Big Spot On Stage For Tiny Qatar

DOHA, Qatar — As chaos took over the United States’ last-minute efforts to evacuate more than 120,000 of its citizens and partners from Afghanistan in August, a tiny, wealthy country that many Americans would struggle to find on a map suddenly found itself uniquely placed to help out.

Qatar, a sandy, sun-baked peninsula in the Persian Gulf, received about 60,000 Americans and Afghans, more than any other country. And with its ties to both the United States — it hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East — and the Taliban, it is well placed to play a strong role as an intermediary between the new Taliban-run Afghanistan and the West.

The gas-rich country, which has long used its tremendous

Wealth that opens doors to diplomacy, and soccer.

wealth to achieve an outsize influence, is having a moment in the world spotlight. Even as it delivers tons of food and medical aid to Afghanistan and hosts American officials, it has made news in the world of soccer, where it signed one of the greatest players, Lionel Messi, to the Paris St.-Germain team it owns. It is also set to host the soccer World Cup next year.

“Qatar has always wanted to be a global player, whether that is hosting huge sports events or signing major players, or presenting itself as a regional linchpin for global politics and diplomacy,” said Michael Stephens, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and an expert on Gulf politics. “They have not always got this balance right, but at the moment they seem to have taken the right initiatives at