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(CNN Spanish) --
Behind the economic power of the emirate of Qatar, its regional influence, its pending accounts in terms of human rights and also the country's choice to host the 2022 World Cup, is the house of Al Thani, who has ruled the country since the second half of the 19th century.
And its current emir is the young Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who came to the throne in 2013 after the abdication of his father, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
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Qatar, one of the world's leading natural gas exporters, wields enormous influence over the Arab world—in part through its Al Jazeera television network—and has come into conflict with several of its Persian Gulf neighbors in recent years. .
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Emir of Qatar, on May 20, 2022 in Berlin, Germany.
(Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Who exactly is Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and what has he done since coming to the throne?
The early years of the future emir of Qatar
Tamim was born on June 3, 1980 in Doha and attended secondary school in the United Kingdom, according to official biographical information.
He then attended Sandhurst Military Academy, the same as British princes William and Harry, for college, graduating in 1998.
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Interested in sports —he cites falconry and sports linked to Arab and Qatari culture as his hobbies—, in 2000 he took charge of the Qatar Olympic Committee, and actively participated in the efforts in 2009 for his country to be elected as the venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
He became the official heir to the emirate in 2003, the year in which he also assumed the role of deputy commander of the Qatar Armed Forces.
The then emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (L), speaks with his son Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad (R) on January 1, 2002. (Credit: KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2008 Tamim also participated in the launch of the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) development plan, based, according to his own description, on "justice, benevolence and equality", and the future emir also was a promoter of the "continuous modernization and development of public institutions" in the five-year strategic plan launched by the country in 2011.
These initiatives generated expectations that Tamim's reign could account for the great human rights problems that exist in Qatar, and the then heir captured in his country's five-year strategy that legislation against domestic violence would be advanced. and in incorporating migrant workers – who in Qatar, as in other Gulf countries, number in the tens of thousands – into the country's labor laws.
For Amnesty International, however, these reforms have been insufficient.
This is the situation in Qatar for the LGTBQ community, women and migrants
The Rise of Emir Tamim
Emir Tamim became the youngest leader in the Middle East on June 25, 2013 when he took office at the age of 33, and now, at 42, he remains a young regent by the standards of the region.
Only Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is younger at 36, though he has yet to take over.
Although his father Hamad's abdication in 2013 was unexpected, Tamim had already been heir to the throne for a decade and the succession was peaceful.
Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, at the Doha Exhibition Center on April 01, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
(Credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
"God only knows that I never wanted power for personal reasons and I never sought power for any personal reason," the outgoing emir, 61, said at the time of his abdication.
"It's in the best interest of the nation, which made us decide it's time to start a new page in our history where new generations pick up the slack with their great skills and new ideas."
changes and continuities
Before Tamim's rise as emir, Qatar, a country rich in energy and especially gas, had been actively participating in regional conflicts and pursuing an active foreign policy under his father.
Thus, Doha supported the Syrian rebels in the fight against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, after the outbreak of the civil war in 2012.
Assistance to other Islamist groups in Syria, Egypt and other countries has earned the emirate of Qatar criticism.
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Doha also allowed Taliban militants to set up an office in the country to conduct diplomatic efforts amid the war in Afghanistan.
These efforts were of enormous importance in the final decision of the United States to withdraw from the country, which was reached precisely by negotiating the so-called "Doha agreements" in Qatar.
Tamim's father, Hamad, worked hard during his reign to expand his network of alliances and influence and counter powerful neighbors Iran and Saudi Arabia.
His son continued this policy.
The great crisis and the great opportunity
In 2017 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, supported by Donald Trump, cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing the government of maintaining close ties with Islamist groups in those countries and with Iran, seen as a regional rival of the Arab countries. in the Persian Gulf.
The crisis even led these countries to demand the closure of the Qatari chain Al Jazeera, accused of spreading propaganda against the autocratic Arab governments in the region and of supporting Islamists, and the local affiliates were closed.
Al Jazeera, which helped expand Qatari influence in the region, described the closure demand as "nothing more than an attempt to silence free speech in the region."
But far from giving in, Qatar persevered amid isolation.
In 2020, Qatar hosted talks between the United States and the Taliban, which led to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021.
Qatar also maintains a fluid dialogue with Iran, and this has made it an important actor both in the negotiations prior to the signing of the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 group (United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran in 2015, like the current ones to revive that pact after Trump withdrew his country in 2018.
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As the main exporter of natural gas, Qatar has also recently mobilized to show itself as an alternative to alleviate the blow to global energy prices caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia.
In this context, Emir Tamim was the first leader of the Persian Gulf to visit the United States after the inauguration of Joe Biden as president: it happened in February 2022, when the emir could be seen dressed in a Western-style suit, together with the US president.
Also, Qatar is expected to soon become an Important Extra-NATO Ally, a label that Kuwait and Bahrain already have in the Gulf.
Defense cooperation is not new: Qatar has hosted a US Air Force base in Al Udeid since 1996, which has been of enormous importance in Washington's operations in the region in recent decades.
pending accounts
Like other Gulf countries, Qatar has serious human rights problems, especially in the treatment of women and members of the LGBTQ community, as well as in the situation of migrants —many deaths have occurred precisely on construction sites to the 2022 World Cup—and freedom of expression.
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According to the organization Amnesty International, the Government has tried to carry out reforms but these have been insufficient.
"Migrant workers continued to face labor abuses and struggled to change jobs freely. The restriction on freedom of expression increased in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Women and LGBTI people continued to face discrimination in the law and in practice," says Amnesty International's report.
Women in this country with a Muslim majority —Islam is also the official religion, and Wahhabi Sunnism is the most representative faction— continue to be subject to the male guardianship system, so they must request permission from their guardians (father, husband, brother, etc. .) for important decisions.
"Women's empowerment" was one of the pillars of social development in Qatar's strategic plan between 2011 and 2016. In the new strategic plan between 2018 and 2022, however, this point is no longer present.
While homosexuality is punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to article 296 of the Qatar Penal Code, cited by Amnesty International.
With information from Laura Smith-Spark, James Lynch, Jennifer Hansler, Nicole Gaouette, Barbara Starr, Tamara Qiblawi, Mostafa Salem, Eoin McSweeney, Abbas Al Lawati, Ellie Kaufman, Veronica Stracqualursi, Allegra Goodwin, and Charles Riley.
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