QATAR DIGITAL PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN SOMALIA: FRAMING QATAR'S FOREIGN AID IN FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Abstract

The State of Qatar has adopted soft power in its foreign policy to compensate for its geographical size and to preserve its national security. This gave the State of Qatar, as a small state, strength and a regional presence. Among these tools is governmental and non-governmental foreign aid. With technological developments and the emergence of new media represented in social media, it has been critical to keep pace with these developments and that Qatari donors use the opportunities offered by social media in order to increase the reach and impact of their own-produced content. This does not mean that they do not currently use social media, rather their content must be strategically framed to ensure an effective digital presence. Since public diplomacy is communication with people in another country, the role of social media (digital diplomacy) is represented in the ability to attract, positively influence and deliver Qatari foreign aid with a clear, meaningful and credible framework for the people receiving this aid. This dissertation chose Somalia as a case study for several factors, the most important of which is the fact that the Somali people have received Qatar's foreign aid since the collapse of the State of Somalia in 1991 until now. Access to technology is available to the Somali people, whether within Somalia or the Somali diaspora. The foregoing qualifies the State of Qatar to practice foreign aid as public digital diplomacy with the Somali people directly through strategically framed content on social media platforms (digital public diplomacy). The importance of this dissertation lies in the fact that it adds the use of digital diplomacy (content framed in social media) to the Qatari foreign aid towards Somalia. The time period for this dissertation is from November 2009 to 2021. It focuses on Facebook and Twitter as an analysis tool. This dissertation relied on the theories of soft power and framing. These two theories provide complementarity and convergence in imparting power to the soft power of a small state like Qatar, considering that Qatar uses soft power through several tools, including foreign aid, while adding additional power through strategic framing of the efforts of this aid through content on social media. To answer the questions and achieve the objectives, the dissertation adopts the inductive method, and gathers data using text analysis and interviews. The study established several conclusions: the importance of framing Qatari foreign aid digitally in Somalia; framing financial amounts and the positive impact of projects; improving the mental image (stereotype) attached to the Somali people through Qatari aid to the Somali people (new framing); the importance of using social media capabilities; and the importance of using the Somali language along with Arabic and English. The findings of this study cannot be generalised as it is a case study (Somalia). However, its results in general can be used by Qatari donors with another country that receives Qatari aid, while ensuring that each result is compatible with the people of another country. The findings of this study are recommendations for decision makers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Qatari donors. It also opens the way for academics to be used to measure the impact of the content of foreign aid donors on the target audience.