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Apocalypse Now?
The Mouse that Roared: how Qatar is helping shape the Middle East
Ask most people to point out Qatar on a map and they’d be hard pushed to find a place that has escalated in international news in a matter of weeks. And say what you like about Donald Trump, but who else gets gifted a $400million jet as a replacement for Air Force One because, and we quote, ‘Boeing were very late with the plane’.
For those that might have missed it, President Trump is currently on a whistle stop tour of the Middle East, brokering arms and tech deals worth millions of dollars and lifting sanctions on Syria after a meeting in Damascus with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al-Qaeda commander. There’s even talk of Syria getting their own Trump tower, so they too can look like a rundown boardwalk in Atlantic City.
But this is serious. Business and political protocols overturned; human rights records trodden on. Israel and China looking askance as the US buddies up to the Middle East. In this latest episode we speak to Majed Al-Ansari—Spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry and Adviser to the Prime Minister to find out what role Qatar is playing as it sits on this axis of power, conflict and wealth and promises to become a point of navigation between East and West?
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Presenter: David Patrikarakos
Producer: Philip Wilding
Editor: Alex Graham
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
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