Qatar: Attention-Starved Teen of the Middle East

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Here is the genius of Qatar, thepeanut-sized Persian Gulf state that provides material supportto Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and possibly some of Syria’sjihadist rebel groups, in a single image: A two-cheeked kiss, inpublic, between Qatar’s second-most powerful man, the primeminister (and foreign minister), Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim binJaber Al Thani, and Haim Saban, the Israeli-American billionairewho funds, among other things, the Saban Center for Middle EastPolicy at the Brookings Institution.

The kiss took place at a Brookings dinner last week inWashington that was convened to pay homage to Al Thani for hissupport -- because, yes, in addition to pledging $400 million toHamas, Qatar also supports Brookings, one of Washington’spremier research groups.