Qatar The Ambitions of a Rich Small Nation Micol Briziobello - Misna

Qatar
The Ambitions of a Rich Small Nation
Micol Briziobello
Qatar has become one of the main players in the Arab
political scene and has gained clout outside the Middle East.
The Qatari satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera is considered so
powerful that even The US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
cites it as a means of communication that is changing how
people think in the Arab world.
Qatar’s Emir Hamad, an ambitious man, is keen to have an
important political role, on an international level, as is seen
with his increasingly closer ties with the United States;
viewed with caution by some Western governments. Qatar
has also taken advantage of Mubarak’s exit from the
political landscape and has taken Egypt’s place as one of the
most influential nations in the Arab League.
An Absolute Monarchy
The state of Qatar is a peninsula, and for the most part is
covered with sand, having a land mass of eleven thousand
square kilometres, bordering Saudi Arabia to the south and
the rest of it surrounded by the Persian Gulf. On the 3 rd of
September 1971, after centuries of being ruled by the
Persians, Bahrain, the Ottomans and the British, Qatar
declared independence.

Unlike the majority of the neighbouring emirates, the
country refused to become part of either Saudi Arabia, or the
United Arab Emirates. The country, in the eighties
supported Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war but in 1991, it opposed
Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and sided with the forces that
fought against Iraq in the Gulf War. Territorial disputes
with Saudi Arabia in September 1992 complicated relations
between the two countries, though they reached an accord in
May 1993.
Qatar is an absolute Monarchy, led by the Al Thani royal
family, to which 40% of the native population belong to. On
the 27 th of June 1995, heir to the throne, Hamad bin Khalifa
Al Thani deposed his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani
and started a policy of openness towards Iran, Iraq and
Israel. The current Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who
is head of the armed forces and Minister of Defence named
his fourth son Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani on August 8 th
2003 as heir apparent after his brother Jasim bin Hamad Al-
Thani renounced the role. In April 2003, a new constitution
was approved, allowing for the election of 30 of the 45
members of parliament. The remaining 15 are chosen by the
Emir.
A Diversified Economy
In recent years, industrial diversification has literally seen
the country’s GDP explode, and has seen Qatar score all the
most important globalised “Western” economic initiatives,
including the Football World Cup.

In fact, it will host the Football World Cup in 2022, despite a
landmass of only 150 by 75 kilometres and its population of
only 2 million. The main reason that it has garnered such
worldwide interest is due to its presence in the world’s
financial sectors.
Through the Authority for Investments, created in 2005, the
country has assured itself an important role in many
investment projects in Greece, Indonesia, Germany and in
the U.K and Qatar holdings owns 17% of Volkswagen, 10%
of Porsche and large amounts of gold mines in Greece. In the
U.K, the Emirate has invested 23 billion in 2 years,
acquiring the buildings in London that house Harrods and
the US embassy. It has also invested in technologies for the
extraction of natural gas, in training, in financial services
and in the field of alternative energies. This strategy,
launched in 1995, has been a huge success with its GDP
increasing from 17.5 billion in 1995 to 150 billion in 2010.
Not surprisingly, even Qatar puts aside a quarter of its state
budget for its armed forces. The relations between Qatar;
which presides over the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference, and other states in the Gulf have been affected
by its broadcasting of Al-Jazeera and its policy of military
support to the United States. Since the opening of the US
military base in Udeid, near Doha, Qatar has become the
command centre for war operations, replacing Saudi Arabia.
Qatar is also a member of the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) with it being its greatest
economic resource, on which its vast wealth is based.

Its first reserves were found in the forties and the
commercialisation of its crude oil began in the fifties. In
1974, the government founded the Qatar General Petroleum
Corporation, a delegated authority set up to control its oil
resources. Also, in North West Dome, the world’s largest
deposits of natural gas not linked to petrol have been found.
The government uses the profits from its oil concessions to
finance the industrial development of the country.
Other than carrying out oil refinement, the manufacturing
industries also produce cement, fertilizers and steel. Since
1997, The Emirate has had its own share market, called the
Doha Securities market. Being a primary producer of liquid
natural gas, Qatar has in only the month of February set up
within the energy and infrastructure sectors a series of
important international accords.
The national company RasGas has undersigned an
agreement with the Korean company Kogas for the supply of
two million tonnes of liquefied natural gas, that will add to
the already 7 million tonnes exported to the Asian nation a
year. Only a few hours later, Qatar’s Minister for Energy
and his counterpart in Pakistan signed a memorandum to
ensure the supply of 500 million metres cubed of gas
everyday to Islamabad. At the same time, Qatar Electricity
and Water closed the deal with Bahrain’s Infrastructure
fund to garner a 23.3% share in Jordan’s largest electrical
plant in Amman. Its economic clout has even made it to
Turkey, thanks to its acquisition of Turk Telecom, the
flagship of Turkey’s stock exchange, with a share of 15

