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What is Qatar’s Strategic Relevance in the Contemporary Middle East?
Global Village Space |
Zaheer Muneer |
Qatar’s Strategic Relevance in the Contemporary Middle East
Qatar emerged as the regional power broker in 2006 with Israel’s war in Lebanon which resulted in Doha Agreement. Since then Qatar’s regional clout has grown considerably. Owing to its enormous economic wealth, political stability and information capabilities and, to some extent an apolitical populace, Qatar played an unparalleled role in 2011 Arab Spring; in which Al-Jazeera positioned itself as the voice of the revolutionaries of Syria and Libya. While Saudi Arabia was preoccupied in quashing anti-government movements in Yemen and Bahrain and other Gulf Monarchies were embroiled in internal political crises, Qatar saw an opportunity in this regional crises to emerge as a formidable political actor and expand its political clout from Morocco to Syria.
Qatar is situated at the northeastern coastal Arabian Peninsula, sharing its only land border with Saudi Arabia to its south. Despite being a smaller country in geographical terms, Qatar has started exercising profound political and economic clout in regional and international politics owing to its diversified foreign policy and third largest reserves of oil and gas.
Qatar’s role as a regional economic and political power from a relatively medieval, tribal state began in 1995 when the former emir of Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, was deposed by none other than his own son, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in a coup d’etat when the father Sheikh was vacationing in Swiss Alps. Sheikh Hamad, the son, left his father a simple telephone message: “Don’t Come Back.”
Upon taking the throne, the new Emir of Qatar introduced various reforms to liberalize country’s culture and economy and develop a diverse foreign policy approach towards the Middle East and the world and integrating his country more with international finance and political dispensation.
Read more: Qatar Denies Stopping Workers from Leaving When They Want
It adopted a very delicate posture towards its foreign relations in regards to regional and international actors, a balancing act which until now played an important role in raising Qatar’s international profile as a regional power broker and an indispensable nation in regional power dynamics. On one hand, Qatar supported monetarily Islamists movements like Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood and on the other hand, yet, it enjoys cordial relationships with Europe and U.S.
Kristen C. Ulrichsen, a fellow at Baker Institute and author of Qatar and the Arab Spring, has identified five fundamental elements essential for Qatar’s regional and international rapport – establishment and sustaining of Al-Jazeera, developing tourism, placement of Doha as an educational and cultural hub, hosting of international sporting events, and presenting itself as an environmental-friendly country.
Read more: Saudi Arabia inches towards modernity with Prince Mohammed’s Initiatives
How Qatar become a regional power
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera played a significant role in Arab Spring when its airwaves were full of political opposition to the regimes in Syria, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere to regional and international communities and channelizing support for the revolutionaries. Qatar by its policy of supporting and sponsoring dissent enraged the embattled regimes including Syria’s Bashar Ul-Assad, who expelled Khalid Meshal, Political Leader of Hamas, from Damascus following which Hamas Political Leadership found sanctuary in Doha.
Read full article:
What is Qatar’s Strategic Relevance in the Contemporary Middle East?
Global Village Space |
Zaheer Muneer |
Qatar’s Strategic Relevance in the Contemporary Middle East
Qatar emerged as the regional power broker in 2006 with Israel’s war in Lebanon which resulted in Doha Agreement. Since then Qatar’s regional clout has grown considerably. Owing to its enormous economic wealth, political stability and information capabilities and, to some extent an apolitical populace, Qatar played an unparalleled role in 2011 Arab Spring; in which Al-Jazeera positioned itself as the voice of the revolutionaries of Syria and Libya. While Saudi Arabia was preoccupied in quashing anti-government movements in Yemen and Bahrain and other Gulf Monarchies were embroiled in internal political crises, Qatar saw an opportunity in this regional crises to emerge as a formidable political actor and expand its political clout from Morocco to Syria.
Qatar is situated at the northeastern coastal Arabian Peninsula, sharing its only land border with Saudi Arabia to its south. Despite being a smaller country in geographical terms, Qatar has started exercising profound political and economic clout in regional and international politics owing to its diversified foreign policy and third largest reserves of oil and gas.
Qatar’s role as a regional economic and political power from a relatively medieval, tribal state began in 1995 when the former emir of Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, was deposed by none other than his own son, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in a coup d’etat when the father Sheikh was vacationing in Swiss Alps. Sheikh Hamad, the son, left his father a simple telephone message: “Don’t Come Back.”
Upon taking the throne, the new Emir of Qatar introduced various reforms to liberalize country’s culture and economy and develop a diverse foreign policy approach towards the Middle East and the world and integrating his country more with international finance and political dispensation.
Read more: Qatar Denies Stopping Workers from Leaving When They Want
It adopted a very delicate posture towards its foreign relations in regards to regional and international actors, a balancing act which until now played an important role in raising Qatar’s international profile as a regional power broker and an indispensable nation in regional power dynamics. On one hand, Qatar supported monetarily Islamists movements like Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood and on the other hand, yet, it enjoys cordial relationships with Europe and U.S.
Kristen C. Ulrichsen, a fellow at Baker Institute and author of Qatar and the Arab Spring, has identified five fundamental elements essential for Qatar’s regional and international rapport – establishment and sustaining of Al-Jazeera, developing tourism, placement of Doha as an educational and cultural hub, hosting of international sporting events, and presenting itself as an environmental-friendly country.
Read more: Saudi Arabia inches towards modernity with Prince Mohammed’s Initiatives
How Qatar become a regional power
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera played a significant role in Arab Spring when its airwaves were full of political opposition to the regimes in Syria, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere to regional and international communities and channelizing support for the revolutionaries. Qatar by its policy of supporting and sponsoring dissent enraged the embattled regimes including Syria’s Bashar Ul-Assad, who expelled Khalid Meshal, Political Leader of Hamas, from Damascus following which Hamas Political Leadership found sanctuary in Doha.
Read full article:
What is Qatar’s Strategic Relevance in the Contemporary Middle East?
