How Qatar is Its Own Worst Enemy

Qatar is proving to be its own worst enemy in achieving its soft power goals by embedding itself in the international community as a good citizen despite having put crucial blocks in place. Its failure to convincingly follow through on promises to reform its controversial migrant labour system could lead to world soccer body FIFA depriving it of the right to host the 2022 World Cup. Meanwhile, Qatar has been unable to convince even its allies that it is serious about its pledges to stop a flow of funds to jihadist organizations. Among Qatari nationals whom the US Treasury has categorized as specially designated terrorist is a historian religion and former head of the Qatar Football Association (QFA), who was awarded for his contribution to Qatari sports. Those allegations have allowed Qatar's detractors to further question the Gulf state's suitability as a World Cup host. Qatar's problems are compounded by its lack of a robust communications strategy that would enable it to respond to legitimate criticism and counter attacks by its detractors, some of whom have invested significant amounts in causing Qatar significant reputational damage and diplomatic and political capital. That lack dates back to Qatar's initial response to massive criticism and attacks almost immediately after it was awarded the World Cup in late 2010. Qatari officials argued at the time that they could not win the public relations battle and therefore would wait until the storm blew over (Multiple interviews with Qatari officials in the period from 2011 to 2014). They rejected the notion that failure to engage amounted to surrender of the battlefield, losing an opportunity to conquer the moral high ground, and allowing a wound to fester (Multiple interviews by the author with Qatari officials between 2011 and 2014). The problem was the storm did not subside. It got worse with Qatar currently battling public relations battles on numerous fronts: persistent challenges to the integrity of its World Cup bid; accusations of enforcing modern slavery on migrant workers employed on World Cup-related projects; doubts about its ability to host one of the world's foremost mega sporting events; charges of funding and supporting militant Islamist groups; and adopting a foreign policy that puts it at odds with its neighbours and at times with its most important allies.