Qatar's role

Hasni Abidi is the Director of the Study and Research Center for the Arab and Mediterranean World (CERNAM) in Geneva.

DW: Qatar has helped mediate the release of foreign hostages in the past, notably in Yemen. Can you describe its role?

Hasni Abidi: Since 1995, Qatar has had a singular foreign policy. In fact it started before Turkey adopted the same paradigm - a foreign policy of zero problems with other Gulf states, Iran and other regional players. The father of this policy, Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad al Thani, had said that a small country like Qatar cannot have enemies as neighbors. As a result, Qatar improved its foreign relations in two ways.

To become an established actor on the foreign policy stage and gain more prominence it turned to [TV network] Al Jazeera in 1996 [Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar - ed.].

And second, it based its foreign policy on the mediation of conflicts in the region. Qatar has become a champion in the management of conflict situations.

For example it used its good relations with President Ali Saleh in Yemen to mediate between the government and its enemies, the Houthis [Shiite rebels - ed.]. Qatar, in a way, is inspired by the Swiss as a state that provides good services.

Does Qatar have any type of leverage with the 'Islamic State'? And if so, how does that tie in with rumors that Qatar is providing financial support for IS?

The IS jihadists contacted Qatar to pay a ransom for James Foley. The amount was huge and Qatar said no - and Washington also said no. Qatar has good relations with Jabhat al-Nusra [an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria - ed.] and they are the enemy of the 'Islamic State' fighters. Qatar has had a good relationship with them since the beginning of the revolution in Syria. We have no evidence of IS funding.

But these movements are also based on personal relationships and not with organizations, so it is difficult to check. Moreover, Washington is well present politically and militarily in Doha, so I do not think Qatar can finance a terrorist organization or make advances without the support of the United States.

The execution of two journalists is a challenge to President Barack Obama. It's a trap. If he becomes more involved in the war, IS will say he is waging war. If Obama resists, people will say he has no vision and is not protecting America.

If Qatar had strong links with IS, it would certainly have negotiated the release of the hostage. But the American strategy to create a coalition shows the limits of the West's ability to combat this problem.

It's very difficult to get proof. IS has relations with some countries, there are reports naming Saudi Arabia, but again the relationship may be with some members of the IS organization. It's very difficult to find the relationship between Qatar or Saudi Arabia and IS.

How is Qatar positioning itself in the region amid the various crises going on?

Qatar is a small country and is working on this new soft power approach. The removal of the Father Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa, shows that Qatar has the capacity to adapt to new situations, especially after big difficulties in Libya, Syria and also Egypt. And the new Emir's paradigm is to concentrate on domestic issues and not only on international affairs.

There is a new packaging of Qatar's foreign policy but the principles, I think, are the same. Having said that, there are some big problems between Qatar and some Gulf states - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - within the Gulf Cooperation Council.