Relationship dossier
Eritrea
Qatar
Relationship assessment
Qatari mediation brought practical engagement, while the 2017 peacekeeper withdrawal strained the bilateral context.
Eritrea toward Qatar
+10Eritrea engaged with Qatar’s mediation of its border dispute with Djibouti, providing a concrete instance of cooperation with the Qatari government.
Qatar toward Eritrea
+15Qatar mediated the Eritrea–Djibouti border dispute and deployed peacekeepers to the border area. Qatar withdrew those peacekeepers in 2017, disrupting that role.
Overall relationship
+10The relationship includes practical cooperation through Qatar’s mediation of the Eritrea–Djibouti dispute, but Qatar’s 2017 withdrawal of peacekeepers was a significant setback in that bilateral engagement. The broader extent and durability of cooperation are unclear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Qatar played a concrete mediating role in the Eritrea–Djibouti border dispute, and Eritrea engaged with that mediation. The relationship was also affected when Qatar withdrew its peacekeepers from the Eritrea–Djibouti border area in 2017. These episodes indicate some practical cooperation alongside a consequential setback, while the scope of other bilateral cooperation is unclear.
Areas of tension
- Qatar’s 2017 withdrawal of peacekeepers from the Eritrea–Djibouti border area disrupted its mediation role.
Key developments
Qatar mediated an agreement between Eritrea and Djibouti addressing their border dispute.
Qatar withdrew its peacekeepers from the Eritrea–Djibouti border area.
Major uncertainties
- The scope of direct Eritrean-Qatari cooperation beyond Qatar’s mediation is unclear.
- The effect of Qatar’s 2017 peacekeeper withdrawal on subsequent bilateral relations is uncertain.