The World Cup is Qatar’s accelerator of development: it has strengthened rather than weakened Qatar’s domestic and foreign policy and has already made it more sustainable.
Signs of solidarity from Qatar’s Arab neighbors have increased in recent days. At a match in Iraq, supporters of Baghdad’s Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya club unfurled a banner reading “We stand by Qatar 2022”.
The latest statement from the last Arab League meeting condemned the “malicious campaigns of distortion and skepticism” that cast a shadow on the World Cup. Arab members of the UN educational, scientific and cultural organization Unesco also criticized “misleading media campaigns against Qatar”.
The entire region benefits from the positive cultural effects of the World Cup. Does Qatar get that much sympathy around the world?
Not only that, golf expert Bianco observes how enthusiastically diplomatic delegations and business representatives from all over the world, for example Latin America, visit Qatar. They would go on a journey – otherwise too far – to watch the matches.
Expert: Qatar is working on global attention
But the purpose behind this is also to establish new networks in many different fields. In the global limelight, Qatar is not moving from the edges to the center for a limited time.
In many parts of the world, a smaller country than Schleswig-Holstein, Qatar has already gained international prestige thanks to the World Cup, strengthened its brand name and established itself as a reliable, world-class host for global events.
When it comes to diplomacy, Qatar has always played well above the weight class, with successful mediation efforts around the world. “Bring everyone together, let everyone celebrate together” – already a success story.
Reducing political tension
It also fits that Qatar has been de-escalating politically in recent years. After the Arab Spring of 2011, it relied on controversial alliances such as the Muslim Brotherhood, but has adopted a less controversial foreign policy since 2021. Also to reduce tensions with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The leadership in Doha now wants as many friends as possible and as few enemies as necessary.
Ice thawing in the Gulf after a four-year period of blockade and isolation: After Egypt joined its allies in the Gulf for four years and accused Qatar of terrorism, in September Egyptian President Al-Sisi’s Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’ He even visited .
“Qatar National Vision 2030”
However, the World Cup orientation within the country has already strengthened the country. Qatari economist and analyst Abdallah Al-Khater explains that the World Cup strategically serves as a means of realizing the “Qatar National Vision 2030”, a government initiative aimed at transforming Qatar into a “global society” and achieving higher living standards.
Qatar’s economy is dominated by fossil fuels – the country has the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves and is a leading oil producer. How do you position yourself for the future, how do you become independent from fluctuations in the world market?
Analyst: Investors know what Qatar is capable of
The World Cup has been the vehicle to diversify the economy and turn it into a business and tourism center to the end. World Cup preparations have already caused the share of fossil fuels to decline in gross domestic product.
With visible pride, Al-Khater explains, “Infrastructure, metros, new regions, ports and airports have been planned, our national airline Qatar Airways has experienced tremendous growth. Investors now know what Qatar is capable of.”
Goals: More digitization, more green energy
The term “vision” is common in all Gulf countries, where absolutist rulers are committed to lofty goals and projects they implement alone. Referring to Germany, Al-Khater warns that societies without vision are stagnating.
To prevent the decline in growth after the World Cup, it also calls for the next bold step that is the “big dream” for Qatar: towards the knowledge economy, digital economies and smart cities with green energy.
Source: ZDF
I am Timothy Glover, a professional journalist and content creator. I specialize in writing and editing for news websites, specifically covering politics. I have been working as an author at News Unrolled for the past five years and have built up a reputation for producing quality content that is both informative and engaging.
