Al-Araby al-Jadeed, London, June 6
Exactly one year ago this week, four Arab states—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt—downgraded their diplomatic ties with Qatar in response to the latter’s support of terrorism in the region. A year has passed since, and Qatar is still pursuing belligerent policies against the moderate forces in the Arab world. Doha has taken absolutely no action to address the complaints raised by its neighbors, and even increased its support for radical groups in the Middle East. However, it has done one thing rather successfully: that is, bribe every possible country in the world to maintain full diplomatic relations with it. Shortly after the boycott was announced, Qatar signed a $14 billion deal with France to construct a nation-wide transportation system including new trains and buses. This bought Doha the support of French President Emmanuel Macron. Then, in an effort to appease Washington, Qatar signed a deal to buy F-15 fighter jets worth some $12 billion from the United States. The timing of the agreement, again, revealed just how desperate the Qatari government is to convey an image of business as usual. Similar action was taken with Italy and Germany, with which Qatar signed deals to buy ships and tanks, respectively. Qatar also approached Russia to purchase anti-aircraft missiles. The list goes on and on. In fact, anyone monitoring Qatar’s military deals might assume that the small country, consisting of barely 3 million people, is preparing for a war. But the truth is that these deals are nothing but Qatar’s way of guaranteeing support from world powers. The Arab boycott on Doha has been so effective that Qatari authorities are aggressively trying to purchase anything on offer in the international market. This frenzy will continue so long as the Qatari government refuses to adhere to the demands of its neighbors. Qatar might not be lacking for money, but the Arab Gulf does not lack patience. It is Qatar that will eventually lose this battle. –Salman al-Dossry