After the isolation, Qatar again with the Gulf countries

(by Andrea Pinto) Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the other Gulf countries (United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain) have signed a historic agreement to end the embargo that lasted three years.

The summit was held in AI Ula, a town north of Medina. Present the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, received by Mohammed bin Salman, the king's son and heir to the throne. Hugs and greetings behind the masks with the seal for a return to diplomatic relations. 

The turning point thanks to Joe Biden who mediated together with Kuwait, sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner last December.

The Gulf countries, led by Riyadh, had decided to close their airspace to Qatar, accused of supporting terrorism (Muslim Brotherhood) and unwelcome relations with Iran.
Saudi Arabia will therefore reopen airspace and borders. In 2017, there were 13 requests addressed to Qatar to break the isolation, one of them being to close the global TV Al Jazeera. Requests never accepted by the Quatarians who managed to survive thanks to the aid (food and medicines) offered by Turkey with an airlift that never stopped, receiving in exchange money and investments in the country of the half moon. Qatar has also continued to weave "under the table" relations with Iran and more openly with the United States, given that Doha has the largest US base in the area.

Today the turning point, all borders are reopened and Qatar Airways will be able to resume its routes throughout the Gulf.

Dietrology on Qatar

Already in the mid-90s, a funny puzzle was circulating among foreign policy experts: in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, which are the two great powers of the world? Answer: United States and Qatar. In other words, the outsized ambitions of a country with a native population of around 150.000 have long been evident.

These days, Qatari influence is no longer an enigma. We hear from Al Jazeera at the 2022 World Cup, from hacking efforts to corruption scandals. The government has blatantly balanced its external links, symbolized by the giant Al-Udeid airbase, used mostly by American forces and the Joint Qatar-Turkey Command.

In part, this extraordinary record is made possible by the riches of the territory poured into the tiny population of the country (which now stands at just over 300.000 inhabitants, about 1% of the population of Shanghai). The vast North Dome gas field enriches the population with a per capita income of about 500 thousand US dollars, about five times higher than the second richest state, Luxembourg.

The peculiarity of Qatar is also given by its leadership. As in Saudi Arabia, the extremist ideology of Wahhabism dominates in Qatar, giving the population a sense of purpose and ambition that is rather disproportionate to its size. His recent leadership, Emir Hamad (1995-2013) and now his son Tamim, as well as their relatives and helpers, profess an evanescent grandeur well symbolized by the name Hamad. A gigantic Hamad (1km by 3km) was etched into the sand of an island in 2010, then canceled two years later.

Qatar's reach is perhaps most evident in its reported support for jihadist groups in places as diverse as Iraq (Al-Qaeda), Syria (Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra), Gaza (Hamas) and Libya. (Benghazi Defense Brigades). Additionally, Qatar supports major Islamist networks around the world - including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the AKP in Turkey and Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh.

In Doha, the government provides the Taliban with a spacious office. Islamist luminaries such as the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and the head of Hamas Khaled Meshaal have been home to Doha for decades.

In the West, Qatar's power is more cautious and thrives unchallenged. For example, it funds mosques and other Islamic institutions, which express their gratitude by protesting outside Saudi Arabian embassies in London and Washington.

But Doha does not rely solely on the Islamist diaspora in the West to advance its agenda; it also works to directly influence Western politicians and public opinion.

The huge Al Jazeera television network has become one of the largest and best known broadcasters in the world. Its English-language stations produce biting propaganda against Qatar's enemies, disguised in Western liberal rhetoric. Al Jazeera's latest venture - its social media channel, AJ + - is aimed at progressive young Americans. His documentaries on the evils of Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Trump administration are sandwiched between radiant coverage of transgender rights campaigns and emotional appeals to the plight of asylum seekers on the southern border of the United States - seemingly inconsistent arguments for a broadcaster controlled by a Wahhabi regime.

Doha also seeks to influence Western educational institutions. The regime-controlled Qatar Foundation provides tens of millions of dollars to schools, colleges and other educational institutions in Europe and North America. In fact, Qatar is now the largest foreign donor to American universities. Its funds pay for Arabic teaching and Middle Eastern culture lectures, and their ideological bias is sometimes blatantly evident, as in the American school lesson plan titled. "Express your loyalty to Qatar".

After the isolation, Qatar again with the Gulf countries