Documentary: 'Qatar: A Dangerous Alliance' analyzes Gulf crisis

CAIRO – 23 October 2017: Due to the increasing tensions between Qatar and some Arab countries, notable experts in Middle East policy, international terrorism, and finance provide insight and analysis on Gulf crisis in the educational documentary film “Qatar: A Dangerous Alliance.”

"Qatar: A Dangerous Alliance" is a multi-media educational program produced by the public relations firm Policy Impact Communications. Its stated goal is to inform the ongoing debate among the public at large, those who see Qatar as an ally and home to the largest U.S. military base, and those who are troubled by its history of support for militant Islamist organizations.



Among the experts that participated in making the 39-minute film are a Hudson Institute senior fellow and director for South and Central Asia, Husain Haqqani; senior vice president at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies Jonathan Schanzer; senior fellow at Hudson Institute Lee Smith, and a specialist in Middle Eastern regional security affairs and a leading authority on Iran and its engagement with Qatar Alex Vatanka.

The documentary paints Qatar as a country who finances terrorism, promotes radical Islamism through its support of the Muslim Brotherhood and state-run Al-Jazeera television network, normalizes relationships with Iran and violates previous agreements within the Gulf Cooperation Council.

According to a PR Newswire, Schanzer claimed Qatar supports a number of terrorist groups including Hamas, the Taliban, al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda in Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood, jihadists in Libya, and, more broadly, extremists from across the Arab world.

"Qatar is both an ally and an adversary of the United States. This is the role that Qatar has been playing for the last 20 years. They continue to support a lot of bad actors, while also hosting our largest air base in the Middle East," Smith said.

The film was first released on September 18. It was directed and written by William Nixon. It has been viewed 10 million times online and is now available to users in Amazon. It will also screen at "Countering Violent Extremism: Qatar, Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood,” a conference held by Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom this coming Monday.

"It has not only been popular online, with worldwide viewership, but was also been picked up by network TV and now Amazon.com. We are grateful for the support from subject matter experts at the Hudson Institute, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the Middle East Institute, and we are pleased to be able to show our appreciation by making commemorative gift copies available for all attendees of the conference on countering violent extremism," said Nixon.

Many American officials will attend the conference including former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency David H. Petraeus and former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon.