Soft power and its role in implementing Qatari foreign policy (1995 - 2020 AD)

Abstract

The research dealt with the study of soft power in terms of the use and definition of the term, which is based on the employment of some sources and resources in building a new style of power, which has an impact on international relations, and an impact on the role and effectiveness of the foreign policy of countries. The study was conducted on the State of Qatar as a small country lacking the components of power. The traditional (hard) but succeeded in creating an effective and influential foreign policy that achieved for it the protection of its national security, and the response to its national ambitions through the employment and building of soft power components. The case study approach and the descriptive analytical approach were used in the study’s methodology, which concluded with a set of results, the most important of which is that power is one of the main factors for studying and understanding the behavior of countries, as the emergence and diversity of variables in international relations produced new types of power, so that it is no longer confined to Hard power only. Rather, there have been sources and resources for soft power that countries can employ to allow them the opportunity to have an effective foreign policy that achieves its goals even in the event of a crisis.