‘Gazodollar diplomacy’: How tiny Qatar wields great influence in the centers of power

A narrow peninsula at the end of the Saudi Arabian desert, sandwiched between Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar managed in three decades to become a central player on the international stage, using a simple but effective strategy: intensive purchase of influence through “gas dollars”. .

Financial or sports investments abroad or diplomatic good offices, the emirate of Qatar does not neglect any area to increase its influence in the world and exist in an Arab-Persian environment shaken by crises.

“There is this desire in Qatar to have a place on the world map, to have special weight, to be friends with the whole world, to talk to people that others don’t talk to. They managed to become indispensable,” Georges Malbrino, Le Figaro journalist and one of the authors of the book “Qatar Papers” published in 2019 and dedicated to Qatari financing of European projects, told AFP.

“They are not ideologues, but pragmatists. Their strategy is elaborate and based on one central idea: “whoever pays, influences”. This idea translates into a tendency to buy off large numbers of people and using means of questionable legality,” emphasizes Georges Malbrino.

This openness is today at the center of the corruption scandal in Brussels, where members of the European Parliament – among them one of its vice-presidents, Eva Kaili -, are accused of receiving large sums of money from Qatar in exchange for defending its interests.

Sports diplomacy

Qatar has been ruled undisturbed for decades by the Al-Thani family. His place in the world lists of statistics is negligible. Its population is less than 3 million inhabitants and its area of ​​11,500 square kilometers ranks it just before Corsica.

A close ally of the United States and France, Qatar serves an ultra-conservative Islam and financially relies on its colossal revenues from oil and, above all, natural gas exports.

“They have become useful and are considered useful by many countries,” a former French ambassador to Qatar told AFP.

“Having money certainly helps. But that is not all. They have a unique sense of opportunity and know how to negotiate,” adds the diplomat.

The first brilliant idea of ​​Qatar’s leaders dates back to the 90s with the creation of the Al Jazeera television network. His original ambition was to take the step that would give the floor to the Arab world.

The network’s programming is broadcast in multiple languages ​​from its 80 offices around the world. Called by some the “Arab CNN” it became the mouthpiece of the Arab Spring movements. Even if his line was seen as remaining favorable to the Islamists, he was treated as a tool in Qatar’s diplomatic service.

To this was added a very effective “sports diplomacy”, through the organization of major international sporting events – the disputed World Cup is only the latest -, the establishment in the decade of 2010 of the very popular sports network beIN or the acquisition of football teams in global scale, such as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The emirate of Qatar may bid to host the 2036 Olympics.

At the same time, the wealthy emirate has invested in large international groups (Volkswagen, Vinci, Hapag-Lloyd, Barclays …) or in the real estate sector, usually through the state fund Qatar Investment Authority, one of the most important in the world.

And to all this is added the funding in recent years of 140 projects of Muslim mosques, schools and Islamic centers in Europe for the benefit of associations usually associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, as the “Qatar Papers” have revealed.

“Interlocutors of everything”

But Qatar’s influence is even more spectacular in the diplomatic sphere.

“They have become interlocutors of everything, the US and Iran, Iran and Israel, Israel and Hamas, the Taliban and the US, because they seek to assume the role of the necessary agent and mediator in the region,” says Emma Soubriere of the Institut de la Paix et du Développement of the University of Côte d’Azur in Nice.

After all, in Doha, the capital of Qatar, Washington negotiated with the Taliban the withdrawal of American military forces, and there the US “dialogue” with the new rulers of Afghanistan continues. Doha was also the hub through which the exodus of Westerners and some Afghans from Kabul was organized after the Taliban’s victory.

But the bottom line is that Qatar’s strategy “is part of an extreme competition with the United Arab Emirates, which is also pursuing a very aggressive strategy in influence operations on a global scale and, to a lesser extent, with Saudi Arabia,” Emma explains. Soubrier.

This competition recently turned into a crisis: for more than three years, from June 2017 until the official reconciliation in January 2021, Qatar’s economy was affected by the embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt. The three countries have accused Doha, despite its denials, of supporting extremist groups and reaching out to Shiite Iran, Riyadh’s main regional rival.

RES-EMP

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.