House Majority Leader Eric Cantor stopped by to visit Virginia Commonwealth University yesterday. Or more specifically, the VCU campus in Qatar, the oil and gas rich Persian Gulf emirate that plays host to several American universities in its “Education City.” VCU’s Qatar campus focuses on design — interior, graphic, fashion and more.
But it wasn’t just a good will tour of the campus. Cantor met with Qatar’s foreign minister as well — and with good reason. 
Qatar has played a major role in the Arab Spring, both through its diplomatic pressure on Libya, and perhaps most importantly by serving as the headquarters for the Arab news service Al Jazeera. One Middle East analyst calls the network, which offered real-time coverage of the Cairo protests that brought down the Mubarak regime “…the sophisticated mouthpiece of the state of Qatar and its ambitious Emir, Hamad Al Thani.”
Al Thani overthrew his father in a bloodless coup in 1995. Since then, he’s plowed the tiny nation’s petro-dollars into an array of industries — and Al Jazeera. In 1998, the Qatar Foundation invited VCU to become the first American university to set up shop in the new “Education City.”
The wealthy emirate and its ruler have broader aims than simply educating the population. They landed the 2022 World Cup (amid a storm of controversy), and have their eyes set on hosting the Olympics, too. Qatar also hosted the Doha round of World Trade Organization talks in 2001.
So this small nation with very big plans — and one of the largest U.S. military bases in the world — seems a natural fit for the attention of political leaders like Mr. Cantor. That VCU has a campus there adds a nice link for the folks back home, and certainly, the school’s presence there is a lasting sign that both the U.S. and the Emirate have an interest in fostering cultural exchange and understanding. 
But it’s the nation’s wealth, media influence and strategic importance that make it the real focus of high-level congressional visits. And that will surely increase if tensions with Iran continue to grow.
Sure enough, Iran was on Mr. Cantor’s agenda:
I look forward to discussing a wide-range of issues, including the very concerning threat posed to the entire world by Iran’s continuing support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear capability. By visiting this critical region at a time of such significance, we will be better informed to work together to address our concerns with Iran, the pressing threats of terrorism, regional instability and political transition, and the global economic crisis.”
And in case you were curious, the answer is “no,” Cantor did not bow to anyone during his visit.
