On June 5th, several Arab countries broke
ties with Qatar. While some say Russian
fake news precipitated the crisis, Qatar
and its Arab foes have been on a
collision course for some time. What's
going on?
Qatar is the world's richest country per
capita. It floats on a sea of gas, and has
more money than it knows what to do with.
It's slated to host the World Cup in 2022,
and has one of the world's largest
airlines. That's not bad for a country of
just over two million.
The problem is Qatar's become the
primary bankroller of the Muslim
Brotherhood. This has annoyed countries
like Egypt and the UAE, which accuse Qatar of
funding groups which want to overthrow
their governments.
It supports Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and
bankrolls Turkey's ruling party. To top
it all off, Qatar's been reaching out to
Iran. In effect, Arab states say it's now
or never to stop what's becoming a new
Axis of Evil. What does this mean for the
US? Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base,
which the US has used since the 1990s.
Qatar saw that as insurance. The US would
never do anything to endanger the base.
The question is whether the goal of
blunting Islamist finance trump's the
need for the base. On this Qatar, may have
miscalculated very badly.
What do you
think about Qatar? And what should the United States position be, if any?
Let us know in your comments,
and also let us know what other topics you'd like a AEI scholars cover in 60 seconds.
