Qatar’s Strategy in Syria

Qatar seeks to turn its newfound energy riches into political power by tapping the strength of local Islamists as a force multiplier for regional influence. To that end, Qatar has spent an estimated one to three billion dollars backing the Syrian opposition, and much of this support has reportedly gone to the Muslim Brotherhood. 

Sheikh Hamad, who ruled Qatar until June, once explained that he supported Hamas because “one has to ride the tide of history.”  Similarly, insiders believe Qatar’s royal family backs Islamists in Syria because “they think the Brotherhood is the political future of the Arab world.” 

However, Qatar’s strategy has been a losing bet.  Doha eagerly embraced the Syrian National Council founded in 2011, but the U.S. expressed concerns that the group was dominated by the Brotherhood.  Qatar reluctantly agreed to dilute the Brotherhood’s influence by creating a wider opposition coalition in late 2012.  In what critics called a bid to “hand post-Bashar Syria to the Muslim Brotherhood,” Qatar helped elect its protégé Ghassan Hitto to rule territory under rebel control, only to see him forced out several months later.  

Despite these losses, the tiny Gulf emirate has been buying up weapons for hardline Islamist rebel groups.  Qatari officials have reportedly looked to the Brotherhood to identify potential clients among the rebels.  Doha purchased weapons from militias in Libya – where most of its favorite proxies are also Islamist extremists – which found their way to Syrian groups such as Ahfad al-Rasul.  The Ahfad is a large Islamist force financed by Qatar that does not pledge allegiance to the Free Syrian Army.

In April of this year, President Obama privately chastised Sheikh Hamad for letting heavy weaponry fall into the hands of the Nusra Front.  That month Qatar also agreed to make the Supreme Military Council the sole venue for future arms shipments to the rebels.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani took over for his father in June, and analysts have since questioned whether the new emir will maintain his father’s policies.  To be sure, he has adopted a more subdued approach. But Sheikh Tamim was intimately involved in Qatar’s Syria policy under his father.  He has also literally embraced Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf Qaradawi. Qatar’s Islamist partners in Syria continue to scoff at the Supreme Military Council, clouding the political outlook for the opposition.

David Andrew Weinberg is a senior fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.