Qatar

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 5^th 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).

In NATO-Gulf monarchies relations, military education is the most effective vector of cooperation. Moreover, individual partnerships work definitely better than a multilateral format. For this reason, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), launched in 2004 as a practical cooperation framework between NATO and some Arab Gulf states (United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait) has showed all its limits so far, slightly changing its nature - or rather adapting - on course.

L’arretramento strategico degli Stati Uniti in Medio Oriente, sommato allo sdoganamento dell’Iran tramite l’accordo sul nucleare, ha creato grande nervosismo in Arabia Saudita. Fondamentalmente è consolidata, nella psiche saudita, la convinzione che solo la protezione di una forte potenza esterna possa fungere da reale deterrente per le mire espansionistiche dell’Iran.