Explain in Pairs What You Think Was Qatar's Error or Misapplication of Soft Power

Universidad de Las Américas

Seminarios de Temas Contemporáneos VI

Integrantes: Derlis Duchi

                    Carol Reina

Case Study: Explain in pairs what you think was Qatar's error or misapplication of soft power

In order to explain the effects of Soft Power, should be mention what the greatest referent Josep Ney said "is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments" (Ney, 2004). Qatar is a benchmark of soft power in the Middle East because it carried out the three Soft Power sources: culture, political values and foreign policies. Also, “Qatar relies on attraction and "carrots" to denote its soft power, “Qatar offers carrots for peace”, this is known as “carrot diplomacy”(Antwi-Boateng, 2013: 357).

Qatar structures its soft power through its image as a politically stable country and has a military alliance with U.S. (Antwi-Boateng, 2013). Also, it has a high economic capacity, a small population, many natural resources and a correct distribution of wealth to its citizens. Similarly, it has an excellent system of higher education that attracts many fo

reign students. This fact agrees with what Ney says, "Personal contact serves a vital channel for soft power" (Antwi-Boateng, 2013: 355).

Public Diplomacy is another way to deploy Soft Power as well and it is perceived as “an international actor´s attempt to manage the international area through engagement with the foreign public” (Cull, 2009: 12) and Qatar has used its sources intensely, such as: advocacy, cultural diplomacy and international broadcasting.

Al Jazeera media has become an international broadcaster and it has played an important role communicating each event in the Middle East, being one of the most representatives, the transmission of the Arab Spring and the interview to one of Syria's top jihadists (Malsin, 2017: s.p)

All the implemented tools have created a neutral image of Qatar, an intermediary between the United States and the Middle East, a place where conflicts can be mediated. Those tactics reached good outcomes, Qatar obtain the worldwide recognition. That country could establish a balance in a place naturally conflictive.

Over all, if we study the resources of Soft Power and how Qatar applied them, we conclude that Qatar did a good work because its Soft Power increased around the world but focused on its own region those tactics caused them troubles even though Qatar tried to maintain neutral among Saudi Arabia and Iran´s intereses. The international system is anarchic so countries should be careful in the way they try to influence over others counties, even more when it is related to a conflictive zone like the Middle East.

The current context has imbalance Qatar’s influence and power, due to a former conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It is included the religion: which county would lead muslims, the geopolitic: which country should dominates Middle East, the political ideology and different groups who support, for example: Iran back up Syria's president Bashar al Assad with Russia while Saudi Arabia finances moderate rebel groups in Syria along with the United States (BBC, 2016: s. p).

Playing a neutral role among this “Cold War” has resulted in economic sanctions and a total blockade from Saudi Arabia and its allies to Qatar. Saudi Arabia is implementing hard power to force Qatar to choose its side against Iran, it is also important to highlight that this country has one of the biggest reserve of petroleum and it has a huge control establishing the price of crude. So in this context of realism, if Qatar does not choose wisely a side, the negative results could affect seriously its whole structure, demolish all its efforts and come back at the moment where was just a small country controlled by the biggest ones.