The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Middle East expert in World Cup interview: "We are not in a position to declare a boycott"

2022-11-20T19:24:17.548Z


The World Cup is on. Despite all the criticism of Qatar, one should not forget the "core of the problem", says political scientist Nicolas Fromm in an interview. "And Germany likes to play along."


The World Cup is on.

Despite all the criticism of Qatar, one should not forget the "core of the problem", says political scientist Nicolas Fromm in an interview.

"And Germany likes to play along."

Munich – Dr.

Nicolas Fromm is a political scientist at the Helmut Schmidt University of the German Armed Forces in Hamburg - with a research focus on the Arab Gulf States, especially Qatar.

In an interview with the

Munich

newspaper IPPEN.MEDIA

, Fromm talks about the Emir of Qatar, a regional Arab modernism and arrogant criticism

.

Merkur.de: Mr. Fromm, Tamim, the Emir of Qatar, has continued the supposedly liberal policies of his father Hamad.

Tamim is said to have personally campaigned for the 2022 World Cup.

Nicolas Fromm: Hamad's son Tamim has been the country's emir since 2013 and is essentially continuing the projects that were initiated during his father's reign.

Of course, this also includes the successful application for the 2022 World Cup. Tamim was already entrusted with this important project as Crown Prince, so it can be assumed that it was a particularly important moment for him personally when the first World Cup game started Qatar soil was kicked off on Sunday.

Was the World Cup bid also made out of safety concerns, to show the world that you are important?

Absolutely right.

Given Qatar's severely limited military and human resources due to the country's size, international attention is the most important currency for Qatar's security and independence.

This was also evident during the 2017-2021 Qatar crisis, when the country became diplomatically and economically isolated from its opponents.

Thanks to active support from abroad, Qatar was able to survive the blockade and the regime even emerged from it stronger.

Interjection Qatar: You can read these background texts on our portals

also read

This is how we report on the controversial World Cup in Qatar

This is how we report on the controversial World Cup in Qatar

Instead of a boycott: This is how sports experts from the Bundestag look at the World Cup in Qatar

Instead of a boycott: This is how sports experts from the Bundestag look at the World Cup in Qatar

Middle East expert in a World Cup interview: "A political boycott is simply not possible"

Middle East expert in a World Cup interview: "A political boycott is simply not possible"

Qatar likes to be liberal and open, especially since the World Cup was awarded.

To what extent do religious structures still determine life in the emirate?

We often perceive the situation in the country as a major contradiction. After all, it is important to reconcile an Arabic tradition, which is also strongly influenced by religious customs, with the expectations of tourists and qualified guest workers, which can lead to social conflicts.

In principle, however, this does not take the form of a struggle for influence in which one side ultimately has to gain the upper hand.

Rather, we are observing the emergence of a regional Arab modernity that does not have to agree in all points with our ideas of a modern state.

In your book you describe the "nation branding" of Qatar.

What's it all about?

And how important is sport and especially the World Cup?

Nation branding is now an important resource for all states, because the image of states is becoming increasingly important not only in tourism.

Nation branding is more than advertising, it aims to influence local politics in order to be perceived more positively internationally.

The organization of large sporting events can play a central role, after all, positive values ​​are usually associated with sporting competitions, for example competition, fairness, tolerance, etc., which should then also rub off on the host.

In Qatar in particular, it is less about demonstrating the sporting prowess of the Qatari team and more about seeing the country as a host on a list of important established nations.

Qatar World Cup: "We are in no position to boycott"

A boycott of the games was rejected by many quarters.

Chancellor Scholz saw progress in the country.

How important is Qatar now for world politics?

I don't think a boycott is right either, for two reasons: Firstly, Qatar is actually now an important partner for us.

I am only thinking secondarily about the possible supply contracts for Qatari liquefied gas, but above all about Qatar's political and diplomatic weight in many regions where we do not have our own networks and interest groups.

So while many are bothered by the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar, they ignore the fact that Qatar has represented us diplomatically since the international troops left Afghanistan and that many German nationals were flown out via Qatar when the country was evacuated.

Secondly, despite all the justified criticism, I do not see us in a position to call for a boycott.

At the core of the problem is not only Qatar,

Many experts fear that the World Cup will not lead to any improvement.

Should Qatar be given more time to drive change?

The criticism of the local working conditions led to a noticeable improvement in the situation in the run-up to the World Cup, and these changes in the law will continue to have an effect after the World Cup.

It would be desirable that other Gulf States would follow suit.

In principle, we are not the ones who set the direction for the development of Qatar with latent colonial claims. Instead, Qatar receives inspiration from all over the world and is looking for its own way, also with this World Cup.

We can accompany this process critically and constructively, but without arrogance.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-11-20

You may like

Business 2024-02-05T14:51:21.903Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.