Over the past few days I have been riveted to various news outlets covering the situation in Egypt, but none has been more comprehensive than Al Jazeera. Of course numerous articles have already been written about the network's success in covering the recent events but it is important to remember that Al Jazeera is based in Qatar and was originally largely funded by the Emir of Qatar. Qatar, a small country that occupies a small peninsula surrounded by the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia has rapidly raised its global profile in the past decade. With a population under 2 million, Qatar, flush with oil and natural gas money, continues to punch above its weight on the global scale, recently winning the 2022 World Cup bid. As Philip Seib notes in an article on the Huffington Post, Al Jazeera in its various incarnations serves as a virtual ambassador for Qatar. Although Qatar does participate in traditional diplomacy, hosting peace talks for Lebanon and Sudan as well as a host of conferences, Qatar's public diplomacy mainly focuses on creating and sustaining an image as a dynamic modern nation that still manages to balance the demands of religion and tradition, and Al Jazeera certainly fits this message.
As an intern for the Meridian International Center this past summer, I was asked to research Qatar and its funding avenues, particularly the Qatar Foundation chaired by the Emir's second wife, Sheikha Mozha. The QF certainly plays a large role in Qatar's overall public diplomacy efforts, particularly in its management of Education City which covers 14 square kilometers and houses educational facilities from school age to research level and branch campuses of some of the world's leading universities such as Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown. While this and many other projects are noteworthy, it is important to remember that Qatar's rapid ascent and robust public diplomacy efforts are only achieved due to the country's wealth. While Seib is correct in suggesting that Qatar may be a new model of global power by using its wealth rather than force, its hard to identify many nations with the amount of capital necessary to to follow this template outside of the Middle East. Perhaps it would be more practical to look at Qatar as a model for other Middle Eastern nations in general rather than other small but wealthy countries.
Seib's article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-seib/qatars-wellfunded-public-_b_808181.html
Just as I finished writing my post, I came across a great article from the guardian that addresses Qatar's incessant efforts to boost its image, although the author's inclusion of Qatar's shortcomings in the areas of human rights are an indication that perhaps Qatar's strategy of throwing money at PD projects may not be enough to cover up less pleasant aspects areas of the country's affairs. The article does highlight however the emphasis on education and culture that permeates Qatar's public diplomacy and how intriguingly, the relative absolute quality of the Emir's power may in fact be responsible for the liberalization of this society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/qatar-film-festival-gulf-emirate
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