Canada’s Trade Relations with China and Qatar

Thank you for inviting me to provide testimony. I lead our work on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Arabian Peninsula. Let me first briefly introduce us, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

FDD is a nonpartisan think tank dedicated to safeguarding America’s national security and advancing US interests. We combine rigorous research, strategic advocacy, and legislative action to shape US foreign policy on the main threats we face—including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, China’s expanding influence, Russia’s wars of aggression, cyber and information warfare, and extremist ideologies. FDD does not take any foreign government funding. That independence allows us to speak clearly, act boldly, and influence policy at the highest levels of government — on Capitol Hill and within the US executive branch.

My own background is mainly on the Middle East and Counterterrorism, not on China, so I will not offer any introductory remarks on China, although if you ask me any questions on it I will answer to the best of my ability. Having spent five years working for the UN Security Council I am somewhat versed in Chinese objectives, at least in that forum.

On Qatar, I have one central point that I would like to make. Qatar is a very small, extremely wealthy country, with global political and ideological ambitions. If you look only at Qatari nationals, as opposed to the expatriates who make up nearly 90 percent of the population, it is by far the richest country on earth per capita. The Qatar Investment Authority manages a sovereign wealth fund of more than half a trillion USD.

In a monarchy and tribal society totalling just a third of a million Qatari nationals, there is a high degree of social and political cohesion behind the deployment of this national wealth, which has been used over decades to acquire massive strategic investments overseas. At the same time, Qatar has consistently pursued an Islamist agenda, sponsoring Hamas and the wider Muslim Brotherhood, and playing host to Al-Jazeera, a media empire that mimics independent journalism but which promotes an Islamist agenda and never criticizes Qatar.

FDD is cataloguing total Qatari investments in the US. Right now it’s hovering around $430B, in investments, grants, and pledges since 2000. The money is spread across the country in nearly every sector, from defense and energy, to real estate, education, and sports.

So, my advice to Canada is to beware of Qatari investment. If you welcome it, you will only be repeating what all of your peers have done, from the US to UK to France. It is tempting on economic grounds. But it comes with strings attached, and as part of a strategic campaign for influence. Your media, schools and universities will be targeted for Islamist purposes.