Tuesday, December 19, 2017

HH the Father Emir: A visionary leader of the nation


Ibrahim Ali Ibrahim, The Peninsula Qatar

Image from, with caption: The Emir in the Polish Senate in 2011
Excerpt:
To have a dream and do greatly to achieve it is not given to many people and it is this combination that distinguishes Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani [JB - see] as one of the greatest leaders in the history of Qatar, the Gulf and the Middle East. The success of Sheikh Hamad lies on his ability to turn the odds that Qatar has faced into its favour. ...

Small states have traditionally been perceived as weak and vulnerable, and incapable of making any influence on international relations. Sheikh Hamad proved this wrong. Despite this well-established stereotype, Qatar under the leadership of Sheikh Hamad has successfully made its way to the local renaissance and to the international arena as well. Since he assumed power, Qatar has been engaging in a robust vigorous foreign policy. His understanding of the global picture and the challenges that Qatar faces helped him to frame the right policies to protect Qatar from the perils of small states. Sheikh Hamad has used a blend of public diplomacy tools ranging from Al Jazeera TV, to mediation of conflicts in the region, especially between Israel and the Palestinians, Lebanon, Darfur-Sudan, to the handsome donations that it has delivered to negatively affected areas around the globe. During his tenure Qatar has risen to become one of the leading regional actors in the international relations of the Middle East. His views and insights were highly respected by many leaders around the world. ...
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Marriages and children (from wikipedia; see also.)
Sheikh Hamad has three wives and twenty-five children, twelve sons and thirteen daughters.   

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See also, "Qatar’s Well-Funded Public Diplomacy,"  by  Philip Seib, USC, in the Huffington Post, which states, "Money is a wonderful thing. Qatar has plenty of it and is putting it to use in its expanded public diplomacy. With wealth rather than weaponry, Qatar is becoming a new kind of superpower."

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