Qatar, America’s wayward ally | GulfNews.com:
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- Image Credit: Tara Todras-Whitehill/New York Times
- US Secretary of State John Kerry at a news conference with Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani of Qatar in Doha in June
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On the face of it, Qatar has been one of the United States’ most valuable allies in the Middle East over the last decade. Qatar hosts a large US Air Force base in the Persian Gulf and has often provided political and financial support for US initiatives in the Middle East. Indeed, Washington has often encouraged Qatari activism to legitimise US diplomacy, including its political support at the Arab League of a potential US strike against Syria.
But Qatar’s role in the US’s Middle East policy is far more problematic than is commonly recognised. The tiny yet ambitious Gulf emirate has sought to use its immense hydrocarbon wealth to finance and arm civil wars in Libya and Syria, to support Hamas in Gaza, and to mediate disputes in Sudan and Lebanon. Its interest sometimes align with the United States’ — but too often, they do not. The launch of Al Jazeera America, the news network its government owns, should redirect attention to Doha’s goals and means."
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