Executive Master’s in Diplomacy and International Affairs (EMDIA)
Day 5 – Final Assessed Scenario: Global Political Map: Geopolitics for Practitioners
“The Afghan Withdrawal: The Geopolitical Consequences and Implications for Qatar.”
Prepared by Rory Miller, PhD and Fahad Al-Marri, PhD
Georgetown University in Qatar
It is November 2022, a year after Qatar agreed to represent the diplomatic interests of the US in Afghanistan. You have been tasked with briefing top decision-makers on how this role, as well as the other forms of Qatari involvement in Afghanistan, have developed so far and to assess the opportunities and challenges that Qatar may face in this role over the next 12-24 months. In making your assessment you have been asked to consider the best ways that Qatar can mitigate threats and maximize opportunities by addressing the four below issues
1. Policies are subservient to strategy. In foreign affairs, they are introduced in order to achieve a nation’s strategic goals in a changing strategic environment. What policies (defensive or offensive in the strategic meaning of the term) do you recommend that Qatar should adopt over the next 12-24 months in order to build on its Afghan role in positive ways that contribute to its priority strategic objectives.
The assessment outline:
• Establish a strategy and determine which strategy style will be adopted whether it is an offensive or defensive strategy. “I will adopt an offensive strategy for this case: explaining in details the way to implement, use the means of power, and the achievement of the strategy”
• “Policy is subordinate to strategy” After we determined our strategy, we build our policies based on our strategic plan to achieve its objectives.
• What Factors Drive Strategic Choice: is it maximize security and promote interests (realism), or promote cooperation and norms (liberalism), or promote ideology, beliefs, and values (constructivism).
• What’s Qatar strategic goals: 1. Distinguish itself from its neighbors as a matter of national identity 2. Consolidate its strategic usefulness 3. Assert its independence on economic and political levels to resist outside attempts to dictate its policies. “ check the slides attached, you will find more informations”
• Strategic environment. Environment within which we operate? Changes requires changes in strategy? “ check the slides attached there are sides attached there are plenty detailed informations about it”
• What are the key issues we may face? “Challenges of Executing a Strategy” check the slides for more info.
• How to Ensure Right Strategies? Constant review of strategic Priorities. Continuous improvement not radical change. Flexible thinking not fixed rules. Let data drive policy. Challenge bad policy.
Instructions:
The paper based on the scenario, as I’m an adviser to the decision makers in Qatar. As mentioned above, I will give my advise based on what I have learnt in the class and the slides attached. As I have chosen an offensive strategy and how can we achieve our objectives. You can use 4-5 references for the paper. And please anything will be written should be in accordance with what stated in the slides and outline.
