Development to Bolster Qatar's Knowledge-based Economy -- ExxonMobil: An American Behemoth in Qatar -- A Growing Financial Services Sector -- Rumors of Corruption and the Danger to Foreign Workers -- Appendix II: Other Westerners Trapped in Qatar -- David Proctor -- Philippe Bogaert -- Other Victims -- Ian Heywood -- Tracy Edwards -- Yves Pendeliau -- Appendix III: Advice to Americans Looking to Work Abroad -- Acknowledgements -- Bibliography -- Index.