Qatar’s leadership transition: Like father, like son

Qatar’s foreign policy after a sudden regime change

When Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad suddenly announced his abdication in favour of his son Tamim last year, there was a widespread expectation that Qatar had realised the error of an imperious overreach and would hence roll back its extensive involvement in Arab affairs. Yet, almost one year on, this change has not materialised. Rather, Tamim has continued the foreign-policy approach established by his father, who aimed above all to guarantee Qatar’s security and project soft power in the region. A key element of this approach has been Qatar’s support for Islamist groups across the Arab world, which it has supported through its pan-Arab media arm, Al Jazeera.

Tamim can be expected to reorder domestic policy to more closely reflect ordinary Qatari concerns over breakneck development preceding the 2022 World Cup and to tone down his father’s high-profile foreign policy and in particular his eye-catching foreign investment drives. But Tamim is unlikely to veer much from his father’s approach of attempting to insert Qatar into as many regional and international power structures as possible. Qatar’s vast natural gas resources will ensure it a place in the energy security of many countries for years to come and it will remain a crucial interlocutor for the European Union on issues such as Egypt and Syria.