Foreign Relations of Qatar - Breakthrough As An International Player

Breakthrough As An International Player

The Emir of Qatar since 1995, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has lately been going on an expansive boost to promote Qatar as a foreign player. The first major move in this regard was the founding of Al-Jazeera.

In addition to revolutionising the free media in the Middle East and indeed the rest of the world, the Qatar funded Qatar Airways has gone on an aggressive expansion, which also competes with nearby Emirates Airline, to reach more destinations and serve more passengers.

The hosting of the Asian games in Doha was also another boost to the state which, like the Asian games in Delhi, helped infrastructure, as well as boosting the state's profile. Furthermore, the signing of major international sports stars like Gabriel Batistuta have helped give Qatar an image boost. Players like Sebastián Soria and Márcio Emerson Passos have been granted Qatari citizenship to boost their soccer team.

The first big coup for the Qatari government was hosting a major round of trade talks that resulted in what is referred to as the Doha Round. Although it was just a preliminary measure it has got the name of the state out, much like a marketing gimmick.

The major coup for the Qatari government was solving the Lebanese political crisis. The meeting ended with the Doha Agreement. This was a major breakthrough as more than a year of political wrangling could not yield an agreement despite pressure from the West and the Arab League.

Qatar hosted peace talks between Jem and the Khartoum government announced an agreement on confidence-building measures. "There has been great progress ... and we now have an agreement," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, the Qatari prime minister, said.

Of late, the Emirate has been tremendously active in the global realm. The Sudanese government and the strongest Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, also signed an agreement in Doha. While Doha also took a tough stand in the reaction to the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Following this reaction and apparent closeness with Iran the 2009 Arab League summit in Doha was met with further controversy although Qatar was seen as emerging further with the follow-up Arab-Latin American (Latam) summit.

On 4 May 2009, the Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmad Abdullah al-Mahmud said that Chad and Sudan had agreed to end hostilities against each other and to normalise relations Qatari mediated talks in Doha. However, the agreement soon broke down.

Having been selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar will be the first Middle Eastern country to host the FIFA World Cup.

The 66th United Nations General Assembly was presided over by former permanent representative of Qatar to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser.