Qatar’s Foreign Policy-Investment in Soft Power (1995-2017)

Abstract: The State of Qatar has pursued a foreign policy in a way that is somewhat different from what happened in the rest of the Arab countries. It has pursued diplomacy that some see as greater than its capabilities and its area and size. This research paper aims to identify the elements of soft power for Qatar's foreign policy by examining its objectives and motives, its foundations and its role at the regional level, and showing the importance of the impact of regional and internal factors on the nature of Qatar's relationship with other countries in the period from 1995-2017, and it starts from a main hypothesis that The Qatari foreign policy aims to achieve Qatar's aspirations for Arab and regional leadership, and the historical and analytical descriptive approach was followed by collecting, interpreting and analyzing data, and this was by relying on Arab and foreign research, studies and references. One of the most important findings of the research paper is that Qatar's foreign policy depends on pillars, the most important of which is the media pillar represented by Al-Jazeera channel, in addition to the cultural, economic and political foundations. Qatar is considered an important model in the investment of soft power, an optimal investment of its resources, which gave it an opportunity to deviate from the ordinary, especially from the stereotypical image of the Arab Gulf states. Being a small country in terms of area and population, it had a great investment of capabilities and resources, which gave it a pivotal role in attracting investments, and Qatar's adoption of political foundations from it; The strategy of international and regional alliances, good neighborliness, and building an important international position. And since soft power has a role in influencing the policies of countries, and for this reason, attention must be paid to those aspects for countries that do not have great potentials, whether in terms of their area or military strength, so the experience of Qatar has proven that it can do a lot in its foreign policy.

Key Words: (Qatar, soft power, investment, foreign policy, foundations(.