Qatar’s soft power strengthens global influence

There was huge appetite for information on Qatar’s prominence in regional (and arguably global) politics when GSN’s editorial director visited Casablanca in early February. Is this due to the huge financial muscle of Qatar’s gas reserves? Has the tiny emirate become the West’s favourite stalking-horse? Or does Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani have a peculiar post-modern Wahhabi agenda? After a tumultuous year for Arab politics, the same questions are being asked from Algiers to Ankara.