France-Qatar: A Lasting Relationship – OpEd

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Dating back to the 1970s, the special relationship between France and Qatar is one of the oldest, broadest and most trusting which the Middle-Eastern State has. Ranging from diplomacy to security, and from sports to real estate, the ties reflect a commonality between the two nations: full-fledged integration within the fold of nations, while maintaining and developing independence and economic growth. 

A young yet vibrant partnership for France 

Qatar was quickly identified as one of the Arab states with which constructive and loyal relations could be built, and whose stability warranted the effort of building such long-lasting ties. Qatar’s identity, in all manners, is fundamentally rooted in Arab culture, but its openness and business-friendly tradition has boosted its ties with several Western countries, namely France – the second-largest target of Qatari investments in Europe, after Great Britain. Qatar has globally warm ties with Western nations, but remains independent at its core – something it shares with France. 

Qatar has always envisioned itself as fiercely independent, with foreign affairs ministers Sultan bin Saad al Muraikhi reaffirming its devotion to the Non-Aligned movement, in 2021, stating that: “the Movement, during its long journey, has played an active role in seeking to establish a just, equitable and rules-based world order and promoting adherence to principles, goals and purposes of the United Nations, such as promoting international peace and security, sovereign equality among states, and non-interference in their internal affairs…” 

The Non-aligned movement has sparked little interest within the fold of developed countries, whose strong economies are able to offer good conditions for trade and partnerships. France is one of those rare developed nations who doesn’t systematically align with allies in general, or the US in particular. In 2003, the US invasion of Iraq had brought all allied ducks to fall in line behind the American superpower, but France had opted not to join the conflict, a show of independence which had been noted by the Arab world. 

The two like-minded countries, over the years, have not let their relationship remain theoretical or idle: in 2017, upon visiting Paris, Emir Al Thani claimed to be “happy to count France among the friends of Qatar, who also treats peace, dialogue and cooperation between nations as a fundamental question” and saluted “a cooperation far beyond economic matters in a complex world, wrought by its conflicts and contradictions, especially in our region”, the Middle-East. 

A broad range of bilateral ties 

The type, volume and nature of investments from Qatar in France since the turn of the century are too many to fathom. The most prominent and high-profile Qatari participation is, naturally, the 2012 acquisition of France’s richest football team, the PSG, which it still holds today. Qatar also possesses, partially or fully, most of France’s luxury hotels, very large sections of high-value real estate, such as the Printemps gallery and Elysée 26 malls. Qatar has small, yet sizable, shares in many French firms, such as LVMH, amounting to a total of over 25 billion euros. AA reporter Shweta Desai writes: “The Gulf country has 42 companies in France through direct holdings or firms mostly managed by the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, a study conducted by Qadran, the Franco-Qatari economic circle, together with HEC Junior Conseil on the evolution of Qatari-French economic relations and diversification revealed”. 

France has also been active in Qatar, namely with the 2017 contract for the Doha public transportation system entrusted to the SNCF/RATP group, and the construction of the orbital highway given to Vinci. Suez and Bouygues handle several environmental contracts such as the large IDRIS project. Given Qatar’s strong focus on education, a project took place in 2016 which saw the opening of Qatari branches from the prestigious HEC business school. Since then, more university agreements have been signed, to co-develop cybersecurity skills. Gulf Times reports that “the total direct French investments in Qatar, according to Bank of France’s data, have been increasing since 2008, reaching USD 1.16 billion in 2021. To date, more than 120 French companies and 80 franchise agencies are registered in Qatar, the report said”. 

But the military sector is still probably the most vibrant aspect of the continuously thriving relationship, as the recent joint naval drills with the French navy showed in February of 2023, under the supervision of Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, in person. 

Defense as one of the main cooperation sectors 

Defense is a strategic sector Qatar and France both rely on. As one of the smallest countries in the area, and neighbored by the ominous Iranian shiite government, not to mention Sunni neighbors whose intentions are not always friendly, the emirate needs to keep a sharp edge on its military capacities – something France has helped with greatly, over the decades. 

The Gulf Times writes: “France is making a lot of investments in Qatar in the field of gas and oil, in addition to its investments in infrastructure, as well as the exchange in the economic, trade, aviation, and military and security fields. Co-operation in security and defence fields represents a pillar of the bilateral relations between Qatar and France as Qatar purchased several French Rafale aircraft, which enhances the close relations between Qatar and France. The two sides also organise regular military exercises and manoeuvres.” 

Qatar’s small navy, until now, employed merely 1000 personnel, and relies on fast and powerful boats to defend its territorial waters and its precious assets, out at sea, channeling natural resources. For a long time, the bulk of Qatar’s maritime missile force was composed of Combattante-class missile patrol boats delivered in the 1990s. But naval forces are the current subject of sizable reinforcements, namely with the arrival of several warships from Italian partner Fincantieri, such as the Al Zubarah class corvettes and even a Landing Platform Dock under construction.

Qatar’s air force is also mostly composed of French aircrafts (Mirage 2000, gradually replaced by Rafale fighters), completed with a handful of British or American equipment. Qatar, alongside Egypt, Indonesia and India, is among the largest importers of Rafale fighters with 36 units ordered. French new-generation NH-90 helicopters are also being delivered, following a 28-strong unit order, with an option on 12 additional units. Finally, most of Qatar’s 1st generation armored land vehicles were French-designed,. Qatar has acquired the French AMX-10, AMX-30, and VAB APCs, while the current main body of the armored land forces originates from Germany. This choice of suppliers may be surprising, not only because the latest German equipment has shown weak spots in its design thus in the delivery processes but also because those are rarely combat-proven items, mainly because Germany is known to have very restrictive export policies regarding clients engaged in conflicts which Berlin disapproves of. Germany is also pushing the EU to drastically limit arms exports outside the EU. 

Trust between the two countries has reached sufficient levels for Qatar to seek its own defense programs management capacity with the help of France. Should this occur, the industrial-diplomatic-military relationship between the two countries could develop even more, with the appearance of new programs, such as the VBCI program. The VBCI program is an infantry fighting vehicle program led by French firm Nexter, one of Qatar’s main suppliers, which is currently pending review for possible acquisition and provides both digital management of military units and the new CTA40 turret – technologies which will give a strong edge to Qatar in land operations. 

The relationship between Qatar and France, like any other meaningful and long-term, has known ups and downs, sometimes due to the ebb and flow of France’s cyclical politics. But each time, heads of States had the political and diplomatic tact to navigate skillfully – be it Emir Al Thani on one side, or presidents Chirac, then Sarkozy and now Macron on the other. Each time, a way was found, to preserve mutual interests and maintain the flourishing relationship which will, in all likelihood, remain fruitful in the future for both sides.

Ralph Johnson worked for more than 30 years on international relations and defense issues in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. Although he is retired, he is keen to share his views on the evolving issues in this area

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