Qatar and the Reverse Balance Strategy!! – Strategies – ✍️ Dr. Issam Batran
– Qatar's foreign policy is based on the strategy of “reverse balance” in international relations, characterized by a lack of normative control that determines its orientations. It is a type of foreign policy approach in which the consideration of all possibilities is accompanied by a high degree of diplomatic professionalism, far from compromising national, regional and international constants … and politics. “Reverse balance: its strategic path works in multiple directions, so that no direction affects the other. The United States of America.
Qatar is home to two US military bases, the “Al Udeid” airbase, located southwest of the capital Doha, and considered the largest US military base in the Middle East, as well as the “Al Sailiya” base, located about 35 km from Doha, the number of US forces present in the two bases reaches about 11,000 US soldiers, which is a number much higher than the number of Qatari armed forces, and the Qatari channel Al Jazeera described them as follows. , the two bases – the largest warehouse of American weapons in the Middle East. In the opposite direction, Qatar maintains good “seasonal” relations with Iran. The most important thing that economically binds the two countries is the gas field they share. in the Gulf waters, and this has become an additional factor that prevents Qatar from moving away from Tehran in order to preserve its interests in the field, which has an area of 9,700 km2, and Qatar owns 6,000 km2, while Iran owns 3,700 km2, Qatar considers Iran as part of the security solution in the region, while refusing to consider Tehran. Part of the problem is due to the doubts it has about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom. of Bahrain. This explains Doha's insistence on continuing its relations with Iran, but it weighs the balance of the relationship between it and the Gulf states on the scale of gold due to the sensitivity of its situation between them in the region. “Tamim” stressed that the State of Qatar has managed to build strong relations with America and Iran at the same time, given the regional and Islamic weight that Iran represents that cannot be ignored, and it is not wise to escalate this, especially since it is a major power that guarantees stability in the region when it cooperates with it, which Qatar holds for the sake of the stability of neighboring countries.
Another example of Qatar's relationship with discordant international poles as part of its “reverse balance” strategy is its relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood organizations, the Taliban movement, which opened an office in Qatar, and the Hamas movement, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood that fled Egypt in the 1960s and Syria in the 1980s, including those residing in Qatar, such as Sheikh Al-Qaradawi, as well as the symbols of the Islamic movement in Sudan, including Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi, opened the doors of relations with other branches of the organization around the world, Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar, affirmed that no one has the right to accuse Qatar of terrorism from his point of view because he classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group or rejected the idea. resistance role of Hamas and Hezbollah and called on Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain not to interfere in the course of its foreign relations. On the other hand, Qatar's relationship with Israel represents the opposite side of its relationship with Muslims. The Muslim Brotherhood and Iran, which do not accept any diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, have diplomatic contacts with Israel, as they export gas to it and, when Qatar was given the honor of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, they declared that they had diplomatic ties with Israel. had initially announced at the time that Israel would be allowed to participate in the tournament if it met the World Cup qualification requirements.
What serves Qatar in pursuing the “reverse balance” strategy and in its success in establishing distinguished relations with discordant poles is its dependence on a huge economic structure, to the extent that Qatar owns a third of the world’s oil reserves, in addition to the fact that it topped the list of gas exporting countries in the world, surpassing Indonesia in 2010 AD, where its production reached 77 million tons per year, accounting for 30% of global liquefied gas exports. Although this huge economic structure is offset by a small population, this has led to an increase in the level of per capita income, which has reduced internal interactions and disruptions, giving Qatari foreign policy actors political room for maneuver. Whether before the Arab Spring or during it, the share of the Qatari citizen in this process has been reduced. the gross domestic product in the year 2011 was about 440 thousand dollars, which led to the lack of desire of the internal political opposition in Qatar, which created space for the success of the “reverse balance” strategy. The second of these pillars is The international and regional mediation role played by Qatar in a neutral manner in dealing with thorny conflicts while establishing balanced relations with all parties to the conflict has made it a source of trust, so that it does not represent a political bias in favor of one party over the other. Qatari mediations have multiplied to include Yemen in 2010, Lebanon in 2008 and Darfur since 2008. Doha has also worked to resolve the problem between Sudan and Chad in 2009 and between Djibouti and Eritrea in 2010. In addition to its repeated mediations. In negotiations with the Hamas movement, he expanded the issue of reconciliation or ending recurring conflicts with the Zionist entity, taking advantage of his vast financial resources, which he exploited to resolve disputes, and the personal relationships of its leaders, headed by the Emir, Father Sheikh Hamad Al. Secondly, the media empire represents the third pillar of Qatar's adoption of the “reverse balance” strategy in Qatar, considered the greatest support for Qatar's foreign policy. Qatar also bought a group of French channels. The role of Al Jazeera as one of the Qatari means of influence emerged with the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolutions.
Qatar was the first to successfully use the “reverse balance” strategy in its foreign policy, without many countries in the world having tried this strategy and being doomed to failure in its practice due to the lack of solid foundations to rely on, as is the case today. This is the case of Qatar. The “reverse balance” strategy is a strategy based on building contradictory external relations between the conflicting parties in order to achieve intertwined and complex strategic objectives. An example of this is Qatar's relationship with America. The military bases represent for it a protection against international blocs greedy for its economic wealth, and its relationship with Iran represents for it a protection against the large regional blocs that surround it in the Gulf region and its relationship with Israel secures its position vis-à-vis Iran. Western powers and allows its imports and exports to pass through at the best international prices. Its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic movements represent for it a line of defense against Egyptian influence, its encroachment and its monopolization of the origins of regional sovereignty. It also protects it from their desires to change its system of government. Thus, it feeds the strategy of “reverse balance”. The opposing poles are in the form of a circle, in which each pole represents a gear that moves the other.
Many experts and strategic analysts have pitied Qatar following the recent campaign against it and accusing it of supporting terrorism and terrorists in the region, which has created hostility towards it with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. .. But it is certain that the international balance is tilted in favor of Qatar, because it is important to keep the balance under control. In the region, “our” America plays a major role, as well as its military, security and economic role. Interests, especially with its strategic ally Israel, in addition to Qatar, which plays many political roles on behalf of the United States in the region, ensure distinguished relations with it, and perhaps the coming days will be enough to create political understandings between it and the other. The Gulf States thus confirm once again its success in practicing the strategy of “reverse rebalancing”.
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