Only Shakespeare’s plays could come close to describing such treachery – the comedies, that is. The Qatar crisis proves two things: the continued infantilisation of the Arab states, and the total collapse of the Sunni Muslim unity supposedly created by Donald Trump’s preposterous attendance at the Saudi summit two weeks ago. After promising to fight to the…
When Gulf Arab powers announced on June 5 that they were severing diplomatic ties with Qatar over its ties to terrorists, the message was clear: get in line with regional policies, or pay the price. Nearly a week later, Qatar appears in no hurry to comply. And it is the incoherence of US President Donald…
Riyadh accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism ignores the pernicious regional infestation of Saudi-supported extremist Wahhabism, the ideology connected to ISIS and like-minded groups. Both countries support regional terrorist groups, both US allies, despite mixed messages from Washington on Qatar. Secretary of State Tillerson called for “no further escalation by the parties in the region, (urging)…
Have “MbS” and “MbZ” overreached themselves? It is still early in the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar, but yes, it seems so. And in so doing, the hubris of Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), the Saudi defense minister and the powerful son of Saudi King Salman, and Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ), the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and…
The diplomatic spate, engulfing the Gulf States, have left wide open cracks in the otherwise all-Sunni house, led by Saudi Arabia. It appears that the Islamic Military Alliance (IMA) has set Qatar for itself as the first target, and that it will not stop short of bringing a regime change in Qatar in order for…
After a coalition of Persian Gulf sheikdoms led by Saudi Arabia presented an ultimatum to Qatar on Monday and blockaded its economy, the Turkish parliament approved two military deals with Qatar, enabling deployments of the Turkish military to Qatar. Turkish forces will also train the Qatari gendarmerie. As part of an agreement signed between Ankara…
