It is richly ironic that the US is abandoning soft power while accepting Qatari gifts ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

It is richly ironic that the US is abandoning soft power while accepting Qatari gifts

Qatari and Saudi flags flying outside the Plaza Hotel in NYC

Qatar gives out billions of dollars to purchase influence in the world. For example, yesterday in Lebanon, Qatar announced a program to provide aid to 3,000 families affected by the Hezbollah-Israel war.

The Trump administration is against spending US money on soft power, as its shutdown of USAID showed.

There is no doubt that some - maybe most - of USAID's budget was not promoting US interests worldwide as well as it should have. DEI programs overseas and promoting LGBTQ issues in conservative countries will not make nations more pro-American.

But there is something to be said for soft power if it is done correctly. After all, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative seems to heavily influence the countries that are profiting from it.

The irony is that while the US is disparaging soft power, Qatar is using it to great effect - including in America.

What is the planned Qatari gift of a presidential plane if not a bid to influence the President? And Trump, who values loyalty, is not the type of person who will accept a gift and not be influenced by it.

The Qatari self interest is transparent. There is no reason to think that it will not pay off.

The Middle East Forum just released a paper detailing how much money Qatar has given US institutions since 2012.

America faces a silent invasion. Not of armies or navies, but of capital. Qatar, a tiny Gulf emirate with just 300,000 citizens, has deployed nearly $40 billion across our nation’s institutions since 2012. This is not mere investment. It is calculated influence.

Benjamin Baird’s meticulous investigation exposes the full scope of Qatar’s American enterprise. The numbers speak plainly: $33.4 billion into businesses and real estate; $6.25 billion to universities; $72 million to lobbyists. Qatar purchases access to our corridors of power while simultaneously funding Hamas terrorists who seek our destruction.

The pattern is clear: Qatar targets critical infrastructure, including our energy grid. It bankrolls academic departments that foment campus unrest, buys Manhattan skyscrapers, and infiltrates Silicon Valley. Its capital flows to Washington insiders who shape Middle East policy.

USAID might spend money without any evidence of how it affects hearts and minds, but it seems doubtful that Qatar's largesse is as unfocused. It gives money specifically to those who are perceived to have the most influence on America's future. The quid pro quo isn't explicit but it is definitely here for an American people who would naturally want to return favors.

Under the Democrats, the US appears to have lost the plot on how to use soft power but still spent billions on items that did not make anyone supportive of the US. Under the Republicans, the US appears to look at all soft power as a waste of money - deals are considered the most effective way to get things done and even a single layer of abstraction is deemed too fuzzy to get anything done.

The truth is in between. And if the US wants to know the best way to use soft power, it should look at how Qatar does it - and then so whatever it can to reduce Qatar's outsized and ultimately immoral influence on American businesses, infrastructure, real estate, universities and more.