Qatar - A country of just under 300,000 nationals punching above its weight in Syrian financing

Excellent article in Foreign Policy.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/09/30/the_case_against_qatar_funding_extremists_salafi_syria_uae_jihad_muslim_brotherhood_taliban

Excerpts from the article:
The tiny, gas-rich emirate has pumped tens of millions of dollars through obscure funding networks to hard-line Syrian rebels and extremist Salafists, building a foreign policy that punches above its weight.

Qatar, meanwhile, placed a long bet that political Islam was the next big thing that would pay off. "Qatar believes in two things. First, Doha doesn't want the Saudis to be the major or only player in the Sunni region of the Middle East," says Kuwaiti political scientist Abdullah al-Shayji. "Second, Qatar wants to have a role to play as a major power in the region."

House of Khalifa

Commander in chief of Qatar Armed forces Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani