EXPATS SHARE VIEWS ON QATAR WITH FELTMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000401

SENSITIVE, SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO SOCI QA
SUBJECT: EXPATS SHARE VIEWS ON QATAR WITH FELTMAN

DOHA 00000401 001.3 OF 002


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(SBU) KEY POINTS
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-- (SBU) Thoughtful expatriates shared their views about Qatar and
its relations with the United States with NEA AA/S Jeffrey Feltman
on June 16.

-- (SBU) Brookings Doha Center director Hady Amr advised that
Qatar's unique geography and demography drove much of its approach
to foreign policy.

-- (SBU) The Turkish Ambassador to Qatar explained that Qatar's
energy relationships were an example of its tying the interests of
key countries to Qatar's security.

-- (SBU) RAND-Qatar Policy Institute Director Richard Darilek
explained that Qatar was undertaking an ambitious reform of its
entire K-12 education system by converting its schools to
"independent" schools along the lines of charter schools in the
United States, based on policy advice from RAND.

-- (SBU) Al Jazeera English (AJE) Director Tony Burman rejected the
idea that AJE reporting, particularly on Iran, was guided by Qatar's
policy objectives. AJ, he said, is more like a "country within a
country" rather than an integral part of Qatar.

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COMMENTS
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-- (SBU) These views represent a good snapshot of how some
thoughtful outsiders think of Qatar's national security strategy.
Post is fortunate to have such distinguished American think tanks as
Brookings and RAND to help us understand this country.

-- (SBU) While Tony Burman may be correct in viewing Al Jazeera's
3,000 employees in this small nation as almost a "country within a
country," it was hard not to notice that AJ's coverage of Iran paled
in comparison to its wall-to-wall, sensationalist coverage of events
in Gaza in January, and to wonder what drives these different
approaches.

END KEY POINTS


1. (SBU) On June 16, Acting Assistant Secretary for Near East
Affairs Jeffrey Feltman met over dinner at the Ambassador's
residence with five thoughtful expatriates who have worked in Qatar
for a number of years. Each offered his views of why Qatar pursues
the foreign and domestic policies that it does.


2. (SBU) Hady Amr, Director of the Brookings Doha Center, said that
much of Qatar's behavior internationally can be explained by
geography and demography. Geographically, Qatar is a tiny country
wedged between Saudi Arabia and Iran, both of which are many times
larger. Demographically, Qatar has only about 200,000 citizens;
with an annual GDP of over USD 100 billion, that makes these
citizens by far the richest in the world, in Amr's view.


3. (SBU) Amr also encouraged Feltman to think about the changes that
Qataris have seen over the past several decades. "A Qatari in his
60s can still remember when even the Amir didn't have electricity,"
he noted, "and when their entire population could fit into a
medium-sized football stadium."


4. (SBU) All of these factors give Qataris an elevated sense of
vulnerability, Amr said, and drive the policies adopted by the
Government. He said Qataris had explained to him that their drive
for international conferences, their hosting of U.S. military bases,
and their relentless engagement with others were all part of a
strategy to protect Qatar. "We have no military," one Qatari told
him, "so think of the conferences as our aircraft carriers, and the
military bases as our nuclear weapons."


5. (SBU) The Turkish Ambassador to Qatar added that this same
strategy was evident in Qatar's policy of building strong, direct
energy relationships with key countries. "The South Hook LNG
terminal in the UK," he explained, "was financed 65 percent by the
Qataris, and they are also helping to build the Golden Pass terminal
in the United States." These were examples, he said, of Qatar
giving other countries a stake in its future.


6. (SBU) RAND-Qatar Policy Institute Director Dr. Richard Darilek
stated that Qatar was active not only internationally, but was
undertaking ambitious internal reforms as well aimed at helping
Qatar transition to a knowledge-based economy. One example are
Qatar's K-12 educational reforms, which were based on RAND's
analysis and policy recommendations. Over the course of several
years, Qatar is transforming its public schools to "independent"
schools, which are based on the U.S. charter school model. Many
Qataris have found reforms such as these coming at an overwhelming

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pace, but they are driven by the Amir and his Consort, Shaykha
Mozah, so they are moving forward.


7. (SBU) Turning to Qatar's relations with Iran, AJE Director Tony
Burman rejected the notion that Al Jazeera's coverage of
post-election violence in Iran was in any way related to Qatar's
views of that country. He noted that international journalists were
under virtual house arrest in Iran, and that two AJ producers had
been taken away by security forces in Afghanistan. Burman resented
any suggestion that their courageous reporting was based on the
policy considerations of Qatar. After a year on the job, he said,
he often felt that Al Jazeera, with more than 50 nationalities
represented, operated almost as a "country within a country," not as
part of Qatari society.


8. (U) AA/S Feltman has cleared this cable.

LEBARON