WATCH: The challenges Qatar has faced over the years

Doha today looks very different than it was not too long ago. In the time it took for the giant skyscrapers to fill in the skyline of Doha’s corniche, the small nation of Qatar had to overcome enormous challenges to become synonymous with wealth and prosperity.

Becoming a wealthy nation

In the midst of the 1980s oil glut, Qatar’s economy was struggling. The country depended on crude oil exports and it didn’t have a lot of oil to begin with. It had, however, large amounts of natural gas.

But exporting natural gas was a huge challenge because the only efficient way to do it required building a massive infrastructure of pipelines. So to overcome this challenge, Qatar decided to invest heavily in the production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Today, Qatar owns the largest LNG train in the world, and is the fourth largest producer, reaching places as far as Spain and South Korea.

Hosting the FIFA World Cup

When Qatar aspired to be the first Middle Eastern and Muslim majority country to host the FIFA World Cup, it faced severe opposition.

Some said the country was too small to host such a big event, others said the heat was unbearable. In response, Qatar started building entire cities from the ground up, and constructed world class stadiums with massive cooling systems to beat the heat of the desert.

On December 2, 2010, the small nation won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Challenges facing Aljazeera

When Qatar based news channel Aljazeera was faced with extreme opposition from neighbouring countries boycotting it, to the US Army bombing its offices, it managed to only keep moving forward.

Diversifying the Economy

When the fluctuating energy prices threatened all energy cantered economies around the world, Qatar Investments Authority was initiated to ensure that Qatar’s economy remained untroubled.

Now, Qatar’s foreign investments can be seen everywhere around the world.

You'll soon notice a pattern here.

Every time there are big challenges, Qatar emerges bigger and better.

Naturally, if you follow the news media of the blockading countries, you might think the gulf crisis is an unsolvable problem. But if you ask anyone who lives here they will all call it what it really is, just another obstacle for Qatar to overcome.