Close Menu
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    Middle East Transparent
    • Home
    • Categories
      1. Headlines
      2. Features
      3. Commentary
      4. Magazine
      Featured
      Headlines Jonathan Bass

      A Conversation with Syrian Leader: Journey Beyond the Ruins

      Recent
      4 June 2025

      A Conversation with Syrian Leader: Journey Beyond the Ruins

      31 May 2025

      Beirut and Damascus Remain Divided

      28 May 2025

      Only 900 speakers of the Sanna language remain. Now Cyprus’ Maronites are mounting a comeback

    • Contact us
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Middle East Transparent
    You are at:Home»Pragmatic diplomacy enables Qatar to punch above weight

    Pragmatic diplomacy enables Qatar to punch above weight

    0
    By Sarah Akel on 27 November 2011 Uncategorized

    It is a new development that some Arab states now have to figure Qatar in their calculations, as just two decades ago, the bantam-sized emirate was on the margin of the Middle East’s political attentions. Yet in the last 10 years, Qatar has skilfully bolstered its power by blending economic might, nuisance value, political counterpoint, diplomatic hardnosedness, ideological solidarity and an adeptness at filling regional political vacuums.

    Qatar’s economic prowess is the result, principally, of its natural gas reserves, estimated to be the world’s third largest. The primary medium for the state’s nuisance value has been the satellite television station Al Jazeera, long a thorn in the side of Arab rulers, especially during the recent months of upheaval in the Arab world. Qatar’s talent for political counterpoint has been displayed in its parallel yet contradictory associations, so that the emirate could, for instance, host a major American military base while maintaining friendly relations with Washington’s bitterest foes, such as Iran and Hizbollah.

    Ideologically, in recent years Qatar, which like Saudi Arabia is Wahhabi, has assisted Islamic movements in the Arab world. After the 2006 Lebanon war, the emirate financed reconstruction in Hizbollah-controlled areas, which was vital to neutralising resentment against the party. Lately, it has funded Islamists in Libya and probably Syria. The emirate has also hosted an Egyptian sheikh, Yusif Al Qaradawi, one of the region’s most influential clerics.

    Last week, speaking in Doha, Sheikh Yusif urged Egyptian voters to avoid voting for “a secularist, an agnostic, or those who don’t accept Allah as their God, Islam as their religion and Mohammed as their Prophet” in Egypt’s forthcoming parliamentary elections. That is, assuming these are held on time in light of the recent unrest.

    The most significant factor allowing Qatar to punch above its weight has been its ability to adapt to changing circumstances more rapidly than most others. Amid mounting protests earlier this year in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and even Syria after initial uncertainty, the emirate backed protesters, giving Al Jazeera wide latitude to channel Arab sympathies by defining a heroic narrative for anti-regime actions.

    Yet Qatar avoids recklessness in its immediate neighbourhood. Despite Al Jazeera’s partiality toward Arab uprisings, the emirate did not break ranks with its Gulf partners over Bahrain. In fact, the royal family has tightened its hold over the station, after the departure of Waddah Khanfar, its Palestinian director general. Years of hostility with Saudi Arabia have also been papered over, even if Qatar is taking advantage of the vacuum left by the kingdom as it goes through a political transition that has sometimes diminished its sway.

    It is in the relationship with Syria that Qatar has made the most radical about-face. Doha had given the regime in Damascus quite a bit of support in recent years. Qatar’s critics would argue that the emirate accorded Syria and its allies such as Hizbollah political cover to reimpose their writ in Beirut after the assassination in February 2005 of Rafiq Hariri. Damascus was blamed for the crime, and reluctantly withdrew its army from Lebanon as a consequence.

    But then why has Qatar emerged as one of Syria’s fiercest critics in the Arab League and possibly the motive force behind a tougher stance? It probably had to do with the fact that Qatar brokered an agreement in Doha in May 2008 between the conflicting Lebanese factions. A principle of the accord was that Lebanese parties – the implicit focus was on Hizbollah – would not resort to violence to achieve their political aims. However, last January Hizbollah, prompted by Syria, ousted Prime Minister Saad Hariri from office. The move was constitutional, but the party made it clear that if Mr Hariri were brought back, it would resort to violence.

