Dubai: Qatar, facing growing corruption allegations over the 2022 World Cup and a backlash over Islamists it supported, finds itself isolated a year after its young emir acceded to the throne.
But analysts say the gas-rich emirate could bounce back by being “pragmatic” and capitalising on a legacy of aggressive diplomacy and media clout represented by its Al Jazeera television network.
“Qatar hasn’t been the same” since former emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani handed over to his son, Shaikh Tamim, on June 25, 2013, said UAE political science professor Abdul Khaleq Abdullah.
“It hasn’t been playing the same role and doesn’t have the same influence,” he said.
“In one year, Qatar has become isolated and distant from its closest partners in the Gulf and has lost its bet on political Islam, which had suddenly risen to power before it rapidly deteriorated” in the countries of Arab Spring uprisings, Abdullah added.
Qatar had been accused of backing Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, which gained the upper hand in the wake of Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/qatar-reeling-under-legacy-of-past-1.1353383