Winners and Losers in the Syrian Civil War

By Mohammed Nuruzzaman

Photo: Freedom House/flickr.

The Syrian civil war, which has seen a stalemate for nearly three years, shows no signs of a negotiated political solution. The Geneva II peace talks, that opened on 22 January, are highly unlikely to result in a breakthrough, absent a miracle. There is irreconcilable tension between the oppositional Syrian National Coalitions’s (SNC) demand for a future Syria without President Bashar Al-Assad and Al-Assad government’s policy priority to secure international support to fight what it calls rebellious terrorists. That may well leave a military victory, either by the government or the opposition rebels, as the final option to break out of the deadlock.

Qatar's interference in Egypt's internal affairs

Without a doubt Qatar has become a dynamic player in the Arab world. Maintaining warm relations with important actors such as Russia, Europe and even Iran it has succeeded in mediating in Arab conflicts (Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen and Palestine) and making its voice heard.

Sending Missiles to Syrian Rebels, Qatar Muscles In

As an intermittent supply of arms to the Syrian opposition gathered momentum last year, the Obama administration repeatedly implored its Arab allies to keep one type of powerful weapon out of the rebels’ hands: heat-seeking shoulder-fired missiles.

Fadi Al-Assaad/Reuters

Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, right, the emir of Qatar until last week, with his son and successor, left, in Doha in May.

The missiles, American officials warned, could one day be used by terrorist groups, some of them affiliated with Al Qaeda, to shoot down civilian aircraft.

Qatar's Foreign Policy Adventurism

John Kerry with the Emir of Qatar in Doha, June 2013 (Jacquelyn Martin/Courtesy Reuters)

Earlier this month, the Taliban opened an official office in Doha, landing Qatar once more in Western headlines. That might have been part of Qatar’s plan: the decision to host such a controversial office is symptomatic of a desire to play a central role in a wide array of important diplomatic issues. Yet the debacle of the office’s first 36 hours shows just how far Qatar still has to go.

Qatar is focus as U.S. weighs concerns about arming Syrian extremists

When President Obama welcomes the leader of Qatar to the White House on Tuesday, he will doubtless thank the Qataris for hosting a major U.S. air base in the Persian Gulf, and for their help on a wide range of strategic issues from Libya to Afghanistan.

Reuters - A woman walks along a street past graffiti that reads "Victory coming" in Deir al-Zor, on April 20, 2013.

But he is also likely to press Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to ensure that none of the weapons Qatar is sending to Syrian rebels end up with the Jabhat al-Nusra, which the administration has linked to al-Qaeda, and other Islamic extremist groups fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

As cyberwarfare heats up, allies turn to U.S. companies for expertise

In the spring of 2010, a sheik in the government of Qatar began talks with the U.S. consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton about developing a plan to build a cyber-operations center. He feared Iran’s growing ability to attack its regional foes in cyberspace and wanted Qatar to have the means to respond.

Jeffrey MacMillan/For The Washington Post - In the spring of 2010, a sheik in the government of Qatar began talks with the U.S. consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, aboev, about developing a plan to build a cyber-operations center.

Several months later, officials from Booz Allen and partner firms met at the company’s sprawling Tysons Corner campus to review the proposed plan. They were scheduled to take it to Doha, the capital of the wealthy Persian Gulf state.

Qatar’s foray into Gaza politics: Bad for Iran, good for Israel?

The monarch of oil-rich Arab gulf nation Qatar, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, this week became the first foreign head of state to visit Gaza’s militant Islamist rulers since they won power over the Palestinian territory in 2007. The emir, who has long deployed Qatar’s astounding energy wealth toward outsized international influence, also handed over $400 million in Gazan reconstruction aid. Hamas, long seen as an ally of Iran, opposes Israel, sometimes violently. 

The Emir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, right, meets with Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. (Ali Ali/Associated Press)

Nothing dashes hopes and humbles would-be peacemakers quite like the Israel-Palestine peace process, so there’s little reason to think that al-Thani will succeed where more experienced statesmen have failed. Still, there is some reason to think that Qatar’s outreach to Hamas could do some good for a part of the world that badly needs it. Here’s what some Middle East analysts are saying about it.