DOHA, Qatar
QATAR IS a small country. It is made big, in the sense of influence and importance, because it has a lot of oil and does not think small. The capital city itself, with its eclectic office buildings, luxury hotels, and glamorous shopping malls, caters to a global market. It was just sand a few decades ago; it now has the highest GDP per capita in the world. Today, its sense of grandeur extends beyond wealth. Qatar, like other Persian Gulf nations, is asserting its growing political strength in the battles taking place across the Middle East. Qatar was once content with being a solo agent in the Arab world; it is now a player in a very dangerous neighborhood.
Comments
This comment has been removed.
This comment has been removed.
This comment has been removed.
"The United States gets actively involved in demanding reform in Egypt, and the result is messy. The United States leads from behind in Libya, and the result is messy. The United States keeps its distance from Syria, and it is beyond messy. Almost two years into the Arab Spring, the only certainty is that it was prematurely titled."
As other bloggers have noted, the Globe cheered the Obama-sponsored "Arab Spring" at the time.
Remember Dan Wasserman's cartoon at the time? It showed the happy Democrat Donkey telling the confused Republican Elephant that the "Arab Spring" was a huge SUCCESS"
I's still waiting for Dan to reprint that cartoon for the Globe readers.