Mariam Ibrahim Al-Hammadi /Humanities Department, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, 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 a 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 utilizes academics, the military, foreign aid, sports policy, and media influence. Within this paper, I discuss how Qatar's soft power policy’s sustainability and viability are of concern, how the country is applying the soft power approach in its international relations, and the prices Qatar paid for its soft power policy.
Keywords: Soft power, Qatar's foreign policy, Qatari culture, Policymaking in Qatar, Cultural policy, Qatari Identity, Qatari museums.