If there were a dictionary entry for the idiom “to punch above one’s weight,” it could well be illustrated with the tiny emirate of Qatar and its former emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, who died Sunday at the age of 74.
Hamad, who ruled Qatar from 1995 until his abdication in 2013, brought into being the modern concept of a minuscule but energy-rich Gulf monarchy with expansive global power. Without his risky and often controversial geopolitical strategy, the Middle East, and perhaps the world, would look very different.
Hamad wagered that the vast wealth stemming from Qatar’s abundant oil and gas deposits could be used for more than a high quality of life, leveraging it for massive international influence. And it didn’t require simply spending the money on costly weaponry. Hamad understood that his country could exercise outsized influence by investing in institutions of soft power: media, diplomacy, sports, the arts and strategically calibrated philanthropic donations.