From Sudan to Ukraine to Gaza: How Qatar has emerged as the master mediator

An oil-rich Gulf country, Qatar, has built a huge diplomatic worth with mediation. Its mediation profile could trigger envy among those nations trying to become a global leader in conflict resolution. Constitutionally a hereditary monarchy, Qatar is ruled by al-Thani family and headed by an Emir, but it has made mediation its diplomatic capital.

Qatar has mediated the Sudan civil war, America-Taliban deal, Israel-Hezbollah agreement, came close to mediating the Russia-Ukraine war and has resolved multiple hostage situations by getting prisoners freed.

First, a look at Qatar’s mediation feats

• Darfur peace deal: It was the first major difficult peace effort that Qatar led as a third party mediator. The warring factions of Sudan reached an agreement about power sharing and establishing a fund for victims and displaced families in the Darfur region. Its significance could be gauged from the fact that it was achieved after a US-mediated deal of 2006 had collapsed. Qatar facilitated a peace agreement in Darfur in 2011, and then again in 2020.

• US-Taliban negotiations: The US was in Afghanistan for about two decades and under Donald Trump, it wanted to exit the country even as the Taliban, who it had replaced in 2001, were making a military comeback. Qatar hosted several rounds of talks between the US and the Taliban camps to mediate the 2020 agreement. The US left the country and the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021.

• Israel-Hezbollah-Hamas conflict: Following the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, Qatar strongly spoke out against Tel Aviv, bridging the Sunni-Shia divide across West Asia. This also elevated its status in the Arab world. Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shia militia. And unlike other Sunni Arab nations, Qatar has maintained a relatively cordial relation with Shia Iran. This has helped Qatar play a mediator in conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah or Hamas. It is actively involved in the ongoing truce efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. In November 2023, Qatar helped broker a temporary ceasefire between the two.

• Russia-Ukraine war: Qatar showed acute mediation potential earlier this year, when it brokered a deal between Russia and Ukraine to free more than 15 children taken captive by either side. It also hosted children freed through the deal. And recently the Washington Post reported that Russia and Ukraine were on the brink of engaging in indirect ceasefire negotiations in Qatar’s Doha early August. The Qatar-mediated discussions were aimed at halting the destructive strikes on energy and power infrastructure. However, a surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk region by Ukraine nixed the diplomatic breakthrough that could have deescalated the ongoing war.

• International hostage talks: Besides mediating the release of kids displaced during teh Russia-Ukraine war, Qatar has earlier played the role of the third party negotiator for the release of Americans held in Iran, Afghanistan, and also Venezuela. Its role as a hostage-situation mediator came to the fore in the 2004 abduction of two French journalists in Iraq by an Islamist militant group — though it faced criticism with some saying that the deal ended up financing a terror group for securing the release. Qatar then also played a key role in five-year-long negotiation for the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006. In the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Qatar has been one of the lead mediators in securing some of the hostages Hamas had taken during its October raids in Israel.

But why Qatar is accepted as a mediator

The evolution of Qatar as the master mediator has taken place over at least three decades. It was the first Arab country to open a Trade Office for Israel following the Oslo agreement signed in the early 1990s for establishing peace in the Palestine-Israel region. But the major turn in its mediation role came after the 9/11 terror attacks on the US. Qatar’s role came under scrutiny for being one of the funding sources for Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda that carried out the attacks killing thousands in the US.

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But soon, Qatar did two things — it hosted the US military at al-Udeid Air Base in 2001 (continues to do so and this is now the biggest US base in West Asia with around 10,000 troops), and it opened the Doha Forum for diplomatic talks.

Over the years, Qatar has shaped its own foreign policy — by forging alliances with dissidents, aiding revolutionaries and militant groups, and also playing the neutral card when a big player is involved in the business.

Groups like the Taliban of Afghanistan, the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, various militias of Libya, and anti-government revolutionaries of Tunisia, Syria and Yemen during the the Arab Spring years found refuge, financial support and weapon supplies from Qatar.

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Stable national finances and the presence of the US increased Qatar’s heft in pulling punches above its weight as a third party negotiator. Deep pockets have allowed it to establish an extensive connectivity. For example, Qatar Airways has direct flight connectivity with more than 90 countries, helping the Emirate to act as a bridge between various peoples.

But Qatar’s acceptance as a major mediator comes from the fact that the US trusts its government to act independently and decisively in negotiating a deal. At times, the US has even encouraged Qatar to be home to a terror or jehadi outfit.

For example, when it was being speculated that Hamas may move its base to Iran or possibly even Syria, the Barack Obama administration of the US reportedly asked Qatar to host the political wing of the Palestinian militant group. The US viewed that it would be difficult to access Hamas’s political leadership if the group moved to Iran or Syria.

Qatar expert Sultan Barkat, who is Senior Professor in Public Policy at Qatar Foundation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and Honorary Professor at the University of York, wrote a paper for Brookling in 2014, explaining how the monarchy made mediation part of its official foreign policy — Barkat says that Qatar has adopted a process of professionalisation of its mediation capacity, and has a Special Envoy for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution to act as Qatar’s chief mediator and coordinate efforts between other agencies.

All the mediation efforts are led by Qatar’s foreign minister, explaining why the government’s role is so significant. In another paper this year, Barkat says, “[The Qatari] foreign ministry’s ability to take decisions without being questioned or scrutinised by the public has meant that it can act decisively.”

The Qatari interest in furthering the country’s mediation role was clearly spelt out at the 2022 UN General Assembly, with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani telling the member-nations that conflict mediation is a key element of his country’s foreign policy. The country sees itself as a dependable international ally. Al-Thani said, Qatar “will continue its mediation efforts to find just solutions in conflict zones”.