Three elite universities maintain partnerships with a Qatari government-funded media venture that frequently publishes editorial content critical of the United States, a Washington Examiner investigation has found.
Doha Debates, a project of the Qatari government-led Qatar Foundation, presents itself as a neutral forum through which “a vanguard of intellectually curious truth-seekers” can “constructively debate differences in order to build a better future.” In reality, the forum advances ideas aligned with Qatar’s international interests, even at the expense of the U.S. and its allies.
Northwestern, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon universities, through their Qatar campuses, all have partnerships with Doha Debates. The organization capitalizing on these partnerships has pushed content to millions of viewers arguing that the U.S.’s global power is diminished, claiming that Western nations are racist, criticizing Israel, and pressuring the developed world to accept more refugees.
Qatar’s influence operation, which was conducted through Doha Debates, is not historically unusual. Foreign nations have long supported right- and left-wing activist groups in the U.S. to cause internal destabilization or otherwise serve political interests. During the Cold War, for instance, the Soviet Union funded a variety of front organizations, such as the World Peace Council, to advance its foreign policy goals. More recently, the Chinese Communist Party has worked to publish propaganda and gain influence in foreign societies through its United Front Work Department.
Qatar has long been suspected of using its vast wealth, primarily derived from oil exploitation, as a form of soft power to influence higher education in the U.S. Lawmakers have accused the Gulf nation, for instance, of leveraging the large amount of cash it donates to universities to make college administrations friendlier to Qatar’s national interests.
The Qatar Foundation, which operates Doha Debates, is run by members of the Qatari royal family and was found in a 2020 Department of Education report to be at least partially funded by Qatar’s government. Doha Debates has flown under the radar as a vehicle for the Qatari state to push its agenda abroad.
For instance, one resource offered by Doha Debates is a curriculum for college students that encourages them to question whether nations should have borders in response to the global refugee crisis. The curriculum provides two competing perspectives, one stating that the West should accept more refugees and another arguing for more stringent asylum laws. A third argument is then presented authoritatively as a synthesis between the two opposing stances, stating that Western governments should provide financial “incentives to host communities to accept refugees instead of putting money into walls and cages.”
Doha Debates has also produced two short films promoting increased migration to Western nations. A filmmaker behind one of the productions said in an interview that the first Trump administration’s immigration policies were “radical.”
Despite being one of the richest countries in the world, boasting a GDP per capita of over $80,000, Qatar was hosting just 197 refugees as of 2023, the most recent year for which World Bank data is available. Doha Debate’s position on migration policy is largely in line with Qatar’s interests. Wealthy Gulf states such as Qatar fear the demographic upheaval large numbers of refugees could bring them, responding to the problem instead by spending large amounts of money to facilitate the settlement of refugees elsewhere.
While the Qatar Foundation, and by extension Doha Debates, explicitly states that it exists to advance the interests of the Qatari government, which the U.S. has accused of human rights abuses, universities hold partnerships with the media organization nonetheless.
Georgetown, for example, lists Doha Debates as one of its “strategic partners,” noting that the university helps the organization broadcast its media and that the two institutions collaborate on a debate program. Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon, similarly, have worked with Doha Debates to produce content. Doha Debates also recruits students from the trio of universities to serve in its “ambassadors” program, later tapping them to participate in the discussions it films.
Anti-American rhetoric is a mainstay in content produced by Doha Debates.
“All of this to say that if the promise of equality cannot be made good, and true reforms targeting the many ways that black Americans have been treated like second-class citizens are not forthcoming, then there will be no end to demands for justice and no possibility of lasting peace,” British-Afghan activist Nelufar Hedayat said at the conclusion of a video produced by Doha Debates admonishing the United States for its history of racism.
The high-production value video argued that the present racial wealth gap in the U.S. is a product of racial discrimination and that some form of reparations would be necessary to rectify it.
Additionally, Doha Debates produced a video praising artists for participating in the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd, which sparked widespread riots that internally destabilized the U.S. One of the debates held by the organization, dubbed “Rise of the Rest: Who should lead in a multipolar world,” presupposes that America is no longer the world’s sole superpower.
Israel and Canada, two countries aligned with the U.S., have also been targeted by Doha Debates. Doha Debates showcased the work of Assal Rad, a historian who “fixes” news headlines to be more critical of Israel and then shares them with her large social media following. In one case, she edited a Financial Times headline that originally read “Israel plans buffer zone in Gaza after Hamas war” to say “Israel plans more land theft in Gaza after Hamas war.” As it relates to Canada, Doha Debates co-produced a podcast with Foreign Policy where the debunked claim of mass indigenous graves at Canadian residential schools was repeated.
Doha Debates has also produced content criticizing the West for its wealth inequality, even though 95% of Qatar’s workforce are poorly paid migrant workers employed in conditions that some have likened to modern slavery.
While the Gulf state has attempted to maintain cordial relations with Washington, it has strengthened its diplomatic and economic ties to China in recent years. China has been a major proponent of a multipolar global order. Qatar has also positioned itself as a key ally of Iran and Hamas, to the detriment of the U.S. and Israel.
Mainstream reporting on Doha Debates has previously failed to connect it to Qatari influence operations. A profile of the organization in Variety magazine, for instance, did not note the Qatar Foundation’s government links.
Doha Debates does hold actual debates as well. While both sides of a given topic are often presented fairly by their advocates in discussions held by the organization, questions are often framed in ways critical of the West. Additionally, the organization draws on its student ambassadors from Northwestern, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon’s Qatari satellite campuses to participate in the debates, with those students usually, though not always, serving to steer the conversation in an anti-Western direction.
At one such debate concerning whether Western nations have been stewards of “global justice,” pro-Western speaker Konstantin Kisin began making a point about Middle Eastern slavery only to be shut down by Doha Debates’ moderator. Kisin was addressing an argument made by a student ambassador, which held that the West could not be a moral force in the world due to its history of slavery.
Qatar’s influence over American higher education extends far beyond Doha Debates. Federal records show that Qatar has funneled billions of dollars to Northwestern, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon, much of which went unreported prior to government inquery. The bulk of these funds went toward funding satellite campuses in Qatar’s capital.
“The Qataris utilize the academic institution as an unofficial arm of the government, providing a platform where they can convey messages not officially attributed to them,” Bar-Ilan University Ph.D student Ariel Admoni told the Times of Israel. “If the government wants to communicate a message, they organize an academic conference, set up a forum with symposiums in the capital of Qatar, and within it, statements may be made, such as expressing dissatisfaction towards the United States by the speakers. The academic framework allows them to articulate things indirectly. In other words, Qatar pursues its own agenda, and for Qatar, an academic institution is a legitimate tool to achieve their foreign policy goals.”
The Qatar Foundation, Northwestern, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon did not respond to requests for comment.
