Qatar's Soft Power and Regional Influence — Ariel Admoni

This episode of The IR thinker explores Qatar’s soft power with Ariel Admoni, examining its role as a mediator in the Middle East, the leverage derived from energy exports, and the use of culture, education, real estate and global media to project influence. The conversation also looks at Qatar’s foreign aid strategy, the legacy of hosting the World Cup, the significance of Al Jazeera, and under-researched aspects of Qatari soft power on the regional and global stage.Ariel AdmoniAriel Admoni is a PhD candidate at Bar-Ilan University in Israel whose research focuses on Qatari politics and Qatar’s role in international relations. He has published on these themes in journals such as Contemporary Review of the Middle East, Middle East Policy and the Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.Publications:Same reasons, different outcomes: Qatar’s policy on Israel up to 1996Peace Is Relative: Qatar and Agreements with IsraelPolitical antisemitism: Qatar’s attitude towards Jews and IsraelOrder from Above: The Evolvement of Elections in QatarContent00:00 - Introduction01:43 - Qatari Regime Overview03:35 - Qatar’s Mediation in the Middle East07:58 - Sources of Qatari Negotiating Power12:06 - Emir Family vs. Diplomatic Corps13:48 - Qatar’s Foreign Aid Initiatives16:37 - Evaluating Qatari Foreign Aid18:40 - Influence of Qatari Energy Exports22:40 - Energy Deals and Soft Power25:20 - Long-Term Relevance of Qatar’s Energy Impact27:09 - Qatar’s Renewable Energy Impact28:35 - Real Estate Investment in Soft Power33:09 - Culture and Education in Qatar’s Strategy36:37 - Qatar’s Soft Power: Domestic and International38:15 - Success of Qatar’s Educational City Project40:49 - Impact of Hosting the World Football Championship47:08 - Al Jazeera TV and Qatar’s Soft Power51:59 - Analysing Al Jazeera’s Role55:36 - Qatar’s Influence in International Institutions01:01:16 - Qatar’s Mediation Between Israel and Hamas01:06:50 - Under-Researched Areas of Qatari Soft PowerFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.