Qatar gaining in soft power, says US official Wednesday, 13 April 2011 03:40

Doha: “Qatar is a place where you can be safe and benefit from having social tolerance, openness and academic freedom” Ambassador J Adam Ereli (pictured), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the U S Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, said yesterday during a press roundtable at the Grand Hyatt.

Ereli was deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Qatar from 2000 to 2003 and at the beginning of the press roundtable he said: “When I left Doha in 2003 there were few publications, so it’s nice to see how much is happening in Qatar”.

He has stressed the importance of the reality of soft power, the power to build relationships, mutual understanding and common goals, “and the best way to build partnership is through education”.

Ereli manages educational and cultural programmes in Qatar with a budget of $635m and a staff of over 400. Through hundreds of education advisors that help making the US education more accessible for Qatari students, the US is also strengthening its education system and its economy as education is a $20bn industry.

“Education City is not yet a campus. A lot has been achieved, but in about 8-10 years maybe the Education City will actually turn into a gathering place to exchange ideas in the academic community. First of all, the numbers have to go up and then there has to be interaction between the different universities,” the ambassador said when asked about the Education City’s developments. “Qatar has a rational human resources development policy and the US wants to help Qatar to build it up” said Ambassador Ereli.

Art is another sector with which a country increases its soft power. “Qatar has a rich artistic scene, the best that money can buy,” he said. The US will bring American performers and artists to Qatar and this cultural flow has already started. An example just passed is the Tribeca Film Festival and one that will come is the New Orleans Jazz Festival that will soon play in Doha.

Talking about international politics the ambassador said: “The US is more than just its international politics and Qatar shares that sensibility”.

What is happening now in the Middle East will affect everywhere and everyone. “Education is about ideas and knowledge, so this storm of ideas in the Middle East will also have good repercussions as it will take people to think and discuss about the nature of the government, the relation between government and people, the typology of change and the conflicts’ resolution”.

Ereli has worked as the ambassador to Bahrain from 2007 till 2011 and he was asked about the actual relation between the US and Bahrain. “Bahrain has always been a US partner and now the country is going through a difficult period, but this is not a reason to change the relations between the two countries. It’s not said that every time that there is a security problem in a country it’s necessary for the US to change its position toward that country. It depends on the circumstances. With Libya it was necessary, but the nature of the conflict in Bahrain is very different from the one that is going on in Libya” he argued.

Qatar is an important ally for the US especially now that they are sharing the intervention in Libya. “What Qatar has promised 10 years ago was delivered. Qatar is reliable” the ambassador said.

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