illion, which is currently controlled by a company owned by
the Hariri family. If everything goes to plan, Qatar will also
get its hands on Cell C, South Africa’s third largest
telecommunications provider.
The Search for New Lands
Despite its huge oil reserves, harvested farmland in Qatar is
minimal, and the country has to rely on imports for the bulk
of its food needs: by the end of the 90’s, the country was selfsufficient
in only fruits and vegetables, and it is for this
reason that the Emir has invested in large agricultural areas
overseas.
The agricultural branch, (Hassad Food) of the nation’s
wealth fund has in fact bought land in Sudan and Australia,
announcing its plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars
on agricultural projects in countries such as Kenya, Brazil,
Argentina, Turkey and Ukraine. Qatar has an added
objective, which differentiates it from its Arab neighbours,
and that is its aim to produce vast quantities for its own
needs, and spending large amounts of money to increase its
cereal production, converting its semi-arid lands into ones
used for harvesting.
For this reason at the start of 2012 passed, the Emir passed
a bill for the establishment of Qatar’s National Food and
Security Program, which will come into effect by 2014.
Currently, there are 1400 factories and thanks to the new
program; this will increase to 3 thousand. If new
technologies are employed, and efficiency increased, food

production for Qatar’s domestic use will easily meet 60% of
its domestic needs, according to Fuhad Bin Mohammad al
Attiya, the President of QNFSP.
Al Jazeera: Qatar’s own Television Channel
Qatari television channel Al Jazeera is lending its support
daily to the vanishing “organisations” of the Syrian
“opposition” that talk of “democracy” and “human rights”. In
the meantime, it’s noteworthy to add that Al-Jazeera has
become more of a pan-Islamic network rather than a pan-
Arab one, and many journalists have resigned in protest of a
channel that has turned itself into a weapon against the
Syrian regime.
Since the 17 th of March, it has been revealed how the
mythicised television channel Al-Jazeera has been losing
support, especially due to its one-sided coverage of the crisis
in both Syria and Bahrain. As far as Bahrain was concerned,
everyone had thought that the revolution was only going to
affect North Africa and that Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and
Qatar were going to be spared. Qatar had considered
Bahrain a peaceful and secure nation, and had even thought
about joining the two countries by building a 43 km bridge,
costing 3 billion dollars that will have be completed by 2013.
This is the reason Qatar conveniently chose to hide the
actual truth of what was happening in Bahrain.
According to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, many
journalists have not accepted this type of political
partisanship, and some senior members of the Qatari

oadcaster in Beirut have even announced their imminent
resignation or have already resigned.
The managing director of the Office in Beirut, Hassan
Shaaban, has spoken of his imminent departure, which
follows the departure of Al-Jazeera correspondent Ali
Hashem and producer Mousa Ahmad. This has served as a
protest against the reports and censorship regarding the
events taking place in the Arab world, and in particular, in
Syria and Bahrain. According to the newspaper, Ali Hashem
made the decision after Al-Jazeera had refused to show a
photo that he had taken in Syria of armed fighters in clashes
against the Syrian army in Wadi Khaled. He was also
furious about Al-Jazeera’s opposition against covering the
King of Bahrain’s repression of protesters who had been
peacefully asking for the same democratic reforms that the
Syrian opposition had been demanding.
The producer of the Beirut Office, Mousa Ahmad, had also
protested as to why Al Jazeera had totally ignored a recently
passed referendum by Syrian President al- Assad on
constitutional reforms of the regime (the end of the Baath
one party regime and limits on the time allowed for
presidential mandates) that saw the participation of 57% of
the electorate.
The satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera (still financed in part by
the Emir) has been influential in the protests in Tunisia and
Egypt and at the start of April, last year, Qatar had asked
openly for the resignation of Yemen’s President, Ali
Abdullah Saleh. In July 2011, despite the excellent relations

with Syria prior to the protests, Qatar was the first Gulf
state to close their embassy in Damascus. However, a part
from possible consequences, it is interesting to note Qatar’s
“pro-revolution” and “pro-democracy” stance, as well as the
leader’s ambiguous position, in maintaining relations with
Iran and housing an US military base.
As the centre of Al-Jazeera, a satellite television channel
that offers comprehensive and free reports on the entire
Arab world, it is interesting to note that this does not spread
to reporting on its own country. In Syria, loyalists and pro-
Assad media outlets refer to it as a slave of America. In the
West, there are those that see the Emir as having an
important role, and as a courageous diplomat and mediator,
whilst others accuse him of helping Islamic groups in Libya
and dislike him having excellent relations with the religious
parties in Tunisia and Egypt, and of facilitating an Islamic
program.
Macro-regional interests
A) Syria
The Emir of Qatar was the first Arab leader, from the start
to be completely in favour of foreign intervention in Syria.
The Emir, Hamad is an ambitious man, and he is not
content with only wealth and having a presence, but is also
determined in carrying out an important political role,
internationally, which to this point has been a success,
declaring himself at the start of the “Arab Springs” a
defender of the protests, and not only through words.

