Qatar

We're hearing a lot about Qatar in the news since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Partly that's because they have helped with hostage negotiations. How can they do that? Well, by being all things to all men.

Here's a bit about the relationship between Qatar and Hamas, from Wikipedia ...

Qatar is a key financial backer and ally of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas. Qatar has transferred more than $1.8 billion to Hamas. Since 2012, Qatar has hosted the Hamas politburo when Hamas head Khaled Meshal relocated from Syria to Qatar. The current head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has resided in Doha since 2016 ...

You can read more here: Qatar and state-sponsored terrorism

At the same time, the US has military bases in Qatar, and it's considered a major ally to the US (Qatar–United States relations).

I only started noticing Qatar back when Jarid Kushner got involved in a real estated scheme with them ...

Timeline on Jared Kushner, Qatar, 666 Fifth Avenue, and White House Policy

The heart of the case involving President Donald J. Trump and Ukraine was the claim that the president pressured a U.S. ally, weakening the security of that country, to extract a personal benefit for himself. Several commentators have said that the president’s action toward Ukraine fit a pattern of his calling on foreign governments to interfere in US elections. But does it also fit a pattern of trading off the security interests of the United States and foreign partners for personal benefit to himself and his family? We don’t answer that question here. We instead provide a timeline of events surrounding an earlier incident at the Trump White House involving Qatar and the Kushner Companies. We leave it to readers and further investigation to reach any conclusions — whether this was a shakedown of a foreign partner motivated or clouded by personal financial interests or something quite innocent. At a minimum, we believe it raises important questions and concerns that deserve further scrutiny ...

With this Israel/Hamas war, I think people will start to pay more attention to Qatar. Here's a recent article from The Atlantic ...

The Reckoning That Is Coming for Qatar

As Israel and Hamas sink deeper into conflict, Doha finds itself in a delicate position. As a long-standing backer of the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar has huge influence over the movement’s Palestinian affiliate, Hamas. That offers a significant opportunity in the short run. Doha’s deep connections with the Gaza-based Islamist group make Qatar a central player in the current diplomatic game. But for exactly the same reason, Doha faces the looming risk of being called to account over its record of support for such radical Islamist groups, and especially for Hamas.

Doha has a long history of serving as a broker, and in the past, this has often worked well for the Gulf state. By allowing the Taliban to establish a Doha office, Qatar provided the U.S. with a channel for negotiations with the group. Doha thus facilitated the agreement to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan concluded under the Trump administration and carried out by President Joe Biden in 2021.

Qatar hopes to play a similar role now ...