The man who changed the Arab world

Everything about him was unique. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was arguably the most influential Arab leader of the 21st century. Let me explain why. Although he ruled one of the region's smallest nations and was only in power for 18 years, a short period compared to other Arab leaders, his impact was monumental. In 1995, unable to sit by watching Qatar's potential pass by, Sheikh Hamad took over the reins of power and within a few years he transformed the country into an economic, cultural, and political player cementing Doha's place on the international stage. During his reign, the father emir, as he later became known, led a quiet revolution. Domestically, he introduced the country's first ever constitution. He enshrined the woman's right to vote, established municipal elections, and ensured that Qatar was an oasis of pluralism in and among countries that had often been criticized for their lack of freedom of expression. It's that principle of pluralism and the late emir's firm belief that education and information are key to the growth of any nation that led to one of his most notable achievements, the launch of Al Jazeera in 1996. At a time where media outlets were tightly controlled by governments and regimes that oppressed their people, Al Jazeera was the exception. In no time, it became the people's channel, the voice of the voiceless, because of its commitment to giving a platform to all sides, its motto being the opinion and the other opinion. Despite huge international pressure from presidents and world leaders to shut down Al Jazeera, attacking its offices and killing its journalists, Sheikh Hamad remained steadfast. The Arab people and the global south had a right to a free press. Building on that influence, the former emir invested heavily in positioning his nation as a key mediator and peacemaker in conflicts. From Sudan to Afghanistan, under his leadership and guidance, Qatar proved that small states could be more impactful and successful than global superpowers. Sheikh Hamad wasn't simply a dreamer, he turned those dreams into reality. A great example of this was the 2022 Qatar World Cup. His vision to host one of the world's largest sporting events came to life, and that tournament is now referred to as the most successful World Cup in history by FIFA officials. Despite ruling one of the world's richest nations, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was always a man of the people. During the mass pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring that swept through the region in 2010 and 2011, he was one of the few that spoke out against political oppression. That came at a cost with political lobby groups around the world putting a target on Doha and spending years and billions of dollars to smear Qatar. On a personal level, when his Egyptian school teacher passed away, the Qatari royal flew to Cairo to pay his respects. He was often seen in public speaking with his citizens as well as residents in Doha, and whilst he was the emir who modernized Qatar, that didn't come at the cost of his country's Arab and Muslim heritage. One of the closest issues to his heart was the Palestinian struggle for liberation, fitting perhaps that one of his last official trips as the emir of Qatar was to Gaza in late 2012. That visit was historic on many levels. He became the first world leader to enter Gaza in over a decade, but more importantly, his going there broke the siege that Israel had imposed, albeit temporarily, demonstrating clearly how central Palestinian freedom was to the greater Arab world. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was a once-in-a-lifetime type of leader, the father of a new form of pan-Arabism, one that went far beyond the 1950s and 60s rhetoric of Egypt's Jamal Abdel Nasser. Sheikh Hamad embodied a pan-Arabism that was not exclusionary but instead built on pluralism, one that was proud of its roots but open to the outside world. He was a leader that demonstrated to the people of the region that they shouldn't be scared to dream and that they deserved to live in dignity and prosperity.