As has been seen, Qatar was integral in guaranteeing the
support of the Arab league in NATO’s intervention in Libya,
and in March 2011, he helped the rebels to create training
camps in Bengasi and on the Nafusa mountains west of
Tripoli and also helped them on an economic level, by giving
them 400 million dollars.
Several months later, Qatar’s sheik, responsible for the
mission of the Arab League’s observers in Syria, has been
pushing for the deployment of Arab troops in Syria to stop
the bloodshed. In the Arab world, opposed to the idea are
Iraq and Algeria, despite the pressure asserted by Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and other petrol led monarchies, who want to
gain the upper hand. Regional and international interests
are planning Syria’s future and debate as to whether there
should be foreign intervention even by the Syrian opposition
itself is not being taken into consideration.
Haytham al Manna, leader of the Committee for National
Co-ordination, including national and leftist movements and
groups has recently reacted with anger at the announcement
made by Burhan Ghalioun from the Syrian National
Council, which includes conservative groups, the Muslim
brotherhood and other Islamic movements because of an
accord reached in Turkey with Syrian military deserters.
The announcement, according to Haytham al Manna; who is
opposed to external interference in Syria, will no doubt be a
decisive step towards civil war. Furthermore, at the
beginning of the protests in Egypt, following on from the
protests in Tunisia, observers asked themselves constantly

who would be the next country to suffer the sane plight, and
they also spoke of a domino effect, which is exactly what has
taken place.
B) Libya, Algeria and Tunisia
Completing the picture, it’s important to mention the
meeting in Algeria of the Ministers for Energy and Industry
of both Qatar and Algeria, which concluded with both
nations signing a co-operation memorandum concerning the
mining sector with a possible impact on the sector of food
production. A fact that most definitely cannot be ignored is
that both countries are producers of hydrocarbons and that
Qatar has the world’s biggest reserves of gas.
Due to exactly this, on the 16th of November 2011, in Doha,
the first ever summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum
(www.gecforum.org) was held. A major priority was the
meetings between Libya and Algeria, meant to help kick
start relations between the two nations. Also a priority was
the visit to Algeria, following on from the visit by the
Tunisian “Nadha”, which is not surprising if we take into
consideration that Qatar is prone to “spoiling” their local
Islamic opposition and it’s for this reason that it can
entertain having diplomatic discussions, already having the
upper hand.
For example, as with Libya, Algeria is a country rich in oil
and gas whose revenue is distributed badly. It is not
difficult, in this case to use the population as leverage for a
change in regime, as well as its growing role in protecting

opposition members in exile, in particular the network of the
ex Algerian IFS (Islamic Front of Salvation) which causes a
certain amount of concern. One of the leading figures of this
opposition is Abassi Madani, who lives in Qatar, and is a
part of the Maghrebine
Islamist circle which has strong relations with the Libyan
National Transitional Council, which has long held tensions
with Algeria.
Another guest of Qatar is oppositional member Saad
Djebbar, the Emir’s personal lawyer, who is regularly
interviewed on Al-Jazeera, commenting on events in
Maghreb and in Algeria. Algerians suspect that Qatar wants
to finance a television channel that could be managed by
foreign opposition members, which is what happened in
Libya.
Even if Algeria tries to calm the waters and avoid
confrontation with Doha, Qatar will obviously play the
revolution card in Algeria. The threats made by Jassem Ben
Jabr Al Thani to his Algerian counterpart at the time of the
vote for the suspension of Syria’s membership to the Arab
league, clearly highlight Qatar’s standpoint on this issue. In
fact, for the Emir, change in Algeria as well as in other areas
of the Maghreb could happily go to moderate Islam, explain
experts of Arab politics. This could indeed be the message
Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Tunisian Nadha, who
currently occupies the post of Vice-President of the World
League of Ulama Muslims, whose influence on Islamist
parties in the Arab-Muslim world is considerable.

In the Arab World
One is completely justified in asking how the tiny Qatar has
been able to play such a major role on the Arab scene given
this absolute monarchy’s importance is on par with that of
its powerful neighbour and “rival” Saudia Arabia, to the
point that they decide whether a country as strong as Syria
is allowed to remain part of the Arab League or not.
It’s important not to forget, as has been mentioned before,
that Qatar played an integral role throughout the Libyan
civil war, pushing the Arab League to give the green light to
a military attack by the willing NATO army against
Muammar Gheddafi. Doha also provided, first in secret and
then openly, weapons (and maybe even men) to the rebels of
the National Transitional Council.
Russian political scientist Vjacheslav Matuzov has
underlined Qatar’s negative effect on the Arab League,
adding the United States want to see Syria’s collapse as an
independent Arab state. “The West has only one request for
the mission of the Arab observers, and that is to gain their
solidarity against radical Islam, without any concern for the
events happening on the ground.” It should also be taken
into consideration that the opening of a Taliban Office in
Qatar puts an end, officially to the American war against
terrorism, with the enemies of yesterday now becoming
today’s allies.
The power of this tiny country does not solely depend on
their deposits of gas, which is not even comparable to the
importance of Saudi Arabia’s reserves of crude oil.

