Qatar, the new Switzerland

RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL December 7, 2025

Doha’s ‘stunning rise’ as global go-between. And a novel on the pains of conflict

Doha skyline during ‘blue hour’. Image by Florian Wehde, Unsplash

This Week Those Books is chock-full of crucial context — from fiction and non-fiction — to the shouty, doomscroll news cycle.

Go to this link for a quick read

Housekeeping note: We’ll be travelling over the holiday period and will be back with fresh content next month.

The Big Story:

When the tiny, wealthy Gulf Arab state of Qatar pointed out that the current situation in Gaza is a “pause” in fighting rather than a “ceasefire”, it spoke with the authority that comes from being a known peacemaker.

Doha, along with Riyadh and Oman, is part of a new trinity of Middle Eastern ‘peace capitals’ or cities that have taken on mediation roles. Increasingly, the Trump administration favours these new peace capitals as venues for negotiations rather than traditional ones such as Geneva.

Our first book notes:

Until the 1990s, Qatar was considered a remote place in the Arab Gulf region, mainly known for being unknown…under the reign of Emir Hamad (1995–2013), Qatar seems to have succeeded in (re-)defining itself in the international realm