Cultural diplomacy in Qatar: MECACS member Kristin Eggeling (University of Copenhagen) publishes article on Qatar’s cultural diplomacy in Danish journal ‘Politik og Økonomi’.

One year ahead of the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup, international attention is turning to Qatar. In her latest paper, MECACS member Kristin Eggeling writes about international sporting events as part of the cultural diplomacy narrative of Qatar to the world.

Exploring the question ‘What is the ‘culture’ in cultural diplomacy?’, three responses emerge, Kristin argues: two in the form of streamlined stories of national origins and futures; and one in the form of a characterisation of political style. In the first, “culture” is equated with authenticity, historical heritage, and romanticised accounts of what it truly means to be “Qatari”. In the second, “culture” is equated with having a strong and sustainable vision for the future where Qatar sits among the most developed states in the world as global cultural “hub”. In the third, “culture” becomes a way of doing things, here tied to the way in which Qatar is imagined to be moving forward on its journey to (international) development as guided by the vision of its ruling elite.

Kristin’s analysis is inspired by practice-theoretical understandings of diplomacy and anthropological notions of culture, which together suggest that culture is better understood as an allegory, a story to be constantly told and retold and a set of practices to be constantly performed, rather than an immutable object that can be straightforwardly communicated, diplomatically or otherwise. Overall, the analysis shows that cultural diplomacy should be taken seriously as a domain of international political practice, as it is here that we can get an insight into the meeting of global and local politics, including struggles over political authority, identity, and legitimacy.

Read the full article (open access) here.

Explore ‘Politik og Økonomi’ here.