Book Club: Qatar's status in MENA has veered dramatically, shifting from pariah to an indispensable mediator and trade partner. Edward Lynch's book examines the infamous rift between the GCC and Qatar, and how Qatar has emerged seemingly victorious.
Saudi Arabia, now rebuilding ties with Qatar, should learn not to threaten its neighbours
The Gulf reconciliation summit, in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, where the kingdom and its allies decided to end their blockade of Qatar, has brought to an end, for now, their long feud. In 2017, Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed the blockade and severed diplomatic ties, accusing the tiny Gulf country of supporting terrorism. They also issued 13 demands for it to be lifted, which included shutting down the Qatar-funded TV network, Al Jazeera, closing a Turkish military base and reducing diplomatic relations with Iran. Qatar did not budge despite the heavy economic cost. When the Saudi and Emirati airspaces were closed, Iran offered Qatar global connectivity. Al Jazeera is still live. And, Qatar has invited more Turkish troops, bolstering its ties with Ankara, which is eager to play a bigger role in West Asia. Moreover, it p
after donald trump s mid east trip earlier this year, saudi arabia and the unit arab emirates launched a blockade of qatar. his son-in-law jared kushner was reportedly one of the only white house advisers encouraging the hard line. now, the intercept reports a few months before the crisis, kushner s real estate company tried and failed to get a half billion dollar investment from qatar s former prime minister. that revelation prompting this headline from vanity fair. is kuch her punishing qatar over a soured real estate deal? last july on am joy we wore wondering about the curious coincidence of jared kushner s failure to secure an investment from qatar before he reportedly advised donald trump to support the saudi s damaging blockade against the country. well, this week the plot
on to seek funds directly from the qatari government last april. jared s father, charles, meeting with the country s finance minister here in new york to convince him to invest in fifth avenue building. the deal fell through, get this, and then just a few weeks later after the deal was rejected and declines to invest in the qatari business, this happens. we turn out of the diplomatic crisis erupting in the middle east. five nations with qatar and qatar is a key u.s. ally in the fight against isis and president trump appeared to side with its accusers. catch that? last june, saudi arabia and the uae organized a blockade of qatar. the secretaries of state and defense set to work trying to fuse this situation but then the president of the united states appeared to not get the memo publicly siding against qatar.