When Qatar announced the closure of Al Jazeera America this month, the decision by its new ruler marked a more cautious approach to public diplomacy by the tiny Gulf state after years of cultivating a high-profile international role.

Qatar’s brand is now the ninth-most powerful in the world, according to an annual ranking released by UK-based consulting firm ‘Brand Finance’ in 2015. As a progressive country, Qatar, through its visionary leadership, has used many strategies, in particular its soft power, to enhance its position in the international community. 

The Qatar China 2016 Year of Culture launched with a spectacular show featuring folkdances, songs and acrobatics by Chinese performers at a packed Katara Drama Theatre last night.

More than 1,000 Palestinian families took possession of new apartments Saturday as part of a large Qatari-funded housing project in the Gaza Strip. The units are the first batch of a 3,000-apartment complex that was announced when the former Qatari ruler, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, became the first head of state to visit Hamas-ruled Gaza in 2012.

A series of cultural activities will be held in China and Qatar in 2016 as part of a "Cultural Year" between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Culture on Friday.

Cultural diplomacy is also an essential tool for challenging claims of ‘cultural superiority’ by celebrating human differences and recognizing other cultures and values [...] It is toward this perception of culture that Qatar's diplomatic energies have been redirected over the past decade.

Last week it came to light that Beijing’s state-run China Radio International secretly owns 60% of a U.S. company, G&E Studio, which leases stations and airtime in Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco, among other cities. Beijing uses similar subterfuges in Europe and Australia.