Decision Time for Qatar

Published in 2011 (Some dead links were deleted, and due to the update this was pushed to the top).

It’s no secret that Qatar seeks regional leadership and influence. Last year, former Egyptian foreign affairs committee chairman Mustafa el-Feki went so far as to publicly accuse Qatar of attempting to inherit Egypt’s role as the Arab world’s powerbroker.

Qatar’s strategy has largely rested on its ability to dominate neighboring countries’ news media through its al Jazeera network. In a pan-Arab hearts and minds campaign unseen since the days of Nassar, Qatar uses al Jazeera to garner goodwill and manipulate Arab public opinion.

The network’s essential role in distributing information during the ongoing Arab uprisings has not gone unnoticed by pro-democracy movements and besieged leaders alike, but ironically, as the Qatari supported uprisings spread and continue, Qatar increasingly finds itself needing to choose between its leadership ambitions and its own undemocratic government and policies.

Even if it helped lay the groundwork, Qatar, as an absolute monarchy is unqualified to play a leadership role in what is quickly becoming the Arab world’s most pressing issue: democratic transition.

While there is no guarantee that even a single Arab state will emerge as a full-fledged democracy, the attempts invite the advice and guidance of democratic states, not autocracies, as was seen most prominently during the fall of the Soviet Union.

With tenuous democratization occurring in Tunisia and Egypt, highly likely in Yemen and at least parts of Libya and expected to emerge elsewhere, there is no better time for a politically ambitious state in the region to assert its influence. Such a state, however, must know a thing or two about democracy.

If Qatar wishes not to sit on the sidelines as representatives from the US and EU advise transitioning governments, then it must lead by example and make democratic changes to both its foreign policy and government.

Foreign policy wise, Qatar’s sending troops to Bahrain places it on the wrong side of the divide between democracy seekers and their leaders. Additionally, Qatar’s participation in the Saudi led intervention contrasts with its desire to escape Saudi Arabia’s shadow, an essential requirement for its emergence as the dominant Arab voice. This desire is best seen in Qatar’s maverick independent foreign policy in which it shares amicable relations with both Iran and Israel.

Relying on an impressive track record of ending Lebanon’s 18 month political crisis in 2008 and reaching a breakthrough in the Darfur conflict in 2010, Qatar can assert its leadership and independence by inviting members of Bahrain’s government and opposition to Doha for mediation.

At home, Qatar must embark on domestic political reform. While the monarchy will not be willfully abolished, Qatar can nonetheless embrace significant democratic elements

The process can start with the assembling of leading intellectuals, jurists, academics, moderate religious leaders and members of the royal family to draft a new constitution based on both the principles of a constitutional monarchy and Islam. This constitution will then be put to an internationally supervised referendum.

Although royal assent, the requirement that acts of parliament be approved by the monarch, is a formality in the West, it would be the rule for Qatar’s foreseeable future. To moderate this and ensure constitutional adherence, the parliament cannot be encumbered by unreasonable restrictions on dissent or political party formation.

Qatar must also show new Arab leaders and their electorates that it provides the same fundamental rights expected of emerging democracies. This includes guaranteed equality for its Shia minority, press and assembly freedom, and the rights of women.

Despite a continuation of Qatar’s monarchy, such a bold political transformation will give Qatar the credibility needed to assert true influence over nascent Arab democracies.

Qatar has a monumental opportunity to crystallize long-held ambition of attaining a direct and dominant role in the Arab world. Its actions in the coming months will determine if it will become a true leader or left to play a periphery role in a wave of democratization that its television network helped generate.