Qatar’s Soft Power, Digital and Public Diplomacy in the Face of a Global Pandemic Walked Pass MENA Neighbours

Abstract

Since the inception of the term soft power by Joseph Nye, Qatar a tiny state in the Middle East seems to have mastered the arts and sciences of soft power and is now outplaying her MENA peers through the crafting and implementation of her public diplomacy. With rapid globalization as a byproduct of public diplomacy, digital diplomacy is now a cornerstone in today’s 21st Century diplomatic communication. Wrapped in the bombastic advances in ICT, the internet, and social media, traditional diplomatic patterns have shifted robustly thus culminating in the strengthening of diplomatic relations. This paper argues that Qatar’s gains through its use of soft power via modern technologies stem from hosting a plethora of timely educational and diplomatic webinars and its attractions of “carrots” have added more flesh to its public diplomacy records from early 2020 to mid-2021. The paper went forth in x-raying those institutions and actors, whose digital actions, and programs catapulted the image of Qatar during the global pandemic such as Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Aljazeera Network, and Dr. Evren Tok. Finally, despite the availability of resources and its soft power tools, this work pinpoints a few setbacks such as “Zoom Fatigue”. The paper concludes that Qatar’s digital diplomacy will continue to grow from leaps and bounds based on the results recorded via these virtual programs. The author Solomonicly suggests that the hosting of educational and diplomatic programs off and online would spearhead the public and digital diplomacy of Doha in an unpredictable Middle East Region.