‘This is not the crisis of the Gulf, it is the crisis of the world’: Al Ansari calls for regional dialogue

Advisor to Qatar’s Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MoFA] spokesperson Majed Al Ansari has called for rethinking a new regional security framework built on dialogue, stronger Gulf cooperation and international partnerships, warning that the repercussions of the current U.S.-Iran crisis extend far beyond the region.Advisor to Qatar’s Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MoFA] spokesperson Majed Al Ansari has warned that the fallout from the Gulf conflict, caused by the U.S.-Iran war, extends far beyond the region, saying disruptions to energy, trade and critical supply chains have turned it into a crisis for the global economy and underscoring the need for genuine regional dialogue.Speaking during a discussion ‘GCC Security: Alliances, Threats and Strategic Choices‘ at Georgetown University in Qatar on Monday, Al Ansari said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has challenged what had been long treated as one of the underlying assumptions of Gulf security: that the critical waterway would remain open even during periods of heightened regional tension. The Strait has long served as a lifeline for Gulf states not only for oil and Liquified Natural Gas [LNG] exports, but for the wider movement of goods and supplies into and out of the region, said Al Ansari as he opened the discussion. Its closure, once considered an extreme scenario, has now forced regional states to confront questions over how their security architecture and economic models should adapt to fundamentally different environments. Al Ansari said the crisis has left a series of open-ended questions over what Gulf security, prosperity and relations between neighbouring states would look like after the U.S.-Iran war, cautioning against assuming that definitive answers already exist. The uncertainty, he argued, has also underscored the importance of building resilience before a crisis occurs rather than attempting to create it once a country comes under threat. That resilience, he said, is not limited to military capability. It is built through institutions, partnerships, economic planning and human capital developed over the years, pointing to Qatar’s investment in education as part of the country’s wider ability to withstand regional shocks. “All of these lessons that we have learned from the various conflicts we’ve been party to have told us that you have to build your resilience, but resilience is a design,” Al Ansari said. “It is not something you can buy at the day of the attack”.The closure of the Hormuz Strait, however, presents a challenge that cannot simply be adapted around, Al Ansari argued, making diplomacy and rethinking the region’s security relationships increasingly important. This is not the crisis of the GulfAl Ansari said the economic repercussions of instability in the Gulf demonstrate the extent to which global markets depend on the region. “And this is the message we’re trying to say to the world. This is not a regional crisis. This is not the crisis of the Gulf. This is not the crisis of the rich countries and the Gulf, who are able to withstand it,” Al Ansari asserted.“It’s the crisis of the world and the international economy. And unless we are able to solve it, we will all collectively in the world be facing very difficult things to come, as a result of it.”Al Ansari pointed to the effects of disruptions to the flow of energy and other key Gulf exports, including helium, urea, ammonia, and aluminium, arguing that the region’s significance to the international economy goes far beyond its traditional roles as an oil and gas producer. He said the crisis has placed a greater responsibility on the international community to work towards a resolution, particularly as its consequences reach households and industries outside the Gulf. ‘Geography is not negotiable’Despite the Iranian attacks Qatar and other Gulf countries have faced, Al Ansari said Doha continues to view dialogue with Tehran as essential to any lasting regional security framework. Al Ansari noted that Iran has historically remained a permanent part of the Gulf’s political and security landscape regardless of changes in the government.“We’re not going to pick up and leave on either side of the Gulf,” he added. Al Ansari said countries across the region had pursued different approaches towards Iran over the years — from escalation and containment to economic partnerships and mediation — but none had ultimately been able to shield themselves from the consequences of regional conflict.His first solution, therefore, was genuine regional dialogue, bringing together all major players and directly addressing their respective security concerns.“We have never had a real regional dialogue with clear tracks on how to deal with our issues,” added the MoFA spokesperson. “But coming out of this, we are still open to the idea of a regional dialogue that includes Iran, because there is no other option.”Qatar to double down on U.S. alliance Despite the push for greater regional self-reliance, Al Ansari said Qatar does not see stronger domestic and Gulf defence capabilities as an alternative to its longstanding international security partnerships.“Partnership without capacity is dependency. Partnership with capacity is resilience,” he said.Al Ansari said Qatar’s approach was based on simultaneously building its own defensive capabilities and maintaining close partnerships with the United States and NATO members.Qatar would “double down on the relationship with the United States” and its alliance with Washington while continuing to work with NATO members and regional partners to strengthen its capabilities, he added.However, Al Ansari said the current crisis also require franker conversations between allies. “This is not the time to tell our partners what they want to hear, or to stay silent about situations in our region,” he said. “This is the time to have frank discussions.”Mediation despite attacksTaking questions from students towards the end of the discussion, the MoFA spokesperson also addressed Qatar’s decision to continue mediating even after coming under attack from parties involved in conflicts it was seeking to resolve.He recalled Qatar being asked by the United States to help mediate a ceasefire shortly after an Iranian attack, saying Doha faced a choice between retaliating, cutting relations or continuing its diplomatic efforts.Qatar chose mediation, he said, because regional stability could not be separated from its own national security.He made a similar argument about Qatar’s mediation between Israel and Hamas following the Israeli attack on Doha in September 2025, saying Qatar ultimately returned to the negotiating process despite being directly targeted.He also pushed back against the expectation that mediators can guarantee lasting peace once an agreement is reached.“It is not the role of the mediator to rebuild after a war or to guarantee peace,” he said. “It is the role of the mediator to put two conflicting parties on the table and reach an agreement between them.”‘The old world order is rapidly decaying’Turning to the United Nations and the wider multilateral system, Al Ansari acknowledged growing questions over the effectiveness of institutions built in the aftermath of the Second World War.He argued that the existing international architecture was designed for a fundamentally different period.However, he cautioned against abandoning multilateral institutions altogether.Al Ansari instead pointed towards a model in which international organisations work alongside smaller groupings of states that can respond more quickly to individual conflicts, while still drawing on the legitimacy and reach of the wider multilateral system.“We should not abandon the post-war consensus. We should not abandon international organisations,” Al Ansari said. “The problem is not with the system. The problem is with the people who are running the system.”