However, what has brought them to the helm are some
notable developments: the reconciliation (at least in
appearance) of the Emir al-Thani with the Saudi monarchy;
the fall of Egypt’s powerful ex-president Hosni Mubarak,
and Jordan’s decreased role, due to King Abdallah’s concerns
about the threat on his own power by the wave of Arab
protests and the pressure exerted by the crisis (now, a civil
war) in the bordering Syria and the unresolved Palestine
issue.
The improving of relations with Saudi Arabia has convinced
Emir al-Thani to fully abandon his old allies in Hezbollah
and Syria so as to become part of America’s inner circle, thus
completing its objective of gaining closer ties with
Washington, a process started in the past with the opening
of important bases and American military command centres
on Qatari territory.
Qatar has also replaced Egypt as one of the most influential
countries in the Arab League, taking advantage of
Mubarak’s exit from the political scene and because of this
has taken the opportunity offered through less tense
relations with the Saudis to gain more clout at the summits
of the Council for Gulf Co-operation, having worked solidly
over the last two years to open up policies aimed at
containing Iran’s influence in the region.
In fact, in recent months, Qatar has been fundamental in
approving the Saudi’s armed intervention in helping
Bahrain’s King, Hamad Khalifa, placed under pressure by
his population’s demands for democratic reforms and for

equality among the Sunni minority and the Shiite majority.
Also, it’s important to note that the wave of protests could
one day make its way to the rest of the Gulf, after Bahrain,
Oman and Kuwait.
Last February, French newspaper “Le Monde” spoke about
Qatar’s leadership ambitions and its greed as seen in its
investments throughout the world, given its attempt in
imposing itself on the Arab world in a way that some admire,
but others find annoying or even concerning. “Le Monde”
featured a large report on Qatar in their economy section,
claiming that the country “has enormous diplomatic and
economic power thanks to its vast amounts of gas reserves,
being the world’s leaders in this particular sector”.
It’s interesting to note that Qatar’s Prince recently met the
mayor of Paris, in which they discussed at length the large
number of investments this tiny country can afford. Amongst
these, one cannot help but mention the organisation of the
Football World Cup in 2022 (which we mentioned before) the
purchasing of French football team Paris Saint-Germain and
also the billions of dollars invested in the Greek goldmines.
Furthermore, Qatar has purchased 5% of the Brazilian bank
Santander, considered the leading financial institution in
Latin America, as well as the investments in Miramax
(Disney) and in Indonesia.
The absurdly small size of Qatar allows for its wealth
produced within the country to be distributed within it as
well, which is not what happens in other countries.

Qatari citizens do not pay tax and they receive from the
State: a house, a job and free education in the best
universities in the world. Georgetown University has opened
a campus in Doha with the presence of Sheikha Moza (the
Emir’s second wife) at the new building’s inauguration. Once
they are married, Qataris receive other benefits, one of
which is a property. Add to all this, roads with 5 lanes
surrounded by flowers in the desert, stadiums and colossal
sized facilities without having to pay one cent in tax.
This is the reason why Qatar is seen as a happy island in a
time of rebellion. Even NATO considers Doha, a secure place
to discuss the strengthening of its partnership with “ICI”,
Istanbul’s Co-operation Initiative, created by NATO in 2004
in an attempt to involve the Gulf nations in issues
concerning security in the Middle East. Now, these issues
are more pressing, not only because of the continuing
fighting, but also to guarantee the security of energy supply
channels threatened by pirates in the Aden strait and by
changes in the political landscape.
It’s not by chance that the Qataris don’t have the slightest
urge to protest against their government. The rest of the
Middle East is not looking to democracy for a need for
equality and civil liberties, but more so because democracy
allows for a fairer distribution of a country’s resources and
wealth. The Middle East is fascinated by democracy not for
its values, but for its ability to generate wealth and
redistribute it amongst the whole population.

If the wealth was accessible to all, nobody would want
democracy in the Middle East and Qatar is the very
embodiment of this.
If everybody were rich, democracy could be sacrificed
because it’s not considered a value, in itself, but more as a
means to an end. A revolution in Qatar would never take
place because democracy is not needed, as everybody is
already wealthy. This is their reasoning, or at the very least,
this is what it seems to be.