Tel Aviv: The death of Qatar’s former Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani marks the loss of a key stabilising figure. For the country’s ruling Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the challenges ahead differ significantly from those his father confronted.
While Sheikh Hamad governed amid booming gas production, soaring energy prices and the Arab Spring — the strategic landscape today is markedly “less forgiving,” a report has stated.
Also known as Qatar’s ‘Father Amir’, Sheikh Hamad passed away on July 12 at the age of 74.
“The passing of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani marks far more than the death of a former ruler. It signals the end of the generation that created modern Qatar and raises fundamental questions about the direction the emirate will take in the coming decade. When Sheikh Hamad assumed power in 1995, Qatar was a small Gulf state with limited regional influence despite sitting atop one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas,” Sergio Restelli, an Italian political advisor, author and geopolitical expert, wrote in the ‘Times of Israel’.
“During his eighteen years in power, he transformed the country into one of the wealthiest nations on earth, built the global LNG industry, created the Qatar Investment Authority, launched Al Jazeera, established Qatar as an indispensable diplomatic actor and positioned Doha at the centre of Middle Eastern geopolitics,” he added.
Calling Sheikh Hamad’s vision remarkable, the expert said Qatar chose to project influence through finance, energy, media, diplomacy and strategic partnerships instead of military competition with its larger neighbours. He added that the ambitious approach elevated a nation of just over 300,000 citizens to a position of global political relevance.
“Although Sheikh Hamad abdicated in favour of his son Sheikh Tamim in 2013, few observers doubted that he remained an influential figure behind the scenes. His counsel carried immense weight within the ruling family, and his stature provided continuity during periods of regional turbulence, including the 2017 Gulf blockade,” Restelli mentioned.
According to the report, Sheikh Tamim has pursued a more restrained approach to governance than his father, shifting the focus from the bold ideological activism associated with the Arab Spring towards mediation, reconciliation and pragmatic diplomacy.
“Maintaining channels with groups such as Hamas has increasingly been justified through Qatar’s role as an intermediary rather than as a political patron. That distinction may become even more pronounced,” Restelli added.
Emphasising that Sheikh Tamim now faces a strategic choice, the report said, “He can preserve the foreign policy architecture built by his father largely unchanged, accepting the diplomatic friction that accompanies it, or he can gradually recalibrate Qatar’s regional posture by reducing the political visibility of Islamist networks while strengthening relations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Western partners.”
(IANS)
