Qatar: Small State, Big Politics – A Talk by Mehran Kamrava

Despite its small size and demographic limitations, over the last two decades Qatar has emerged as one of the most consequential, and in many respects influential, actors in the Persian Gulf region and in the larger Middle East. This power projection reached its apex under the rule of the former emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, who from 1995 until retirement in 2013, used a combination of immense wealth, proactive diplomacy, and visionary leadership to transform Qatar into a regional powerhouse. Hamad’s son and successor, Tamim, has been more measured in steering Qatar into the limelight, chastened somewhat by the unforeseen complications of the country’s Libyan and especially Syrian campaigns. Nevertheless, Qatar continues to remain one of the Middle East’s most important, and in some ways its most maverick, regional and international actors.

Mehran Kamrava is Professor and Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

Kamrava is the author of a number of journal articles and books, including, most recently, Qatar: Small State, Big Politics, The Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War (3rd ed.), and Iran’s Intellectual Revolution. His edited books include The International Politics of the Persian Gulf, Innovation in Islam: Traditions and Contributions, The Political Economy of the Persian Gulf, and The Nuclear Question in the Middle East.

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