IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/crmide/v12y2025i2p197-208.html

Beyond the Goalposts: Decoding Qatar’s Soft Power Puzzle and Its Paradox

Author

Listed:
  • Yair Galily

Abstract

Qatar has utilized soft power to amplify its global influence through cultural diplomacy, media, and sports. Al-Jazeera and events like the 2022 FIFA World Cup have positioned Qatar as a modern, forward-thinking state despite controversies over labor rights, LGBTQ+ policies, and alleged ties to extremist groups. These contradictions challenge its soft power credibility, as efforts to project modernity often clash with conservative domestic policies. By critically examining Qatar’s strategies through Joseph Nye’s soft power framework, this study highlights the paradoxes inherent in its approach and explores the limits of cultural and sports diplomacy in achieving sustainable influence.

Suggested Citation

  • Yair Galily, 2025. "Beyond the Goalposts: Decoding Qatar’s Soft Power Puzzle and Its Paradox," Contemporary Review of the Middle East, , vol. 12(2), pages 197-208, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:crmide:v:12:y:2025:i:2:p:197-208
    DOI: 10.1177/23477989251325622
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23477989251325622
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/23477989251325622?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sabiha Huq, 2019. "Soft-power, culturalism and developing economies: the case of Global Ibsen," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Hira Amin & Khoulood Sakbani & Evren Tok, 2024. "State Aspirations for Social and Cultural Transformations in Qatar," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Wadee Alarabeed, 2024. "Qatar’s approach across the Triple Nexus in conflict-affected contexts: the case of Darfur," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 6-23, January.
    4. Blair, Robert A. & Marty, Robert & Roessler, Philip, 2022. "Foreign Aid and Soft Power: Great Power Competition in Africa in the Early Twenty-first Century," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 1355-1376, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Perrotta Berlin, Maria & Lvovkskyi, Lev, 2025. "Russia’s Involvement on the African Continent and its Consequences for Development: The Aid Channel," SITE Working Paper Series 64, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.
    2. Kim, Sung Eun & Park, Jong Hee & Rhee, Inbok & Yang, Joonseok, 2025. "What do aid recipients want? Public attitudes toward foreign aid in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Bau, Nicolas & Dietrich, Simone, 2025. "What geopolitical returns does ODA bring?," Kiel Working Papers 2305, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    4. Choyon Kumar Saha, 2024. "Least developed countries versus fossil fuel incumbents: strategies, divisions, and barriers at the United Nations climate negotiations," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 91-120, March.
    5. Nicholas Wise & Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen, 2023. "New notions of soft power: Impact rhetoric in mega-event bid documents," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 38(4), pages 306-311, June.
    6. Mattingly, Daniel & Incerti, Trevor & Ju, Changwook & Moreshead, Colin & Tanaka, Seiki & Yamagishi, Hikaru, 2022. "Chinese State Media Persuades a Global Audience That the “China Model” is Superior: Evidence From A 19-Country Experiment," OSF Preprints 5cafd_v1, Center for Open Science.
    7. Gerda Asmus-Bluhm & Vera Z. Eichenauer & Andreas Fuchs & Bradley Parks, 2025. "Does India Use Development Finance to Compete With China? A Subnational Analysis," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 69(2-3), pages 406-433, March.
    8. Patrick Rey Enecillo Mahinay, 2025. "Proposed Recommendations to Intensify the Initiatives of Philippine International School-Qatar in Satisfying the Targets of Education and Training Sector Strategic Plans (ETSSP)," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(7), pages 5021-5045, July.
    9. Lauren Ferry & Cleo O’Brien-Udry, 2025. "The possibilities and limits of international status: Evidence from foreign aid and public opinion," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 711-740, December.
    10. Kathleen J. Brown, 2025. "Why hide? Africa’s unreported debt to China," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-32, March.
    11. repec:bcp:journl:v:7:y:2023:i:11:p:239-246 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Austin Strange, 2025. "Influence and support for foreign aid: Evidence from the United States and China," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 443-470, September.
    13. Bunte, Jonas B. & Kinne, Brandon J., 2025. "Strategic interdependence in sovereign lending," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    14. Becker, Malte & Krüger, Finja & Heidland, Tobias, 2024. "What Drives Attitudes toward Immigrants in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Uganda and Senegal," IZA Discussion Papers 16734, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Schulte, Erik V. & Kaplan, Lennart, 2025. "Trade and soft power: Evidence from the China shock in Africa," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 438, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    16. Sinanoglu, Semuhi, 2025. "Strategic humanitarian aid, trust in Europe and support for authoritarianism," IDOS Discussion Papers 28/2025, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    17. Christoph Nedopil & Mengdi Yue, 2024. "Does Green Overseas Investment Improve Public Perception in Host Countries? Evidence from Chinese Energy Engagement in 32 African Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-14, January.
    18. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    19. An, Jiafu & Guo, Shiqi & Jiang, Haicheng, 2025. "Foreign-assisted infrastructure and local employment: Evidence from China's aid to Africa," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 118-138.
    20. Sergio Mariotti & Sergio Meacci, 2026. "Africa in the global economy: development challenges and investment opportunities for Europe," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 53(1), pages 115-141, March.
    21. repec:ces:ceswps:_10969 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Sun, Zesheng & Zhao, Jiahua & Chen, Hao, 2025. "How trade effect of foreign aid evolves: Evidence from the United States," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 710-727.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:crmide:v:12:y:2025:i:2:p:197-208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.