    Mr Hariri’s removal was a blow to the Doha agreement, but also to Saudi Arabia, Mr Hariri’s sponsor. The Qatari prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, travelled to Beirut to negotiate a compromise, along with two colleagues. When he was told by Hizbollah that the party still would not accept Mr Hariri’s return, he left Beirut thwarted and humiliated, no doubt well aware that Syria had endorsed the repudiation. This effectively undermined Qatar’s efforts to play a balancing role in Lebanon.

    The rift with Syria was not immediate, but a momentous sign that tempers had changed in Doha came last March. In a sermon there, Sheikh Yusif declared that the “train of Arab revolution” had reached Syria. Officials in Damascus were stunned. The remarks not only implied Qatari acquiescence of what the sheikh had said. Given Sheikh Yusif’s Islamist credentials, it hit the Assads in their most vulnerable spot, granting Islamist legitimacy to an uprising that, whatever its broad democratic motives, has effectively pitted the Sunni majority in Syria against a minority Alawite-led regime.

    Qatar is likely to continue to play a vanguard role in an Arab world in flux. The emirate’s pragmatism, some would say its cynicism, as well as the absence of internal challenges to the emir, make it much easier for the emirate to play all sides simultaneously. In an Arab world riven by paradox, Qatar’s paradoxes have allowed it to ride many unruly waves – waves frequently of the emirate’s own making.

    http://michaelyoungscolumns.blogspot.com/

    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Copy Link
    Previous ArticleRiot Report Will Force Bahrain to Choose a Direction
    Next Article Iran’s Rattling Saber

    Comments are closed.

    RSS Recent post in french
    • Guerre en Ukraine : Kiev démontre sa force de frappe en bombardant l’aviation russe avec ses drones, jusqu’en Sibérie 2 June 2025 Le Monde
    • Liban : six mois après l’entrée en vigueur d’un cessez-le-feu avec Israël, une guerre de basse intensité se poursuit 23 May 2025 Laure Stephan
    • DBAYEH REAL ESTATE 22 May 2025 DBAYEH REAL ESTATE
    • Dima de Clerck, historienne : « Au Liban, il règne aujourd’hui une guerre civile sourde » 17 May 2025 Laure Stephan
    • Les bonnes affaires du président au Moyen-Orient 17 May 2025 Georges Malbrunot
    RSS Recent post in arabic
    • أيها الروبوت: ما دينُكَ؟ 5 June 2025 نادين البدير
    • خلافات بيروت ـ دمشق تتسبّب بتوتّرات بين رئيس الحكومة والرئيس عون 1 June 2025 بيار عقل
    • الأوروبيون يستفيقون 1 June 2025 مايكل يونغ
    • لماذا يُدافعُ الغرب عن إسرائيل؟ 31 May 2025 د. محمد الهاشمي
    • حول قراءة هرتزل في بيروت 30 May 2025 يزيد صايغ
    26 February 2011

    Metransparent Preliminary Black List of Qaddafi’s Financial Aides Outside Libya

    6 December 2008

    Interview with Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed

    7 July 2009

    The messy state of the Hindu temples in Pakistan

    27 July 2009

    Sayed Mahmoud El Qemany Apeal to the World Conscience

    8 March 2022

    Russian Orthodox priests call for immediate end to war in Ukraine

    Recent Comments
    • Giant Squirrel on Holier Than Thou: Politics and the Pulpit in America
    • Edward Ziadeh on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • Victoria Perea on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • Victoria Perea on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • M sam on Kuwait: The Gulf state purging tens of thousands of its citizens
    Donate
    Donate
    © 2025 Middle East Transparent

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    loader

    Inscrivez-vous à la newsletter

    En vous inscrivant, vous acceptez nos conditions et notre politique de confidentialité.

    loader

    Subscribe to updates

    By signing up, you agree to our terms privacy policy agreement.

    loader

    اشترك في التحديثات

    بالتسجيل، فإنك توافق على شروطنا واتفاقية سياسة الخصوصية الخاصة بنا.