Following the October 7 attacks, Qatar has faced heightened scrutiny for sustaining Hamas, which invaded Israel and massacred 1,200 people in 2023. Despite demands from some US officials, Doha refuses to expel Hamas officials, who have enjoyed safe haven in the West Asian country since 2012.
Between 2017 and 2021, four Arab countries (the “Quartet”) blockaded Qatar due to its support of and billions of dollars in contributions to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the US Treasury has partially designated as a terrorist group.
As Qatar cultivates terrorism, it pumps billions of dollars into efforts to convince the West that it is a dependable business partner, cultural patron, and friend. These include efforts to sponsor sports, Western universities, media initiatives, tourism campaigns, airplane and weapon acquisitions, lobbying, and America’s Al Udeid base. In reality, such generosity is motivated by Doha’s greater desire for influence and political survival in a region hostile to its leadership (see Operation Abu Ali, for example).
Qatar’s impact on the West has been effective. Recently, it became a non-NATO major ally of the US, which helped Doha overcome the Quartet-led boycott. The country largely escaped accountability post-October 7 for its role in sponsoring Hamas. Many Americans forget that Qatar, in the 1990s, hosted Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, who later masterminded the 9/11 attacks. During the Wars on Terrorism, Qatar’s Al Jazeera Network hailed attacks on US troops as “paradise operations” while also manning booby traps where US soldiers were ambushed.
Qatari influence on US higher education
As reports now allege that Qatar’s influence footprint in US higher education might be billions of dollars greater than once thought, exposing Doha’s partnerships with American institutions remains crucial for national security, especially as Qatar continues to influence America’s youth and future.
Previously, American universities were believed to have received $6.25 billion from Qatar, largely to fund their satellite campuses in Qatar’s Education City. The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) now reports that Qatar has invested upwards of $20 billion, almost three times the previously thought of amount, into US universities such as Cornell, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Commonwealth, and Brown.
Another study by ISGAP documents a correlation between increased antisemitism on campuses and the presence of funding from Qatar. A recent Harvard poll also suggests that nearly half of all Americans aged 18-24 support Hamas over Israel. Whether or not Qatari funding has fueled such sentiment is a question that should be analyzed.
Recent disclosures reveal that Qatar and its campuses have forged memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with American institutions, many of which have escaped spotlight and scrutiny.
Memorandums of understanding with Doha
In 2025, Qatar University and Microsoft signed an MOU to formalize collaboration on “AI-driven learning solutions, leading research tools, and foundational digital infrastructure.” This agreement might not be simply academic or civilian in nature. As the agreement notes, it is meant to support Qatar’s “national priorities for nurturing advanced digital capabilities.”
This abstract language could range in meaning to be anything from suggesting that Qatari-state affiliated education institutions will now be equipped with basic Microsoft programs to suggesting that Microsoft could be providing resources to universities to help aid Qatari-state interests (e.g. public relations and disinformation campaigns, intelligence gathering, etc.). In 2025, the Qatar Debate Center and Indiana University’s Hamilton-Lugar School of Global and International Studies also signed an MOU “aimed at strengthening academic and cultural cooperation.”
In 2024, at least four US universities signed MOUs with Qatari entities: Idaho State University (partnering with the University of Doha for Science and Technology to boost cooperation in “engineering, energy research and disaster response”); Bridgewater State University (partnering with the Community College of Qatar to leverage resources and strengthen “academic and educational collaboration”); the University of Houston-Clear Lake (partnering with the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs to exchange “programs, information, and activities” pertinent to “diplomatic capacity-building”); and Arkansas State University (partnering with the Global Studies Institute, a private institution, to offer degree programs in Doha).
Other US universities that have signed MOUs with Qatari entities include the University of Michigan (agreeing in 2008 to help Qatar University develop a center for research), the University of Wisconsin – Madison (agreeing in 2009 to “establish a framework” with Qatar University to “explore future collaboration”), the University of Maine (agreeing in 2018 to help prepare students from the Academic Bridge Program in Qatar for academic study), the University of South Carolina (agreeing in 2018 to promote collaboration and investment opportunities with the Qatar Investment Authority), and Harvard University (agreeing in 2019 to partner with the Qatar Foundation’s Al Shafallah Center on efforts to improve intellectual disability services).
Additional schools include the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy (agreeing in 2021 to a five-year partnership designed to promote cooperation on projects with Hamad bin Khalifa University), the University of Utah’s College of Humanities (agreeing in 2023 to join the Qatar Debate Center’s Arabic Debate program), the Medical College of Wisconsin (agreeing in 2023 to promote informational exchanges and to jointly organize conferences and trainings with Qatar University), and Xavier University (partnering with the Qatar University).
A national security threat
As evidenced above, “academic partnerships” often function as partnerships with state institutions that serve Qatari state interests, such as security, a key component of Doha’s influence efforts. In 2018, the University of Southern Mississippi signed a training pact with Interpol and Qatar, which has trained Hamas officers at its Al Rayyan Police College. In 2025, the Qatari Interior Ministry partnered with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to “strengthen security cooperation.” And in 2021, West Virginia’s National Guard partnered with the State of Qatar on security collaboration.
In summary, American higher education is being inundated by influence operations from Qatar, which constitute a possible national security threat. Now more than ever, Americans must reclaim and audit their institutions and demand that their universities distance themselves from Qatar, its ongoing sponsorship of terrorist groups like Hamas, and its promotion of hatred toward our country.
The writer is the director of Policy Education at StandWithUs and the Qatari Finance Fellow at Middle East Forum.