Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani proposed a new label for small states on Friday that have turned size into an advantage, urging them to take a collective role in global peace.
“I would therefore like to propose a different label for a particular group of countries: agile, stable, prosperous and trusted nations that have turned their size into an advantage and became significant contributors to global peace and prosperity. I call them ‘Thriving States,” he said at Oxford Union.
“My proposition is that these Thriving States, having become critical contributors to global prosperity, are now uniquely positioned to play a similarly significant role in international peace. Not through individual initiative, rather by a collective, structured and cumulative approach.”
He warned that “smaller states are increasingly the first casualties in conflicts not of their own making.”
“Thriving States cannot resolve these challenges alone, nor replace great powers. But through pooling their expertise, economic capabilities and diplomatic networks, they can help build and maintain a supply chain of peace and stability for the world,” he said.
“We cannot outsource our stability, nor should we surrender to inaction. History is littered with the ghosts of passive onlookers and only celebrates those who act to shape it,” he added.
On mediation efforts to find a solution to the war between the US and Iran, Sheikh Mohammed said Doha has worked with US administration colleagues who have “very genuine intentions to find a way to contain the situation and de-escalate it.”
Saying that efforts continue “to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control,” he added that “thanks also to some wise voices in Tehran, we have prevented that from getting out of control.”
“What happened with the election may affect their policies in the future, but it does not affect their intentions,” he said. “We will never have a perfect peace deal, but we cannot just wait for this moment of a perfect deal and avoid having a good deal.”
Addressing the pace of diplomacy, he said: “It is not as active as it was a few days ago,” adding that “our engagement did not stop and will not stop.”
