THE INFLUENCE OF THE ARAB LOBBY IN EUROPE: MONEY, MEDIA AND POLITICAL FLEXIBILITY

The European political class is heavily influenced by forces outside Europe. Indeed, the influence of the “Arab Lobby” in both London and Paris is much greater than many people understand. The very large pools of liquid capital coming from the Gulf are the lifeblood of the London financial industry, and the Arab countries are vital customers and partners for the French business establishment, which is itself closely aligned with and linked to the French state. Understanding the ways that countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar influence policy in Britain and France but have much less pull in Berlin helps us see why Franco-British policy so often diverges from what Berlin would like to do.

In the last decade, Qatar has emerged as a major player in the European economy, seeing the Euro crisis as an opportunity to invest further in business, infrastructure , luxury real estate,  media, fashion, petrochemicals and financial institutions across Europe, including Greece, Italy, France, and Britain. Most of the emirate’s investments in Europe are made through the Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund whose subsidiaries include Qatar Holding, its direct investment arm and Qatari Diar, the property investment group. One must not forget the importance of personal relations in the Qatari context. This means that deals can be suggested, devised and delivered via a particular personal tie. Strong elite-to-elite relations in France and Britain in particular have been the key conduit for Qatari investments. Another key aspect facilitating these relations in particular is the long-term familiarity of the Qataris with Britain and France. Moreover, the Qatari elite have been holidaying and living across Europe for decades; they know the key business elite and politicians alike. The other side of this relationship is that a key Qatari state policy is to make Qatar centrally important to key actors. By virtue of Qatar’s unprecedented investment in London, the Qatari elite by now know every key businessman and -woman in London, to say nothing of key politicians. As and when Qatar either needs advice, or should something and Qatar needs assistance, the country has years of contacts and goodwill to exploit.

Qatari officials have denied that the emirate is pursuing political goals. Nevertheless it is a fact that European countries are in increasingly dependent on Gulf States for investment, security and trade and direct economic competition among European states is resulting in internal EU divisions. Likewise, however, GCC states depend on the EU’s support for increasing their influence in global governance.

Qatar’s process of achieving influence is complex and involves a mixture of wealth with an ability to implement and plan, with effective backup from a smartly-used media and an active foreign relations policy involving an army of diplomats. The skill of those in power and their use of religious or political networks have enabled the Qataris to play their cards well and spread their influence quickly.  The Qatari formula for winning great influence includes money, media and political flexibility. Apart from a strong investment arm that empowers Qatar in the West and the East, there are also other more controversial arms of influence, the most important of which is the Al-Jazeera TV network.