Thank you for having me today. It’s an honor to discuss my country and the region with foreign policy experts and leaders who take a non-partisan approach.
The crisis in the Middle East has reached so much intense levels that it truly takes thoughtful experts to unpack all of the simultaneous conflicts to find realistic and lasting solutions for peace. But in Qatar, things have been on a different track for decades.
In Qatar, you will find a safe and prosperous nation.
As I travel around the world, I am often asked how it has been possible for Qatar to achieve such success,,,, a given all the conflicts in the neighborhood.
Over the past 20 years, Qatar has:
- Engaged with the world through foreign diplomacy,
- Forged economic global partnerships,
- Developed human capital, and
- Invested in the region.
Two decades ago, my country decided to begin a new chapter of openness. This decision shaped Qatar’s signature foreign policy of engagement, dialogue, and collaboration.
This was new for the Middle East, and the outreach paid off. Outside the neighborhood, Qatar found friends and allies around the globe.
Within the neighborhood, Qatar became a skilled mediator in a region largely closed-off to negotiation.
For example, in Lebanon, we were able to help calm the sectarian fighting and fill the vacuum of power. In Sudan, we helped stop the war and sustain peace in Darfur. Today, we are facilitating talks between the US, the Afghan government and Taliban.
This engagement-driven foreign policy meant that political partnerships ran parallel to economic ones. Reciprocal investments across the globe, made in numerous industry sectors, meant that Qatar could partner with global specialists to supply the world with liquefied natural gas.
This was no easy task, because scientists had not developed an efficient way to liquefy natural gas and ship it. So Qatar and experts around the world collaborated and brought the energy industry into a new era of liquefied natural gas. Simultaneously, Qatar was able to diversify its economy to move away from fossil fuel dependency.
Today, Qatar supplies almost 30% of the world’s natural gas requirements.
Meanwhile, we invested in our human capital. We started with education, expression, and religious tolerance. The latest chapter of developments include healthcare and labour. The progressive policies gave women freedoms and rights decades ago.
In 2007, Qatar started interfaith dialogues between Christians, Jews, and Muslims so that coexistence could be a reality. Qatar invited many US universities to join our Education City to give the region access to excellent and unrestricted education.
To bring about these reforms, we invited help from experts: financial, environmental, academic, and human rights specialists.
Qatar was not overly sensitive or threatened by critics, which allowed us to create best practices in these areas.
In addition to our internal reforms, Qatar began external outreach in the region. We saw that the surrounding crisis in the Middle East left people without options. Some of these countries neglected the basic needs of their people, other rulers oppressed their citizens for years.
The result was (and still is) a feeling of desperation…. no clean water, no food, no education, no jobs, and no dignity.
Qatar considers it a moral imperative to provide hope and opportunity to these neighbours.
Qatar provides to millions of people in our region: humanitarian aid, reconstruction funding, primary education, and employment opportunities.
Just in 2017 alone, Qatar donated $674 Million dollars to 78 countries to support these hope initiatives.
This humanitarian assistance is critical for day to day survival, but the world is wondering, “How we can create a political solution to calm the chaos in the Middle East?” Such a solution is critical, not just for regional peace, but for peace around the world.
In Qatar, we believe that dialogue is the best way to settle conflicts and resolve regional and international crises.
Dialogue is a diplomatic means to an end. In the Middle East, that “end,” what we need, is for all the members of the region to fully participate in establishing governance principles that hold leaders accountable, with binding dispute resolution mechanisms.
The starting point to achieving such an agreement is dialogue…especially between countries that usually refuse to talk to each other.
There is hope…today; some of our neighbors in the Middle East are coming to terms with the importance of dialogue in catastrophic places, like Afghanistan.
This dialogue is also urgently needed in Palestine, because without a Middle East peace process, lasting progress in the region will be difficult.
Qatar has historically been able to bring regional and global players together, and Qatar plans on continuing its role as a mediator.
The State of Qatar will continue, as it has always been, to be an active and supportive player to all parties of good will who wish to resolve differences and confront the challenges and dangers affecting the Middle East and the world.