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Podcast: The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer
Episode: Afghanistan highlights link between religious soft power and Gulf security
Description: When Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdulrahman Al-Thani this week described the Taliban’s repressive policies towards women and brutal administration of justice as “very disappointing” and taking Afghanistan “a step backwards,” he was doing more than holding Qatar up as a model of Islamic governance and offering the militants cover to moderate their ways.