Qatar
Profile
Qatar opened the IEA office in Doha in 2013 to support peace talks. Supported by the U.S., Qatar took on a mediating role with the Taliban, bringing about the 2020 Doha deal. Since then, Qatar has established closer relations with the diplomatic/political wing of the Taliban. The small Gulf country's legitimacy as a point of contact with the Taliban continued to grow even after the 2020 deal and the collapse of the republican government in Afghanistan. The country was a vital transit hub for approximately 60,000 airlifted Afghans in the international evacuation efforts. Following Kabul's collapse and its embassy's closure, the U.S. chose Qatar as a diplomatic proxy since it didn't recognize the new Taliban government as legitimate. With the Taliban, Qatar remains keen to maintain its influence over the group. Doha has been pressing for continued engagement with the Taliban without necessarily recognizing them. Its foreign minister was the first diplomat to visit the country to mediate between the warring Taliban factions. Qatar's influence over the Taliban is, however, limited. The Taliban's victory was primarily attributed to the military wing headed by the Haqqani Network, which maintains greater power relative to the moderate political wing with closer relations with Qatar.
Key Interests & Priorities
1. Global Politics
Qatar is heavily dependent on U.S. protection in its hostile region. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain, blockaded the country from 2017 to 2021, accusing it of supporting Muslim Brotherhood together with Turkey and Iran. The Muslim Brotherhood is considered a terrorist group by Saudi Arabia and its allies. Mediating between the Taliban and the U.S. has granted Qatar a degree of legitimacy and prestige among the western powers. Moreover, the mediating role has significantly raised the Gulf nation's stature in the eyes of the world and international organizations as it tries to exercise an increasingly independent foreign policy. Qatar played a key role in facilitating the peace dialogue that resulted in the U.S.-Taliban Doha agreement of 2020. The country continued to play host to the intra-Afghan peace talks until the fall of Kabul. Following the collapse of the Afghan republic, Qatar played a vital role as a transit hub in the international evacuation effort. Doha currently represents U.S. interests in Afghanistan. It has the greatest institutional knowledge of any U.S. partner about how Taliban leaders think. To maintain its mediating position, Qatar sought to gain control of the Kabul airport's security along with Turkey but lost out to the UAE.
2. Regional Politics
Qatar wants to carry out an increasingly independent foreign policy, especially after its blockade by regional powers. Although the parties officially settled the dispute in 2021, analysts believe the problems were pushed aside rather than resolved. One of the ways Doha has been able to assert itself internationally is by mediating in the Afghanistan conflict which has gained it western recognition and prestige. In the post-American withdrawal era, Qatar has become an influential regional actor in Afghanistan. Qatar is close to the political/diplomatic wing of the Taliban that resided in Doha for many years. As such, Qatar supports a moderate vision for the future of Afghanistan that is in line with the moderate members and political wing of the Taliban, headed by Mullah Baradar. To further strengthen its sphere of influence over the Taliban, Doha has engaged with New Delhi and Ankara.
3. Inclusive Government
Qatar is not interested in the Taliban ruling by force. Like the U.S. and other western powers, Qatar wants to see the Taliban create an inclusive government and become more moderate by respecting human and women’s rights. In its engagements with the Taliban, Qatar has emphasized the importance of an inclusive and representative government and expressed disappointment with the structure of the interim government to the Taliban directly. Its representatives have been vocal on the group's un-Islamic practice of barring girls from study and work.