World leaders met in Qatar over the weekend for the 16th annual Doha Forum on security. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended, as well as UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft. Heads of State from Afghanistan, and other Middle Eastern countries. Africa also participated, along with NATO representatives, European security and economic development experts, and the EU Commission. The Brookings Institution and New York University represented the U.S. Qatar hosts the event each year as part of its effort to take a direct leadership role in world politics beyond the Gulf, especially in the fields of security and economics.
The Cipher Brief spoke with former Albanian Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu, who attended the conference, to find out what happened.
The Cipher Brief: The annual Doha Forum is an opportunity for world leaders to discuss security and conflict resolution, among other things. What are the highlights?
Fatmir Mediu: The main areas of discussion included stability (based on security and economic development), climate change, and the role of international cooperation and the UN. Particular attention was paid to global security and Middle East security, as well as poverty, slow international growth, and polarization that stimulates violent extremism and terrorism.
Dealing with the refuge crisis and financial problems were brought up during the discussions by the Greek representative, as well as the situation between Lebanon and Syria.
The economic session pointed out one of the main economic challenges for all countries: the collapse of oil prices and the impact not only on the producing countries, but also on the global economy.
All Middle East participants agreed that dialogue is the best way to ensure a more secure and peaceful region. At all sessions participants also brought concrete ideas about enhancing collective cooperation, in order to make the world a safer and more stable place.
Different approaches and perspectives on the conflict between Israel and Palestine were expressed.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, stated, “The Middle East needs peace, security and stability. The failure of the international community to end the last occupation and bring justice to the Palestinian people through accountability is the main threat to the region's security and stability".
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process sponsored by the U.S. has come to a dead end, due to the lack of an agreed common ground and to subjecting the negotiations to the “logic of the strongest,” said the Foreign Minister. He continued, “if the international community wants to achieve security and stability in the Middle East and in the world, it has to put an end to the Israeli occupation of the Arab lands.” He added that the Arab world was revolted when the avenues of reform were blocked. A violent response aggravated the situation and created new problems that were not there in first place. The only guarantee for security and stability is to reach an inclusive national reconciliation in the Arab world and agree to the process of change.
Sheikh Mohammed also commented on the UN Security Council’s resolution on Syria, saying it is the only credible way for negotiations between the opposition and the regime to proceed. The Syrian regime has to implement the decision of Geneva-1 to create an interim government and put an end to the humanitarian catastrophe, and the opposition must become more unified, he said.
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, stressed the inevitability of comprehensive discussions on the outstanding problems in Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and the Palestinian territories. He said that the Palestinian peace process is at "a standstill." Resuming peace talks based on the old formula is hard, since so far it has produced no progress.
TCB: What was discussed about human rights and the connection between a lack of rights and violent extremism?
FM: In many speeches, the lack of respect for human rights was considered as one of the main factors leading to instability and violent extremism. Extremist and terrorist groups cultivate hatred and violence, thus challenging the values upheld in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Focusing solely on security solutions to terrorism and extremism has proven a failure, since extremist ideologies grow where human rights are violated and the aspirations of the people are ignored. The role of civil society was considered very important, in order to have a more inclusive and sustainable process of stability and prosperity.
TCB: NATO has been playing a bigger role in the Middle East and with the Gulf states. What is NATO doing and is it helping substantially in the fight against violent extremism?
FM: Qatar has taken a lead role on strengthening the relations among the four Gulf countries and NATO. In October, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) into the framework of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, an effort to contribute to long-term global security by offering Middle Eastern countries bilateral security cooperation with NATO.
NATO is strengthening the political dialogue with the Gulf states and has achieved progress in the fields of energy, security, and protection of infrastructure.
Ideas about the Gulf countries joining NATO in a military alliance in order to protect themselves from terrorism were expressed.
NATO Assistant Secretary General, Thrasyvoulos Terry Stamatopoulos, told the forum that the military alliance has played a major role in maintaining security and stability in the Middle East, as well as enhancing its military capabilities.
TCB: Would you say the forum was a “success”? Was any real progress made? Any tangible results?
FM: I believe it was a venue for political dialogue and the exchange of opinions. Important actors with particular expertise took part. The forum might produce a policy paper, but I doubt there will be any concrete resolution or action based on it.
It served the purpose and the goal of the organizers to talk broadly about stability and prosperity in the world.
