Taliban to football, all is fair play in Qatar foreign policy

Who gets to win this edition of the football World Cup will be decided only a month from now. But there is little doubt that Qatar – the sporting jamboree’s host nation – will also be a big winner. To seek publicity has been the tiny nation’s foreign policy and this World Cup guarantees Qatar unmatched global fame. FIFA World Cup:  Fixtures  |  Results  |  Points Table  |  Squads  |  Records That the cost of it has been huge – an estimated 300 billion dollars – will hardly dampen Qatar’s spirits. In earlier times, it has exploited far more challenging and controversial means to garner attention – from sheltering the Taliban and the children of Osama Bin Laden to amplifying unrest in streets across Middle East during the Arab Spring. Filthily rich, Qatar’s rulers have an unsatiated appetite for gaining worldwide visibility and clout. This football Word Cup follows that script of theirs, though it has been tainted by allegations of bribing FIFA organisers and the exploitation of cheap labour for building infrastructure. But Qatar has never been put off by publicity - either fame or notoriety. FIFA World Cup:  Controversies and bizarre build-up as Qatar 2022 gets underway Its primary objective has always been to dominate the headlines and it is not difficult to understand the rationale behind its motivation. Sharing borders with Saudi Arabia that is some 186 times bigger, Qatar has always felt insecure and insignificant compared to larger influential countries of the region. But its rulers are mindbogglingly rich and their egos were rightfully hurt to be treated as pushovers. To correct the imbalance, they have set on a course which they believe will earn themselves the recognition and influence they think they deserve. Besides their inexhaustible fortune, they have had remarkable foresight too. It all began with the launching of Al Jazeera. Though not exactly a free country where residents enjoy free speech, Qatar funded and launched the television channel as a means to influence the narrative across the world. The channel’s tagline has been ‘voice to the voiceless.’ It definitely gave Qatar a very powerful voice. Al Jazeera in Arabic was followed by the launch of an English version and the twin channels alongside Qatar basked in the spotlight, airing amongst others taped interviews of the fugitive Bin Laden. It ruffled many feathers – including the US whose former president George Bush once toyed with the idea of bombing Al Jazeera’s headquarters in capital Doha. But Qatar has firmly stayed its course and never shied away from pursuing a foreign policy that can be best described as ‘Shock and Awe’. While Bin Laden was on the run after bringing down the New York twin towers, Qatar provided refuge to his son Omar. And once Saddam Hussein of Iraq was deposed, his wife Sajjad and daughters Raghad and Rana made Qatar their home. Remember our own MF Husain, the famous painter who had to leave the country after certain sections were outraged by his paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses? Well, he too found shelter in Doha. Qatar, in fact, conferred on him the Qatari citizenship, creating a furore back in India. But no controversy has ever succeeded in stopping Qatar from its single-minded pursuit of grabbing eyeballs. While Doha emerged as the ‘exile capital of the world’ with fallen dictators and Chechen rebels finding home there, even the Taliban – an international pariah then – was allowed to openly operate out of the Qatari capital. Ousted from Afghanistan, the Taliban worked out of a villa in Doha. And finally, when the US began negotiations with the group that eventually paved for the American pull out from the strife-torn country, it was Qatar that hosted the talks. Undoubtedly, Qatar revels in turbulence. Ignoring the unjustness of the US invasion of Iraq – after all no weapons of mass destruction was ever found though it was supposed to be sole reason – Qatar did not hesitate to host the US military Central Command. It was from this base in the outskirts of Doha that the Americans and its allies orchestrated the downfall of Saddam, plunging the nation into years of anarchy and penury. Many are outraged by Qatar’s over-sized overreach, particularly its meddling in the affairs of its regional neighbours. During the Arab Spring, Qatar and Al Jazeera were accused of fanning the unrest in streets across the region by its aggressive coverage. And in Egypt post-Hosni Mubarak, Al Jazeera faced allegations of promoting the Muslim Brotherhood. Matters came to a pass in 2017 when several countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain came together to enforce a blockade on Qatar as a punitive measure. Among the many things they demanded that Qatar do before the blockade could be lifted was the closure of Al Jazeera. But a tough nut to crack, Qatar never capitulated. With a tiny population to tend to and a per capita income that is fourth-highest in the world, its rulers have the luxury of doing things that many others cannot elsewhere. It included throwing money to bag the football World Cup. The Gulf nation has faced accusations of bribing FIFA organisers millions of dollars. But Qatar has stayed undaunted. Just a day before the 2022 World Cup kicked off, there were fresh allegations that players of Ecuador had been bribed to lose their opening match against Qatar. It is unlikely, however, that any of the controversies will end Qatar’s quest for a unique identity. Grabbing eyeballs and increasing influence is in Qatar’s foreign policy DNA and the country will continue to captivate the world by means, fair or foul. Ruben Banerjee is the former editor-in-chief of Outlook and the author of Editor Missing: The Media in Today’s India. He lived in Doha for 12 years. Click here to read more FIFA World Cup stories Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .