As news broke that two Americans held hostage in Gaza had been released by Hamas after talks brokered by Qatar, telephones started ringing in Doha.
France’s Emmanuel Macron, and the UK’s Rishi Sunak were among the world leaders waiting at the end of the line, officially to congratulate the tiny Gulf state on its successful negotiations, but mostly to ask for help getting their own citizens home.
Crisis teams across Europe and US already knew their Qatari counterparts from similar calls two years earlier. As the Taliban swept into Kabul it was the same people who helped them evacuate citizens and vulnerable Afghans, from activists and athletes to a girls’ robotic team of budding scientists.
The emirate has spent nearly two decades deploying its oil and gas wealth, the powerful Qatari-owned television channel Al Jazeera, and a significant portion of its increasingly skilled diplomatic corps, to make itself one of the world’s most indispensable fixers.
“Mediation and conflict resolution is an essential part of our foreign policy, so sizeable number of personnel are actively engaged on this part of the file,” a Qatari official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It has carved out an unusual niche as a key American ally – it hosts a major US military base – with extensive Islamist connections, strong enough for Washington’s bitter enemies to feel comfortable living in Doha not far from US troops.
Qatar’s ambitions as a mediator rose to global prominence a decade ago, when “political offices” for Hamas and the Taliban – embassy-like bases for senior figures – were set up in Doha under US auspices, to facilitate negotiations.
“The Hamas political office was opened in Qatar in 2012 in coordination with the United States government, following a US request to open a communication channel with Hamas,” the Qatari official said.
Originally an initiative of president Barack Obama’s administration, the use of the Hamas office as a channel for communication has been continued by Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Qatar’s role as a mediator and a close US ally offers obvious strategic dividends for a small country surrounded by large, well-armed neighbours in a volatile region.
Its only land border is with Saudi Arabia, and it sits across the Gulf from Iran.
It bolsters the soft power built up through the reach of Al Jazeera and also helps offset negative coverage in Western media about migrant labour, particularly during the run-up to the World Cup last year, and other rights issues such as its treatment of women.
Qatar has now mediated in disputes involving a long and growing list of countries beyond Gaza and Afghanistan, from Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, to Sudan, Chad, and Eritrea.
Most recently it has brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine, securing the return of several Ukrainian children.
