Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is once again European champion. A sporting victory for the French capital, but also a victory for the soft power of its state owner: Qatar. Its investment and communication strategy around PSG is itself part of a strategy of diplomacy through sport. This is an undeniable success and represents a significant asset at a time when the Gulf monarchy is experiencing a period of tension and to the rhythm of the war in Iran.
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Whether it is a means or an end, power is not reducible to the traditional determinant of military force. The notion of soft power theorized by J. Nye (which became extremely popular at the turn of the 2000s) thus translates the idea of being able to achieve one’s objectives, without resorting to force, through the “capacity to seduce”.
As an international practice, soft power includes various types of influence strategies, including retribution and persuasion/seduction.
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Soft power, as described by Joseph Nye, is not to be confused with propaganda, lobbying and “public diplomacy”, which aims to convince of the well-founded and fair nature of one’s foreign policy through the construction and propagation of a narrative. Influence strategies illustrate the sophistication and multiplication of vectors of power.
Whether it is a means or an end, power is not reducible to the traditional determinant of military force. International power is the product of a complex combination of criteria, factors, determinants or (re)sources, of a protean nature.
Among the main vectors of soft power, there are culture, law, technological innovation, language, but also sport. This represents both a thriving economic market and a tool of influence, as evidenced by the challenge of organizing major international sporting competitions.
Football, with its popular and universal character, is at the heart of this phenomenon. The next World Cup in the United States will be a geopolitical moment which risks illustrating the decline in the capacity of attraction and seduction of the United States chaired by D. Trump.
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PSG, Qatar’s soft power tool
In 2011, the purchase of PSG by the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar (via its subsidiary Qatar Sports Investments – QSI) is part of the deliberate investment strategy of the micro-state, where sport plays an increasing role in the influence strategy. An operation which marks a turning point for the capital’s football club French (operation in which President Sarkozy played a decisive role) and for the soft power of the Gulf monarchy The amount of the transaction is not official, but estimates vary between 70 and 100 million euros Today, the value of the club is estimated at 4.25 billion euros. of the valorization of the club which testifies to the economic success of this investment, which thus extends the sporting success of this project.
PSG’s victories and the quality of its spectacular play represent added values for the international, symbolic and media image of Qatar, which is now associated with the success and appeal of the club from the emblematic capital of world luxury. Qatar is now anchored in the collective imagination, in the Arab world as in the Western world. And its image continues to improve, at a time when the powers of the region, we think of Israel in particular, give in to hubris and sheer force, see their global image more negative than ever…
