Mr. Nice Country

Less than two weeks ago -- though, given the recent pace of news, it seems like an eternity -- the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1757, to set up the international tribunal. The one dark spot on an otherwise wonderful day was the abstention of Qatar, the only Arab country with a Security Council vote.

Qatar's vote was strange on a few levels. The tiny emirate is considered a pro-Western, pro-Saudi country -- it houses America's largest military base in the Middle East, and maintains strong relations with its larger neighbor. It has also concerned itself with Lebanon in the past; Qatar gave $250 million to rebuild Bint Jbail, and its leader was the first Arab leader to visit Lebanon after last summer's war.

I spent a good part of last week learning about Qatar's foreign policy, and trying to put their vote into context of their larger goals. It was an interesting task, in the same way it would be interesting to study other historical oddities -- say, a dodo bird or a platypus. What I found was that, though Qatar works very hard to cultivate an image of being a modern, liberal country, at the end of the day they are primarily concerned with their petro-dollars. Here's a passage from my article:

"Before Qatar discovered that it was floating on a sea of oil, it was one of the poorest countries in the world. Now, it is one of the richest. As a tiny state, only slightly larger than Lebanon, Qatar does not dream of being a major regional power. Instead, it is primarily interested in sustaining its booming economy. To do so, it needs to keep the oil flowing, and maintain the broadest possible range of trade partners. The country's foreign policy can best be understood as a form of benevolent realpolitik -- essentially, the Qataris use their oil wealth to buy the goodwill of their neighbors. Any concern over the political alignment or long-term goals of other states is secondary."

Anyway, read the whole thing. I wrote this for Now Lebanon magazine, where I will be working full time for the next few months, at least. It's a great new resource for people interested in politics and culture in Lebanon, and I expect that it is going to be very popular.