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KAS Roundtable 2019: Qatar's Role in the Afghan Peace Process

The Afghan Peace Process in Regional Perspective

On 31 March, the KAS Office Kabul organised a Roundtable discussion on “Qatar’s Role in the Afghan Peace Process. Among the discussants were diplomats as well as representatives from government, media and think tanks. The Roundtable discussion is part of the KAS Roundtable Series 2019 on “The Afghan Peace Process in Regional Perspective”. The goal of this series is to shed light on the roles and perspectives of the regional countries involved in the Afghan peace process. The roundtable series aims to unite different voices and perspectives on the discussion table.

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Over the past decade, the tiny gas-rich country of Qatar in the Arabian Peninsula has become an international platform for political negotiations - including the Afghan peace process. Since 2013, Qatar is hosting a representative Taliban office. In addition, Qatar is hosting the US-Taliban peace talks on a possible political settlement in Afghanistan.

At the same time, Qatar has become entangled at the crossroads of the Saudi-Iranian power play over regional hegemony in the Gulf and the Middle East, being diplomatically isolated and boycotted since June 2017 by a Saudi-UAE-led coalition.

Speakers and participants from Think tanks, diplomacy and foreign affairs, media, and NGOs were invited to shed some light on how Afghanistan's political settlement and peace is related to Qatar and the geopolitical equation in the Middle East.

Among the discussed topics were the policy and role of Qatar in the Afghan peace process, the various levels of Afghan-Qatari relations, the perception of Qatar in the Afghan media and public, and how the broader regional and geopolitical context may impact the Afghan peace process.

 

Program:

              

Welcome & Introduction to Qatar’s Role for the Afghan Peace

Dr. Ellinor Zeino, Resident Representative, KAS

Afghan Peace Negotiations in the Highly Conflictual Gulf Region: How does the Saudi-Iranian rivalry and the Qatar Blockade Impact the Afghan Peace Process

Senior Correspondent, The New York Times

Current Peace Negotiations: Responsibility for Peace by Qatar, the United States and the Afghan Delegation to Doha

Former member of the National Security Council (NSC)

Development of Qatar’s Taliban Relations

Deputy Director, Kabul-based Think Tank

The Picture of Qatar in the Afghan Media & Public

Editor in Chief, Pajhwok

Editor in Chief, Khabarnama

Open Discussion                      

Lunch Buffet

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Venue

Kabul

Contact

Dr. Ellinor Zeino

Ellinor Zeino

Head Foreign Office Turkey

ellinor.zeino@kas.de +90 312 440 40 80
Katars Rolle im afghanischen Friedensprozess KAS Kabul
Katars Rolle im afghanischen Friedensprozess KAS Kabul
Katars Rolle im afghanischen Friedensprozess KAS Kabul

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