The 28-day football extravaganza of the FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar, with hosts Qatar facing Ecuador, their first group stage rivals, in the opener. In the end, Qatar lost 0:2 to the South American powerhouse, and the "iron rule" of undefeated World Cup opener was broken.
Although Qatari fans can hardly hide their disappointment, for this small Middle Eastern country, the grand opening of the World Cup itself has won Qatar a wave of extremely high international attention, and the country's soft power has been invisibly improved again, fully demonstrating Qatar's "small country and big energy".
A drone show and night view of the city filmed in Doha, Qatar, on November 14. (Xinhua News Agency)
Qatar is located on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, bordering Saudi Arabia on land, is a peninsula country, adjacent to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, across the Persian Gulf and Iran; With an area of more than 11,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 2.6 million, Qatari citizens account for about 15%, and the rest are expatriates from India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia.
Although small and small, Qatar is rich in oil and gas resources, ranking 14th in the world in proven oil reserves and third in the world in proven natural gas reserves, second only to Russia and Iran, and is a major producer and exporter of global liquefied natural gas. As a result, Qatar has accumulated deep pockets, with a per capita GDP of more than $60,000 last year.
As a small country and in the midst of turmoil in the Middle East, Qatar has shown enough ambition and a flexible diplomatic presence.
Historically, to ensure its own survival and security, Qatar cooperated with Britain to obtain an umbrella. Later, Qatar forged a partnership with the United States, which replaced Britain in a global position, balancing British influence with stronger security guarantees. Qatar has a large U.S. military presence, and Qatar's Udeid Air Base is the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East.
Sandwiched between old enemies Iran and Saudi Arabia, Qatar's diplomatic balancing act is once again on display. In 2017, Qatar suffered from the crisis of severing diplomatic relations initiated by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, falling into regional isolation, while Saudi Arabia also imposed a blockade on Qatar.
In this regard, Qatar did not show weakness, further maintained relations with Iran, and received support and material assistance from two regional powers, Iran and Turkey. Behind the severance crisis, there was also the shadow of the covert support of the Trump administration in the United States, and the relationship between Qatar and the United States also made waves, but it did not affect the foundation of the relationship between the two countries.
Qatar's Emir Tamim (center right) greets visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Mohammed (center left) at Doha Airport on December 8 last year. (Xinhua News Agency)
The severance crisis, which lasted more than three years, ended in January last year. At that time, the Emir (head of state) of Qatar was invited by Saudi King Salman to attend the summit of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) in the Saudi city of Al-Ula, and was warmly welcomed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed.
Since then, high-level interaction between Qatar and Gulf Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia has increased. At the opening ceremony of the Qatar World Cup, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Turkish President Erdogan and other regional leaders attended the ceremony to congratulate them.
Qatar has taken balanced diplomacy to the extreme, maximizing its national interests while expanding and enhancing its regional and international influence.
U.S. President Joe Biden, right, meets with Qatari Emir Tamim in Washington on January 31.
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Qatar, like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, did not follow in the footsteps of the West, but insisted on a neutral position. Especially in the context of high international energy prices and the European energy crisis, Qatar, an energy powerhouse, has become a partner for all parties.
The United States actively communicated with Qatar, hoping that it could increase oil and gas production capacity, especially liquefied natural gas production, to make up for the gap caused by the Western energy embargo against Russia. In order to store gas for the winter and get rid of its dependence on Russian energy, European leaders from EU leaders to Germany and other heads of European countries have gone to the Middle East to "seek gas", and Qatar's Emir Tamim ushered in Doha. At the same time, Tamim also maintained high-level communication with Russian President Putin, and on the eve of the opening of the World Cup, Putin also called Tamim to congratulate him and confirmed that he would continue to coordinate closely in the energy field.
On November 17, the giant panda "Four Seas" was in the Hall Panda Pavilion in Doha, the capital of Qatar. (Xinhua News Agency)
Also on the eve of the opening of the World Cup, the first Chinese giant panda "Beijing" and "Four Seas" to Qatar officially met with the local people. More than a month ago, the pair of giant pandas arrived in Doha on a special plane to begin their 15-year sojourn in Qatar, and they are the first pair of giant pandas welcomed in the Middle East.
On September 21, Sinopec and Qatar Energy signed a 27-year long-term purchase and sale agreement for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Qatar Energy will supply 4 million tonnes of LNG annually to Sinopec, and the agreement is an important part of the integration cooperation between the two sides on the expansion project of Qatar's northern gas field, and is a milestone.
Qatar also plays an important role in international affairs and regional hotspot issues. As early as November 2001, the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
In 2013, Qatar allowed the Afghan Taliban to set up a political office in Doha, which became a window for the Taliban to engage with the international community. In Qatar, the U.S. government held several rounds of negotiations with the Taliban that culminated in the signing of a peace agreement in Doha at the end of February 2020. Last August, as the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, Qatar became a resettlement and transit point for U.S. and Western evacuees from Afghanistan.
Qatar has also created Al Jazeera with its accumulated financial resources from energy exports, and Qatar Airways is a sponsor of several top competitions, including the World Cup, and European football clubs, which are expanding Qatar's national soft power in different ways.
U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan Khalilzad (second from left) and Baradar (second from right), one of the founders of the Afghan Taliban, attend a peace agreement signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, February 29, 2020. (Xinhua News Agency)
In addition to this year's World Cup, Qatar hosted the Doha Asian Games in 2006 and will host the Asian Games again in Doha in 2030. In 2019, Qatar defeated Japan to win the Asian Cup. After this World Cup, Qatar will also host the Asian Cup in 2023.
Whether it is flexibility and resilience in the great changes in international political, economic and energy relations, as well as ambition and financial strength in areas such as news communication, sports events and business sponsorship, Qatar's "small country, big energy" is indicated.
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