Only 18 other countries have been granted that status by American presidents. They include Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, New Zealand, Thailand, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Bahrain, Philippines, Argentina, Taiwan, Afghanistan and Tunisia. Former President Donald Trump conferred the status on Brazil in 2019.
Conferring the status of “major non-NATO ally” on a country does not guarantee that the United States will come to the defense of that country in the event of an attack. That guarantee — laid out in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s founding treaty — is limited to full members of the alliance.
But the designation will give Qatar more diplomatic prestige and access to technology, security systems and training by U.S. defense forces that has not been previously available to it. The move is often used to prod countries toward closer ties with the United States and other Western nations.
In the case of Qatar, Mr. Biden is hoping to deepen economic and security ties. In his remarks on Monday, the president applauded an announcement by the C.E.O. of Qatar Airways of a $34 billion deal to purchase planes from Boeing. Mr. Biden said the deal would support tens of thousands of jobs in the United States.
But the looming conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the more immediate concern for Mr. Biden, who is seeking to maintain unity with America’s European allies behind threats of sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin decides to invade.