US soft power triumphs in probe of Sepp Blatter’s corrupt casino

This article by CCLP senior fellow Derek Shearer was originally published in The Conversation. Soccer is truly the world's sport. It is played and watched by more people across the globe than any other sport. Every four years, it is the center of global attention when the World Cup is held. It's as if the World Series and Super Bowl were rolled into one mega-sporting event with viewership in the hundreds of millions. A private organization based in Switzerland called FIFA controls the selection of the host country, the commercial sponsors for the event and the rules by which the……

Al Jazeera America anchor: We never hear from Qatar

WASHINGTON — We never hear from Doha. That was the assertion by Joie Chen, Washington anchor for Al Jazeera America at Monday's CCLP Washington Communication Leadership forum. "I have never been to Doha," she said, "and I haven't heard from anyone in Doha." Rejecting criticism that Al Jazeera America is an instrument of the government of Qatar, which funds the new network, Chen said Al Jazeera America should be compared to the BBC or NPR, not to the VOA or Russia Today. "We are not in the public diplomacy business," said Chen. "We are in the journalism business."……

Qatar’s Well-Funded Public Diplomacy

This article was written by CCLP Faculty Fellow Philip Seib. DOHA — Money is a wonderful thing. Qatar has plenty of it and is putting it to use in its expanded public diplomacy. With wealth rather than weaponry, Qatar is becoming a new kind of superpower. The tiny state's latest triumph is being named the site of the 2022 World Cup. In the run-up to that event, Qatar plans to build air-conditioned stadiums, a 25-mile bridge to Bahrain, a new city, Lusail, which will be home to 300,000 residents, plus a new array of luxury hotels and other amenities. During……