Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the world's top diplomats have been beating a path to Qatar — long the gateway to the Taliban and now the essential go-between as the West tries to deal with the new Kabul government. This is no accident.
Analysts describe Qatar's emergence as a broker in Afghanistan as a part of a carefully nurtured strategy by the tiny but rich state to bolster its own security, by becoming indispensable as a venue for international mediation.
The world's biggest liquefied natural gas producer, the small desert peninsula country is one of the wealthiest nations per capita. It is home to barely 3 million people, 85% of them foreigners with guest worker visas. Yet it has long held outsized ambitions, hosting both the Middle East's biggest U.S. air base and its most influential TV channel.