All tagged Qatar

Analysis | The Gulf’s Influence Game in Washington

Analysis | The Gulf’s Influence Game in Washington

Chris Mullaney
Foreign Policy, Gulf Cooperation Council, MENA, Terrorism, United States, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

On June 5th, a number of Middle Eastern countries, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, separately announced an end to diplomatic ties with Qatar. Both Qatar and the Saudi-bloc have sought to promote their narrative of the conflict to officials in Washington. While all of this might seem to simply be “politics as usual”, there are a number of reasons to be concerned about the way the Gulf rivalries are playing out in Washington.

Analysis | Is Saudi Arabia Losing at its Own Game? 

Analysis | Is Saudi Arabia Losing at its Own Game? 

Pascal Hensel
Foreign Policy, MENA, Persian Gulf Dynamics, Economic Policy, Gulf Cooperation Council

By overplaying its hand in sanctioning Qatar, Saudi Arabia is playing straight into the hands of its longtime regional enemy, Iran. Qatar has necessarily had to turn to Turkey and Iran for day-to-day goods and services it can no longer depend upon in the GCC block. Iran would rather sit back and allow Saudi Arabia to continue its self-defeating policy. The question remains; Is Saudi Arabia losing at its own game?