Pascal Boniface, founder and director of the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris (iris), praised Qatar's role in the international political landscape. In an interview with the Al-sharq newspaper, he said Doha seeks to be the front of global diplomacy, as a nation that speaks to all, and Doha has played an essential and invaluable role in facilitating the clearance of the Afghan file by building a bridge for dialogue between the parties to the internal conflict in Afghanistan and the U.S. government in recent years. Pascal Boniface highlighted that Doha not only has a great diplomatic skill to play the role of mediator with the neutrality and peaceful outlook it requires, but also has a very advanced infrastructure, a huge aviation fleet and high-level logistical capabilities. 

 

What is your explanation for the Taliban's recapture of Afghanistan, after years of war?

 

The Taliban's return to power, if anything, demonstrates the utter failure of military interventions and the language of force that Western forces have tried to impose on Afghanistan. Conflicts can never be resolved in a way of coercion and coercion, and the will of the people cannot be adapted to violence and Afghanistan is a telling example: the Taliban rule is called the "tomb of empires", defeating the British Empire, the Soviet Empire and, more recently, the American Empire.  The U.S. military intervention budget in Afghanistan is estimated at $20 billion and the Taliban budget does not exceed $2 billion during the conflict, without talking about the military numerical difference. Nevertheless, America has not been able to overcome them, and the forcible export of the principles and values of the West to Eastern societies has failed and has not worked.

How do you find the mediation role played by Qatar in the Afghan file?

The State of Qatar has played an essential and invaluable role in facilitating the clearance of the Afghan file by building a bridge for dialogue between the parties to the internal conflict in Afghanistan and the U.S. government in recent years. Of course, there are some who are not familiar with the merits of these actions for years surprised by the Qatari role recently and speculated that Qatar is helping and protecting the Taliban, which is totally wrong, as experts meet to confirm that the State of Qatar played the role of mediator between the Taliban and the Americans at the request of the latter when there were  no possible ways of communication and negotiations with the Taliban.