FPI / August 26, 2021
Geostrategy-Direct
Qatar is seemingly walking a tightrope between both sides of the dangerous situation in Afghanistan, and is doing so with practiced finesse.
The Qataris have been power brokers in Afghanistan in both the Taliban’s return to power and in getting Americans and Afghans to evacuation flights out of Kabul.
How has Qatar pulled this off?
The small Gulf nation has forged a key role in the events unfolding in Kabul through the use of its massive public relations machine and powerful media, analysts say.
“The small Gulf country continues to play an outsized role,” Seth Fratzman noted in an Aug. 24 analysis for the Jerusalem Post. “It has positioned itself well, hosting a U.S. base and appearing to both help Afghans who are fleeing, such as nine Afghan women robotics team members, while hosting the extremists that caused them to flee in the first place.”
Qatar “has won widespread praise for both, seemingly contradictory, policies,” Frantzman wrote.
“However, this is the Qatar methodology: presenting itself as both a power broker that can work with extremist groups, while backing those groups, while also appearing to back stability and work with the countries dealing with the chaos left behind by these groups.”
The methodology has been honed through Qatar’s public relations machine which has landed many supporters in Western think tanks and in media. Doha has also taken full advantage of its powerful media arms, such as Al Jazeera.
“As such, Qatar positions itself as the country that everyone needs in order to work in Afghanistan. It both flies in journalists to cover the chaos at Kabul and provides ‘protection’ for Americans in Kabul,” Frantzman noted. “Protection against the very group, the Taliban, which Qatar hosts.”
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