BERLIN — Does the path to peace in the Middle East pass through Qatar? It was the small desert Gulf state that was the first to announce the ceasefire deal on Wednesday between Israel and Hamas. How did they get the information before anyone else did? Well, it’s because the diplomats of Doha have been fundamental in these high-stake negotiations.
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Qatar covers less area than the small northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein (or the U.S. state of Connecticut) and is home to fewer than three million inhabitants. But unlike Schleswig-Holstein or Connecticut, it is the site of one of the largest natural gas sources in the world.
And now, more than ever, it stands among the key players of global diplomacy. Qatar is proving that you don’t need a large army, nuclear weapons, vast territory or diversified economy to play an important role in the world. All you need is good connections in all directions, gas deposits — and a well funded television station.
In all directions
When it comes to the Middle East, the large countries are traditionally the ones calling the shots: Saudi Arabia as the dominant power on the Arabian Peninsula, Iran as the would-be hegemonic power on the other side of the Gulf, Egypt with the largest population in the region. (Cairo also helped broker the latest deal for a ceasefire and hostage and prisoner exchange.)
But Qatar is now stepping out of the shadows. The country achieves diplomatic leverage through its openness in all directions. Its leadership speaks with Sunnis and Shiites, with Saudis and Iranians, with the Egyptian army and the Muslim Brotherhood. It has, at the same time, a U.S. air force base and good relations with the Taliban.
This openness has long included close relations with the Muslim Brotherhood, the original global Islamist organization. This does not please many Arab regimes, who see the Muslim Brotherhood as one of the most cunning manifestations of Shaitan (the devil) and a threat to their power.
And yet, Qatar offered a home to many well-known Muslim Brotherhood members: for example the Egyptian-born spiritual leader Yussuf al-Qaradawi, or even the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an Israeli air strike last year in Tehran. His body was buried in Qatar surrounded by his family.
Taliban ties
Qatar also has supported many aid projects in Gaza and laid lines to Hamas, despite sharp criticism from many members of the international community.
It is precisely these close relationships that enable the emirate to talk to Hamas in any crisis situation, no matter which interchangeable leader Israel may have just removed. Qatar brought this strength to bear during the months of tough negotiations over the release of the hostages.
Egypt, which borders Gaza, played its part too. As did U.S. diplomacy, which knows just how crucial it is to keep a good relationship with the small Emirate. The Qataris played a similarly dazzling role in the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in 2021. At that time, for example, the Germans negotiated with the Taliban via Qatar to get their people out of Kabul.
Islamist donations
Of course, such relationships also have their downside. Islamist organizations all over the world receive donations from Qatar. Some of these donations ended up fueling radical Islamist groups in the Levant, and some were cash injections for mosque communities in Europe and in Germany. These state and private donors from Qatar are obviously not trying to bolster human rights and freedom of religion: they uphold and try to spread extremely conservative values.
The important players in the region and the world keep coming to Qatar
The Qatari state broadcaster al-Jazeera is repeatedly accused of softening the sins of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist organizations in its reporting, and has been banned in multiple countries in the region over the years.
In the dispute over support for Islamist organizations, Saudi Arabia organized a diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar from 2017, which was joined by several Arab states. It was only lifted in 2021 with Kuwait’s mediation. And at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, German Interior and Sports Minister Nancy Faeser came in person to wear a One Love armband and urge the Qataris to adopt an LGBTQ-friendly policy.
All of this has achieved very little, and the important players in the region and the world keep coming to Qatar to make use of the emirate’s powerful diplomacy. The ceasefire deal proves again that you don’t have to love Qatar to respect its ability to carry so much weight for such a small country.
