Doha- In light of the increasing international disputes and geopolitical tensions in the world, the role of the State of Qatar as a leading diplomatic force in settling disputes and settling international disputes is emerging, and Doha has turned into one of the most important actors on the international and regional arenas in using preventive diplomacy, mediation and good offices as an effective tool in settling many international crises.

The announcement of the US-Iran agreement, which provided for the exchange of prisoners from the two countries and the release of $ 6 billion of Tehran's funds frozen in Korea for humanitarian purposes, came to highlight once again Qatar, which played a pivotal role in mediating between Tehran and Washington, and to add more achievements to the record of successes of Qatari diplomacy.

The agreement comes within a Qatari approach to calm and eliminate hotbeds of tension in many regions of the world, where Qatar has played for more than 15 years the role of mediation in dozens of regional and international files and issues, and thanks to its mediation, positive results have been achieved and happy endings have been put to many crises and problems in the region during the past years.

Qatar's role was not limited to Arab affairs, but also extended to the continents of Africa and Asia, where Qatar assumed the role of mediating important disputes and issues, most notably mediation between Lebanese factions in 2008, and reaching the Doha agreement, which ended an 18-month political crisis.

U.S.-Iran deal highlights Qatar's diplomatic successes (Reuters)

Unremitting efforts

Qatar has also provided support and mediation in several conflicts on the African continent, such as the conflict in Darfur in Sudan, the conflict in the Central African Republic, in addition to Doha's success in concluding a peace agreement between the governments of Djibouti and Eritrea to settle their border dispute in March 2011.

In 2015, Doha was able to play a successful mediating role between the Tebu and Tuareg tribes in Libya, and Qatari efforts to release Djiboutian prisoners in Eritrea through mediation between the two parties.

In February 2020, the world witnessed the signing of the historic settlement agreement between the United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Qatar mediated direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and made unremitting efforts to facilitate peace in Afghanistan, thanks to which significant progress was made.

In 2021, Qatar succeeded in brokering the restoration of diplomatic relations between the republics of Somalia and Kenya with the aim of achieving international peace and stability. Qatar has mediated efforts in Somalia to resolve political differences related to the elections through dialogue and comprehensive consensus between the Somali parties.

Qatar's strategy in conflict resolution is based on several key elements, one of which is effective mediation, as it facilitates dialogue and negotiation between conflicting parties, and seeks comprehensive and sustainable solutions, especially in light of Doha's proficiency in using its extensive diplomatic network to attract the parties concerned and provide an appropriate environment for reaching agreements.

Pioneering diplomacy

Mohammed Al-Mesfer, a professor of political science at Qatar University, said that the recent agreement sponsored by the State of Qatar between the United States and Iran, which led to the exchange and release of prisoners in both countries, is not new to Qatari diplomacy, adding that Doha has previously led many successful mediations to resolve crises and disputes between countries and entities in different regions of the world.

In this regard, Al-Mesfer explains to Al Jazeera Net that the United States has implemented an agreement to exchange prisoners with the Afghan Taliban movement through the Qatari mediator, where American prisoners were released by the movement in exchange for the release of prisoners held by the US authorities in Guantanamo Bay.

He also pointed out that the issue of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and after a 20-year war, which was followed by the return of the Taliban to power again, was coordinated with the Qatari side, Doha succeeded in repatriating thousands of American and Western nationals from Afghanistan via Qatar Airways.

He pointed out that the State of Qatar has also mediated efforts in more than one crisis in different countries such as Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and Chad, and was able to find a way out of many crises thanks to its pioneering diplomacy.

Al-Mesfer believes that the success of these mediations is due to several reasons, the most important of which are:

  • Qatar enjoys absolute neutrality between the conflicting parties.
  • It does not have any agenda to achieve through these mediations, but rather its goal is to establish international peace and security among the conflicting parties without reaching an armed conflict between these parties.

The professor of political science stressed that in addition to Qatar's adoption of honesty in transferring information between the various parties, and the confidence it has gained in this field over the past 20 years, it has made the disputants trust its positions, honesty and honesty in keeping secrets and transferring information competently away from media sensationalism that may lead to the failure of talks and the disruption of results.

Thorny files

Al-Mesfer pointed out that silence, wisdom, determination and lack of any agenda of mediation are the main axes and mechanisms of Doha in conflict resolution diplomacy, stressing that all of this crowned Qatar's efforts with success, and it won the satisfaction and confidence of all parties and resorted to it in order to find solutions regarding any differences, disputes or conflicts, whether armed or unarmed.

The professor of political science at Qatar University does not rule out Doha's entry into the line regarding the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, despite the complexity and complexity surrounding this conflict, stressing that Qatar will not make any offer in this regard unless the arena is prepared for that, which is not currently available.

For his part, Qatari journalist and political analyst Saleh Gharib said that Qatar's policy always emphasizes dialogue and calls for it, even if the solution is delayed, as happened in the Afghan issue and the Sudanese file (Darfur), but in the end agreements were reached between the conflicting parties.

Gharib pointed out in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that Qatari diplomacy was able to achieve a major victory in the negotiations between the US side and the Taliban after the majority of observers thought the difficulty of reaching an agreement between the two sides, but the negotiations led by Qatar eventually led to the exit of US forces from Afghanistan.

He added that Qatar's success in mediation efforts in more than one file made the countries of the world trust the Qatari negotiator and rely on his efforts to bring the parties closer together, and thus a breakthrough can be achieved in many thorny files in various regions of the world, pointing out that this position Qatar has gained due to its deep strategic vision and superior ability to absorb international developments in various fields.

According to Gharib, Qatar enjoys extensive and diverse international relations and maintains a strong diplomatic network that extends to all parts of the world, and these strong relations enable it to build alliances and strategic partnerships with other countries, which contributes to strengthening its influence and power in the international arena.