Qatar's Rising Soft Power: From the 1996 Failed Coup to the 2022 World Cup

Mariam I. Al-Hammadi
Qatar University and Community College Qatar

Abstract

This paper examines Qatar's use of soft power by shedding light on national imperatives for adopting a soft power approach to foreign policy making. The paper approaches soft power from an interdisciplinary perspective to show how the State of Qatar has developed the finely tuned foreign policy since the failed coup in 1996. Being a small state in the Arabian Gulf, Qatar has focused on proving itself on the world stage. The rise in power for Qatar indicates how a small country can overpower challenges and become successful by adopting soft power. Qatar's soft power policies are utilized in academics, the military, foreign aid, sports policy, and media influence. Within this paper I discuss how Qatar's soft policy's sustainability and viability are of concern, and how the country is applying the policy of soft power in its international relations. This paper reports that the soft power policy of small states like Qatar demands a holistic approach that takes the concrete and abstract elements of soft power into consideration with an adequate appreciation of geo-political, socio-economic, and cultural aspects in the foreign policy making.

Presentation