Qatar

Non solo calcio: l’Emirato sta investendo 300 miliardi di dollari per sostenere lo sviluppo delle sue infrastrutture in chiave sostenibile.

Qatar is carving out a leading role for itself within international diplomacy - particularly in light of recent events in Afghanistan - through its mediation-oriented foreign policy. This occurs after — and despite — three years of political and diplomatic crisis between the Quartet (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates-UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt) and Qatar. Doha’ diplomacy appears better positioned — and influential — today than before the eruption of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) rift, occurred in 2017.

Nel Golfo diviso il Qatar ha amici, nemici e qualcuno che ha preferito non schierarsi

In uno storico vertice in Arabia Saudita, i paesi del Golfo annunciano la fine dell’embargo sul Qatar dopo il boicottaggio imposto nel 2017 dall'Arabia Saudita, Egitto, Emirati Arabi e Bahrein.

One of the key developments in the Middle East in the last few decades has been the growing alliance between Egypt and some of the Gulf Cooperation Council states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates/UAE). For most of the 1950s and 1960s Egypt, under President Gamal Abd al-Nasser, viewed the Gulf’s ruling families as reactionary and medieval regimes whose days were numbered. Meanwhile, the Gulf leaders felt threatened by Nasser’s vision of Arab nationalism and socialism.

In spite of numerous efforts by the USA and its European and regional allies, the three-year  blockade of Qatar by the Arab quartet shows no sign of abating. With the Trump administration determined to ratchet up its pressure on Iran and the UN’s Iran arms embargo expiry date fast approaching, one can be certain that the current crisis is set to gain an added urgency in the days and weeks ahead.

Once marginal in shaping the geopolitics of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, Gulf power projection and competition have become a central driver of the politics of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. The political turmoil that engulfed these states created both threats and opportunities for Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the rich and ambitious states of the Arabian Peninsula.

La 40esima riunione annuale del Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) è stata preceduta da diversi segnali di distensione tra Arabia Saudita e Qatar, dopo due anni e mezzo di embargo imposto a Doha da Arabia Saudita, Emirati Arabi Uniti (EAU), Bahrein ed Egitto. La tensione rimane alta, come dimostra la decisione dell’emiro del Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani di non partecipare neanche quest’anno, nonostante l’invito del re Salman.

La crisi interna al Consiglio di Cooperazione del Golfo (GCC) si prepara a entrare nel terzo anno. Il 4 giugno 2017 Arabia Saudita, Emirati Arabi Uniti, Bahrein e Egitto (il cosiddetto Quartetto arabo) rompevano le relazioni con il Qatar, rivolgendogli diverse accuse e un ultimatum in tredici richieste alle quali Doha avrebbe dovuto allinearsi per mettere fine al blocco diplomatico, ma anche aereo e marittimo, nei suoi confronti.

In the current moment it is not possible to consider trajectories of museums and nation-building in the Arabian Gulf  without taking into account the ongoing diplomatic crisis, or blockade[1] that began on 5th June 2017. On this date, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt abruptly closed their borders and cut diplomatic ties with Qatar amidst accusations that the small Gulf state supported terrorism, had become too close to Iran and was meddling with their own internal affairs.

Alliances and rivalries in the Middle East have become liquid. The proliferation of regional conflicts and a more acute sense of regime vulnerability across the region explain why realignments are more frequent and countries are able to ally on one particular front and be at odds on another one. In the past, alliances shifted but were far more consistent. Making sense of Turkey realignments is paramount to understand both the geopolitical shifts in the MENA region and tensions in transatlantic relations.

Dal giugno 2017 il Qatar è alle prese con un ripensamento delle proprie strategie di politica interna ed estera a causa dell’embargo diplomatico, economico e logistico impostogli dal cosiddetto “Quartetto arabo” (Arabia Saudita, Emirati Arabi Uniti, Bahrain ed Egitto). In funzione di ciò, Doha ha provveduto a portare avanti una riorganizzazione delle proprie strutture di potere (rimpasto di governo e cambio ai vertici delle aziende di Stato).