Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani
The Diplomat
People, composure and the difficult conversation held well.
Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani reads as The Diplomat because his career was built on navigating impossible tensions with quiet authority. Serving simultaneously as Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, he worked across ideological fault lines, hosting Hamas political leadership while maintaining ties with Washington and facilitating the Doha Agreement on Afghanistan. He positioned a small Gulf state as an indispensable mediator, and his influence was never coercive, always relational.
“We started QIA with no money literally, and we started with nothing, aiming that the gas will give us a flow of money. So we started with loans. Most of this transaction being done by loans from the banks.”
“If we agree Iran is our first enemy, how we can deal with this matter? Through direct negotiation? Through war? We should live in the Gulf Area in harmony between Iran, Iraq and the GCC countries.”
“To do Abraham things with no vision or no target peace target — it's too early unless you have planned what to do. What I'm worried is within ten years we find ourselves in another intifada.”
The David Rubenstein Show: “Qatar's 'HBJ'”
LISTEN AT THE SOURCE ↗THE RECORD IS CHECKABLE