Doha skyline
Image: dpa
The emirate participates with its gas revenues in car manufacturers, banks and football clubs. What is the strategy behind the engagement in Germany, France and Great Britain?
When the football World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday, that will be the high point for the emirate, which is smaller than Hesse but wants to be a giant on the world stage. The major event draws attention to how far the kingdom has come with its gigantic natural gas deposits. Qatar is now closely intertwined economically with Europe and the United States and is constantly expanding its influence.
The strategy of the country, which has been criticized for human rights violations, is similar to that of China, in which the “attempt to gain institutional power in order to influence important decisions” is the balance of the economic researchers Henning Vöpel and André Wolf from the Center for European Politics (CEP) in a new one Analysis. Unlike China, Qatar does not rely on strategic investments and takeovers of critical infrastructure, but on “soft power strategies in which sponsorship activities in European football also play a major role”.