Qatar: “Pygmy With the Punch of a Giant”

An Economist analysis discusses the growing role Qatar has played in Middle Eastern geopolitics, stating that the tiny Gulf country “punches far above its weight.” The article refers to the role Qatar played in the Libyan uprising, which included military, diplomatic, and financial support, as the most prominent evidence. Opportunism has guided Qatari policy, the article states, along with vast wealth and ambition “mixed with a mild appetite for risk that stands in contrast to other more shy-mannered Gulf potentates. The quiet protection of America’s heavy bootprint also lent encouragement.” The article also dismisses the concern of Qatar exporting its Wahabbi brand of Islam, suggesting that “Qataris and their rulers are pragmatists, not ideologues.”

Michael Hughes writes that “Qatar’s leadership team has applied vision and imagination…in trying to stabilize the Middle East.” Hughes adds that “perhaps the road to peace in Afghanistan can run through Doha. Qatar is a nonaligned, enlightened Muslim country with a penchant for resolving political and religious strife, making it an appealing interlocutor to a wide range of moderate and conservative factions across Afghan society’s ethnic, tribal and sectarian mosaic.”

Finally, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi examines the survival of the remaining Arab monarchies, including Qatar, and the need for some types of reform. The author suggests that “Arab monarchies can extend the status quo if they eliminate corruption, graft and the increasingly worrying phenomenon of ruling family members who have both a public position and private business interests.” He adds that “modern Arab history has taught us of the ramifications of perpetual reform delays on monarchies, [and] the Arab monarchies are in urgent need of … visionary leadership.”