Thank you, Mr. Demetri Simes for hosting me today.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Lately, the world watches the news and sees images from my region which are full of drama and discord. It wasn’t always that way. We were a place of prosperity thanks to a shared effort to co-exist.
That time was lost, and a dark period of closed-mindedness, totalitarianism, and aggression set in. The Middle East went from a center of connectivity and enlightenment, to being a region of turbulence. During this dark age of aggression, extremism has flourished. Governments seeking domination, centralizing power, and intimidating smaller countries into submission.
These dark ages are not happening in the distant past…they are happening right now. The illegal blockade launched against my country six months ago is just one move in an aggressive power play. The blockade was not really about those fake demands or ultimatums, but rather about modern-day, powerful regimes threatening freedom, liberty, and sovereignty.
These threats are being played out in a dangerous game of power against many nations in the region: against Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and now Lebanon. Aggression gone wild.
It seems these powers are willing to use unbridled means of intimidation: silencing dissenters, creating humanitarian crises, shutting down communications, manipulating financial markets, bullying smaller nations, blackmailing, fracturing governments, terrorizing citizens, strong-arming the leaders of other nations, and spreading propaganda.
And all the while, some journalists and think-tanks sacrificed journalistic integrity for their donors’ favor. And why is Qatar one of the many countries in the sites of these powerful regimes? Well, we are a tiny nation in the Middle East sandwiched between two powerful forces in the region…Iran to the North, and Saudi Arabia to the South.
Then, there is the UAE to the East. The UAE is Iran’s largest trade partner, but at the same time acts as an accomplice with Saudi Arabia.
Twenty years ago, Qatar decided to make a bold move for independence: as our neighbors reverted to the dark ages of closed diplomacy and consolidation of power, Qatar decided to chart a course towards openness. Qatar decided that the best way to seek peace would be through international collaboration and sharing.
We implemented policy changes that we thought would be resisted in our region, and we ended up being correct. The right to have independent foreign policies that may differ from the closed position of our neighbors has been hard to achieve over the past two decades. The punishment for independence has begun.
The public reason given by the blockading states for the current Gulf Crisis is and was a smokescreen: Qatar is actually a global leader in the fight against terrorism, and the blockading states are well aware of this reality.
The Gulf Crisis is and was a blockade against my country in an attempt to choke our efforts to resist the centralization of power in the region. What started 6 months ago as a crisis of betrayal, today looks much worse.
I visit the US with perspective, as more crises unfold every day in my region. The blockading states have been trying to twist the truth, with a scheme to flood the media with egregious lies about my country. But now, over the past 6 months, the truth is surfacing.
Little did we know that behind the scenes, the efforts of the blockading states ran deeper… cyberattacks, market manipulations, and plots of economic ruin for Qatar. The disrespect of international law and the absence of enforcement mechanisms made our region an experimental field for the power seekers adventurers. Regional players are acting irresponsibly, taking political gambles with the lives of other nations’ citizens, with no exit strategy.
Not even wisdom prevails...aid for starving children is being used as leverage. While the atrocities of Syria are being tolerated, and in the same way that Yemen is being put in a meaningless stalemate; now these powers make their attempts in Lebanon.
This is a systematic behavior…a reckless pattern of seeking power, with a complete disregard for the suffering left in their wake. That suffering includes lost opportunities in the war against terror. The blockading states, who are among the power players in the region, have systematic behavior which distracts the US, Qatar, and all our global partners from our shared anti-terrorism efforts.
The blockading states’ hunger for power, and their unpredictability, ruin regional stability and security.
These power players are helping terrorism thrive. You see, these are not blockading states run by institutions with checks and balances, but by individuals who seek power through a range of techniques, from cyber-warfare to tribal incitement.
And I can share with you, as a native of this turbulent region: Those who seek power, create crisis.
The political maneuvering, and aggressive counter-productive measures, damage regional security, allowing a vacuum for extremists to fill.
The dark age of totalitarianism in the Middle East is at our doorstep. We share the US and the international community’s concern for regional security when reckless leadership takes hold in the Middle East.
The aggression must end.
So where do we go from here? Well, I would be adding to the problem if I failed to offer constructive suggestions for the path forward. While we are a tiny nation, we have undergone enormous changes over the past 20 years.
We are a work in progress, but I wanted to share with you some lessons learned within Qatar.
- Practice good governance.For there to be a trust built between a people and their leaders, a social contract must be formed.This can only be created through respect for the dignity of each citizen, giving them the rule of law and due process.Transparent leadership, and investment in human capital sows the seeds of future prosperity.
- Conduct reformation with moderation.Reforms should continuously happen, and each nation has the right to define its culture and decide what change is needed.
Deciding what to preserve, what to advance, what to change, takes thoughtful leadership.
Reforms through forced stale-mates, where the voice of the people is surprised, creates ticking time bombs. Extreme reforms forced onto a population creates bitter backlash. A steady path of reformation through moderation inspires wise and lasting reforms.
- Exhaust all diplomatic means.
War and violence create suffering.
Tragedy unfolds when needless suffering could have been avoided through peaceful means. We can find ways to live together peacefully, and at the very least, we must keep trying.
In Qatar, we believe in these principles, and have worked to achieve them. We see these values played out here in the United States and with our other international partners, and that is why we form alliances with them.
In closing, I hope that instead of powerful players in my region seeking domination and control of other countries, those powerful nations instead seek to serve their neighbors.
Qatar wants more than just stability for the region…we want the Middle East to flourish.
Qatar’s vision for the Middle East is a return to peaceful co-existence, where the East and West can come together, and where Qatar can serve as a hinge of peace in a more enlightened time.